MNAC ¾ Art Gallery at National Theatre Bucharest

• bab 2008 | the exhibition of the most valuable Romanian architectural works completed in the last two years

• rudolf fraenkel urban architectures | monographic exhibition, organized by bfstudio-Architekten from Berlin and Goethe Institute, Bucharest

Museum of Romanian Peasant

• small ideas for a big city | architectural low-budget projects exhibition

• avantgarde and continuity | Croatian modern and contemporary architectural exhibition

• FFF08 | Hungarian contemporary architectural exposition

• NO | photo-installation, Romanian public space. Author: Ştefan Tuchilă

• hyperlocked | installation. author: Radu Comşa

• 3 architecture conferences under the zeppelin brand | special guests: arch. Manuel Bailo (Spain), Hrvoje Njiric (Croatia), Jaroslav Wertig (Czech Republic)

• architecture and sustainable development | conference organized by Velux. special guests: Per Olaf Fjeld (Norway), Rolf Gerstlauer (Switzerland), Lisbeth Funck (Deutschland)

Art Galleries of Bucharest

• 35 cities, a lot of pixels, some coffee | photography exhibition on contemporary architecture

Oct 15/ National Museum of Contemporary Art ¾ floor gallery, Bucharest National Theatre, 2 Nicolae Bălcescu Blvd:

“MADE IN ROMANIA” varnishing day exhibition and the Biennial official opening  (18:30 hours)

MADE IN ROMANIA is the exhibition-competition of works of Romanian architects completed in the last 2 years. The exhibition is organized in 6 sections: architecture I  (for a built surface under 1000 sqm), architecture II  (for a built surface over 1000 sqm), interior design, restoration and rehabilitation, urbanism and publications. For the first time, the jury has two foreign members: the president of the jury, Manuel Bailo (ADD+Arquitectura, Barcelona) and Hrvoje Njiric (njiric+ arhitekti, Zagreb). The jury make a preselection of the projects to be presented in the contest and, after the varnishing day, the nominees on each section are announced and than the medals. The exhibition is open to the public between 15 October-15 November.

Oct17-Nov15/ Art Galleries of Bucharest Municipality, Museum of Bucharest Municipality, 15 Academiei Steet

35 cities, a lot of pixels, some coffee: architecture photography exhibition. Meeting the authors Ştefan Tuchilă and Cosmin Caciuc on November, 10 (19:00 hours)

Oct17-Nov15/ Romanian Peasant Museum, 3 Kiseleff Blvd, Acquarium Hall :

„Small ideas for a big city”

An exhibition of low-budget projects for the public space, about architecture and urbanism, society, the environment, our current Romanian development. The exhibition is critical and provide information in an innovative manner, going for a new-media exploration of difficult or dreary topics through an audio-video channel.

Oct17/ Romanian Peasant Museum, Horia Bernea Hall (14:00 – 18:00 hours)
A.     CONFERENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF JURY – Arch. Manuel Bailo (Spain)
B.     CONFERENCE OF ARCH. HRVOJE NJIRIC, jury member (Croatia)
C.     CONFERENCE OF ARCH. JAROSLAV WERTIG (Czech Republic)

Oct17/ Romanian Peasant Museum, 3 Kiseleff Blvd, FOAIER Hall

“NO” – architecture photography exhibition. Author: Ştefan Tuchilă. The exhibition is composed by photo commentaries on the urban phenomenon.

Oct17/ Romanian Peasant Museum, 3 Kiseleff Blvd, OASPEŢI Hall

varnishing day of FFF08 exhibition – young Magyar architects in black and white (19:00 hours)

varnishing day of Avantgarde and Continuity - modern and contemporary Croatian architecture

A series of parallel events will compose this edition of Biennial, dedicated this year to the theme of the architectural phenomenon from Central and Eastern Europe. The region – now part or on the way of being completely integrated into the European Union – is looking for a new own identity. The countries from region have to meet with almost similar conditions due to the communist past; as regarding architecture and urban planning, the experience of solving similar situations is relating us even more than we could realize. The idea of BAB2008 is to better understand and learn from the neighbourhood.

Oct 20/ Romanian Peasant Museum, 3 Kiseleff Blvd, Horia Bernea Hall: BIENNIAL AWARDS FESTIVITY

Oct 29/ National Museum of Contemporary Art ¾ floor gallery, Bucharest National Theatre, 2 Nicolae Bălcescu Blvd:

Exhibition dedicated to Rudolf Fraenkel, german architect. Open to the public between Oct 29-Nov 20.

Nov 6/ Romanian Peasant Museum, Horia Bernea Hall: ARCHITECTURE AS AWARENESS IN TIME. Conference organized by Velux Romania on architecture and sustainable development. Special invitees: Per Olaf Fjeld (NOR), Rolf Gerstlauer (CH), Lisbeth Funck (DE) 

Nov 15/ CLOSING OF THE EXHIBITIONS

2009/ A national caravan of the Romanian exhibition of architecture & design: As in the two previous editions, the exhibition of Romanian projects will travel in 9 cities across the country (Cluj, Timişoara, Braşov, Oradea, Sibiu, Iaşi, Suceava, Craiova and Constanta). Part of the caravan, workshops, round tables and other events will take place in those cities, in partnerships with local branches of UAR and the Order of Architects in Romania.

This edition brings an important change related to the jury. In order to achieve more objectivity and an international perspective, the president of the jury was at the previous editions a Romanian architect from abroad.  At this edition, the president of the jury is a well-known architect from a European country.

