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Norma Arhitectura
The inside of the Bánffy Castle main building in Bonţida village is now in the public imagination due to a
Norma Arhitectura
REFRAME
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Location
: Bánffy Castle, Bonțida, Cluj County, Romania
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Architecture office
: Norma Arhitectura
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Design team
: Alexandru Fleșeriu, Péter Eszter
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Collaborators
: Hegedüs Csilla, Adela Luiza Avram, Csenge Patakfalvi, Gabriela Postole, Györgyi Németh, Somorácz Miklós, Berki Tímea, Bikfalvi Márton, Lénárd Levente, Kovács Stefan, Nagy István, Botos Attila, Vinczellér Pista, Boldizsár János, Istvan‑Matyas Tupper Máté
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Net floor area
: approx. 220 sqm
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Design period
: April – August 2016
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Implementation
: August – September 2016
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Photographs
: Alexandru Fleșeriu
The inside of the Bánffy Castle main building in Bonţida village is now in the public imagination due to a combination of historical architectural richness in its present dilapidated state and the contemporary spirit of cultural events, such as music festivals that have already enshrined in this built framework.
The Waiting for Revival contest organized by the Transylvania Trust has provided an opportunity for young architects, designers and craftsmen to participate in a creative and practical process in order to lay the foundation for future Center of Art and Crafts, which will function over the next five years in the premises of several rooms in the main building, until the entire complex will be properly rehabilitated. The outstanding challenge was to design ensembles able to touch as little as possible the existing historic structure, a feature which was assumed in the interventions proposed by the team. Since there is currently no door frames, the first contact with the building will be made by switches located near the main entrance. The central room, which will become a multifunctional space, resulted from the collapse of the vaults above the ground floor. We have appealed to the idea of suggesting the original structure of the building by a lighting installation consisting of light sources placed on the concrete frame of the upper floor, which is an intervention from the ’60s. The copper chandelier becomes the central point of the intimate scene created beneath the only remaining vault in this space, surrounded by benches with Thonet backrests. They are designed to serve the secondary purpose of storage, in order to support various events taking place in the multipurpose hall.
In the two smaller rooms, crafts workshops will be organized. The furniture pieces are designed as multipurpose items: working table or storage with support for tools, with lighting sources to enhance the interior space characteristics.
The implementation of the interior design project was done during the workshop organized by Transylvania Trust in the summer of 2016, with volunteering participants and craftsmen from the castle.
