HOUSING FABRIC – COLLECTIVE HOUSING IN BUCHAREST Part 1 Project 2011 Oana Muresan Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism | Romania The project follows two main aspects that have given it birth by every meaning: aspect, functionality, flexibility in use, structure, possibility of actual existence. The first aspect regards the site, which has an overview appearance of an “under construction” area, like a fabric texture made of too many materials, some in contradiction. It is situated at the confluence of two different urban typology streets: a main boulevard hungry for architectural evolution, that needs to redefine its density, visual impact, functionality, through the new urban pattern; and a smaller street, part of the traditional Bucharest urban tissue, that feels like a “living museum”, defined by a collection of houses with architectural value and low density. The first question that arises is: how should the living “in-between” be like? In a city where urban development has just begun, where architectural improvement is demanded by the new society, but without harming the nearby “living museum” , eventually highlighting one another, the answer lies in the art of conceiving a lifestyle between collective and individual housing. As a conclusion of the urban analysis, the project proposes a synthesis between the traditional and new-developed tissue translated into 3D plots which compose the model. In addition to this, the answer regarding the living typology requested here, is completed by the second main aspect, which, more conceptually, explains the plans, defines the spaces. It’s about defining the actual meaning of “collective housing” in the way people are affected by it in reality. “I’d consider a 'collective' to be a group of people who have made a choice to join together towards a particular end, whereas one can be a member of a community without any conscious decision to join it.” 24 January 2009, an opinion from an Internet Forum.This is an important aspect in defining: private-public area, collective spaces, access spaces, privacy, community. It also gives the rules of division of the interior functions: where the living is located and why. The project consists of 40 living-units: flats, hybrid units somewhere between flat and house, row-houses situated above the ground floor, in the north. Oana Muresan Tutor(s)Prof Emil Barbu Popescu