The unique jury for all the BAB sections is composed by 7 architects, from which one is the the President.  In the jury take part nominees authors and winners from the previous editions and also well-known professionals.

The jury is helped by a Secretary that has no right to vote, but is in charge with the filling of the records to be signed by the members of the jury.

Members

Arch. Manuel Bailo, Spain (President of the jury)
Manages together with Rosa Rull Beltran the office Bailo + Rull. ADD + Architecture from Barcelona. Together they won a lot of prizes and nominations at the Spanish Architecture Biennial, FAD prizes and others. Their work has been presented in 2006 at MoMa, New York and published in Detail, Arquitectura Viva, A+U, ACTAR publications etc. Manuel Bailo is teaching at Urbanism Department of Architecture School in Barcelona (ETSAB-UPC).
www.addarquitectura.net

Arch. Hrjove Njiric, Croatia
He worked between 1990 and 2001 within the office njiric + njiric architekti together with Helena Njiric (Zagreb/Graz) and founded in 2002 njiric +architekti in Zagreb. Among the contests that he won we mention Europan 3. His projects were exhibited and also presented within some articles and files in El Croquis, Domus, Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, Quaderns, Architektur aktuell, The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture etc
www.njiric.com

Arch. Adrian Florin Ionaşiu, Timişoara
He manages together with Erica Gabriela Dudas and Carla Marian Dudas the office Arhitekt Studio A and “de arhitectura” magazine, both in Timisoara. The magazine was nominated at Publications section within 2004 edition of BAB.  Adrian Florin Ionaşiu is the President of the Timis branch of the Romanian Architecture Order.
www.de-arhitectura.ro

Arch. Ildiko Mitru, Baia-Mare
Together with Ştefan Pascucz, she is Managing Partner of the 9Optiune office. They won a lot of prizes, among which the big prize at the contest of ideas for revitalizing the historic centre of Baia Mare – 1999, the big trophy of Ministry of Culture for Millenium Affairs Centre III Baia Mare, “Arhitext design 2005” award for Libertăţii Square rehabilitation.

Arch. Gabriel Roşca, Sibiu
He won together with Laura Iordache (Cooplan office) the medal of the section Restoration-Rehabilitation within 2004 edition of BAB for the work Mihail Eminescu’s Trust Foundation Office. Gabriel Roşca is also the President of Sibiu-Vâlcea branch of the Romanian Architecture Order.

Arch. Szolt Tovvisi, Miercurea Ciuc
He established his independent practice in Miercurea Ciuc. His works were presented at international exhibitions and the work “Gheorghieni, Tower Bells” was nominated within Arhitectura < 1000 sqm section at the 2006 edition of BAB.  In 2007, the project was published in the Dutch magazine A10.

Arch. Ştefan Ghenciulescu, Bucharest
His activity is based on architecture design, design and urbanism research, teaching. Since 2001 he is Editor-in-Chief at Arhitectura magazine. He is co-author and the winner of the contest organized for the Romanian Pavilion within the Venice Biennale (2006), the winner of the Publications section (2004 and 2007) and projects (2008) within the Architecture Annual, being also nominated at the Publications section within 2002 BAB edition.

Deputy member
Arch. Andrei Şerbescu, Bucharest
He runs together with Adrian Untaru the AND_BA office. Together with Bogdan Săuleanu they gained a nomination at the 2004 edition of BAB, design architecture and design section with the work Mediterraneo Restaurant from Neptun. His dissertation work from Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism was rewarded within the RIBA international contest.

The exhibition is organized in 6 sections:

1. architecture I  < 1000 sqm: architecture built on a surface under 1000 sqm, works finalized in the last 2 years
2. architecture II  > 1000 sqm: architecture built on a surface over 1000 sqm, works finalized in the last 2 years
3. urbanism and urban planning: urbanism and urban planning projects elaborated in the last 2 years; urban and territory research projects;  public spaces design projects, finalized in the last 2 years
4. interior design, scenography, public space design: interior design, scenery and scenography projects finalized in the last 2 years
5. restoration of the architecture monuments and buildings rehabilitation: restoration, rehabilitation, conversion works finalized in the last 2 years
6. architecture publications: specialty works as books, published studies, architecture films and CD’s or DVD’s published in the last 2 years. Magazines or any periodicals are excluded.

The Bucharest Architecture Biennial (BAB) represents the top architecture event in Romania. Organized since 1992 by the Union of Romanian Architects (UAR), the Biennial awards the best last two years architecture of Romanian architects in the country and abroad, based on criteria set by an international jury. A whole series of connected events are meant to define architecture as a social and cultural value, and also as a major resource of urban economic development.

For the last two editions, the organization of the Biennial was delegated by UAR to the team of “Arhitectura” Magazine (the publication of the Union, founded in 1906). BAB2004 and BAB2006 truly succeeded in bring architecture into the public space (over 25,000 visitors in Bucharest and 8 other cities where the caravan-exhibition was followed by substantial media profiling) and the opening to the wide international stage (exhibitions, workshops, round tables with top architects in Spain in 2004 and Japan in 2006).

Exhibitions, conferences and workshops organized by Arhitectura magazine within 2004 and 2006 Biennial editions had as invitees some well-known architects from Japan and Spain, as partner countries. At the 2008 edition of the Biennial, the focus in upon the region and the invitees are among the most important artists and architects from the neighbours former communist countries: Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia etc.