Garaj Deschis / OPEN Garage

On March 26, the 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 (𝐁𝐀𝐅) space (13 Amzei Street) hosted, as part of the 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 and the 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭, a panel discussion featuring 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐬 (architectural historian, director of INTI), 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐧 (landscape architect, Rotterdam City Urban Development Department), and 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐀𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞 (architect, OPEN Garage), as well as the Romanian launch of the publication 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 | 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, produced as part of the European project New Towns New Narratives, coordinated by the International New Town Institute (INTI) and funded by the European Union through the CERV program.

On this occasion, an exhibition curated by Raluca Paraschiv and Alex Axinte was also opened, dedicated to the Drumul Taberei district, which is organized around a looping boulevard and has undergone several successive transformations. Designed by a young team of architects, the district was structured into microrayons and has become a remarkable example of collective living thanks to its extensive green spaces, educational, sports, and cultural infrastructure, as well as informal gardening and leisure activities.

Housing, as a form of adaptation and domestication of the standardized spaces of the original design, is represented in the exhibition through images characteristic of the neighbourhood’s early period - “Monografia Drumul Taberei” (1973) from the Mihai Oroveanu Image Collection, and photographs from the 1980s - 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞 and 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮, through academic research and products of socio-anthropological research – the collection of the Garaj DESCHIS / OPEN Garage project (2020–2025), objects found or borrowed from current and former residents of the neighbourhood, documentary images from the collection of the Oraș în Buclă (City in a Loop) creative critical research residency (2024), and works of contemporary art - 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐢 & 𝐁𝐨𝐠𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮, 𝐈𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐭̦ 𝐃𝐮𝐥𝐚̆𝐦𝐢𝐭̦𝐚̆, Ana Kun, 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐧, 𝐑𝐮𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐍𝐢𝐭̦𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮, 𝐓𝐮𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐓̦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐮.

The New Towns | New Narratives project brings together a European network of partners from 16 new towns - new cities or districts built in the 1960s and 1970s based on modernist plans, often as industrial towns or satellite cities of historic cities. Today, many of these areas face social and demographic challenges, a fragile public image, and the need to redefine their identity. The initiative aims to explore new ways of telling the stories of these places and to rediscover the forms of collective life and creativity that have developed within them. The volume Telling the Story. New Towns, New Narratives, edited by 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 and 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐀𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞 and published in 2025 by the International New Town Institute (INTI), is the result of the shared concerns of the project partners. The texts illustrate various ways to shift the tone and perspective of the usual narratives - often marked by stigmatization - through which these neighbourhoods are represented. The editorial approach draws on the research and activation project, as well as on the extensive experience gained in the field by those involved in local cultural and community life.

Open on the ground floor of an apartment building, in a former garage—which had previously served as a pharmacy and a tailor shop - 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐣 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐒/ 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 - began as an academic research project by Alex Axinte on informal practices in Drumul Taberei and, over the course of five years of activity, into a community space dedicated to the neighbourhood’s memory: a library, archive, exhibition space, workshop, and research hub. The exhibition features materials from the OPEN Garage archive, the Map of Collective Practices in the Buclă (The Loop), and a series of videos directed by 𝐈𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐳𝐚𝐬𝐳 documenting the researched themes.

Initiated by Raluca Paraschiv and the 𝐑𝐄𝐂 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞), the Oraș în buclă (𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩) project facilitated creative critical research on the Drumul Taberei district by organizing artist residencies in an apartment building in the neighbourhood and compiling a living archive of meetings with specialists and local residents, speculative interventions, and diverse interpretations of the shared space.

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲: Bucharest Regional Branch of the Romanian Order of Architects, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest (USAMV), Salonul de Proiecte, Favorit Business.
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨: Dan Dinescu, Mihai Iancu, Ciprian Isac, Anca Oroveanu, Sorina Petra.
𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬: Delia Barbu, Alessia Barbu, Iulia-Maria Crangă, Natalia-Nicoleta Gheorghiță, Rebeca Grad, Alex Răbâia, Ana Rășanu, Miruna Rădulescu, Ruxandra Săndulescu.
𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬: Alex Axinte, Maia Axinte, Dragoș Dogioiu, Denisa Duma, Raluca Paraschiv, Joris Vermeiren.

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬:
𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: https://www.newtowninstitute.org/spip.php?article1482
𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: https://www.newtowninstitute.org/spip.php?rubrique179
𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://www.naibooksellers.nl/telling-the-story-new-towns-new-narratives-inti.html?___SID=U&fbclid=IwY2xjawQS7XVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETB6Z21qQnhCYVVVc2VYWDhUc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnN4kuDtEUwuD9BZfYBO_O7TibRtGMiuek7C7b6NLsLe8K8nelc_dHXHeICn_aem_9wHVdzyaSTcm-J4hC4uahQ

𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫: International New Town Institute (INTI), Rotterdam, 2025
𝐈𝐒𝐁𝐍: 9789081752046
𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: Michelle Provoost, Alex Axinte
𝐂𝐨-𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬: Blaž Kosovel, Oksana Denisenko, Aneta Vasileva, Elša Turkušić Jurić, Irfan Salihagić, Maja Pličanić, Joris Vermeiren, Alex Axinte, Jochen Becker, Béatrix Goeneutte, Marianne Lebreton, Roberta Moneta, Valeria Battaini, Francesca Mainetti, Gabriella Zsinka.
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐬: INTI, with the exception of Nova Gorica (Blaž Kosovel).
𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Simone Rots, Caterina Tioli.
𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭: Boglarka Toth
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧: Ewout Dorman