varga bettina-evelin
Portofolio
“At stake is our own understanding not just of art but of our own place in the world...� (Karsten Harries)
varga bettina - evelin 4th year architecture student
bettina.varga95@gmail.com +40722878619 Timisoara, Romania
If I were to define myself, I would not know what I am, an ARCHITECT OR AN ARTIST. If I were to know what being an artist truly is, I wouldn’t be one anymore. I think that art is about REACTION AND DECISION but also about dealing with a lot of QUESTIONS between what you do and do not know. It’s like rephrasing the same question, but you never know what you are answering. The environment architects work in, is more than a material one – physical, social, economic etc. – it is also a psychological one, a CLIMATE OF IDEAS involving the mental outlook of men, how, at a given moment, men view the WORLD AND THEMSELVES in it. One of the key terms is the need to negotiate between both PLACE AND SPACE – for architecture to acknowledge both the sheltering power of place and the indefinite promise of open space (the hut, for instance, operates through an enclosing that also opens, since the boundedness of walls and roof is what makes possible the open room within); the open is that which EXPANDS OUTWARDS INTO THE WORLD and the bounded or enclosed that which contracts inwards towards, ultimately, THE SELF.
curriculum vitae Education • POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF TIMISOARA Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAUT) - Bacheloris Degree (2014 - pres) • IULIA HASDEU NATIONAL COLLEGE, LUGOJ Mathematics & Informatics High School Diploma (2010 - 2014)
Volunteering experience and Collaborations • ASOCIATIA DE LA PATRU - ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS’ ORGANIZATION, TIMISOARA Member (2014 - 2018) Coordinator of the Department of Marketing (2016 - 2017) Member and the project coordinator of “Seri(i)le D`arc” project • EASA - EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS ASSEMBLY Member (2017 - pres) Participated in EASA 2017 - Hospitality - Finding the Framework International Summer Camp, Fredericia, DENMARK Workshop tutor at EASA 2018 SESAM “Ex-Nihilo” Spring Architecture School, Chereya, BELARUS • MONUMENTUM ASSOCIATION Volunteer (2016 - 2017) Participated at “Casa cu Har” Restoration Summer School, Toparcea, Sibiu Couny, ROMANIA • FAUT & GISAS ASSOCIATION Volunteer (2015) Participated at iiSebes 2.0ii, an urban mapping and city regeneration Summer Programme • THE ORDER OF ARCHITECTS OF ROMANIA AND SPACE CAVIAR STUDIO Volunteer (2015) Art Encounters 2015 Contemporary Arts Festival, TIMISOARA Alpha Beta Sigma International Experimental Workshop, led by Space Caviar Studio (Italy)
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General Information • CURRENT LOCATION: Timisoara, Romania • DATE OF BIRTH: 31.07.1995 • CITIZENSHIP: Romanian, Hungarian
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Skills and Interests • LANGUAGES Hungarian (First language) Romanian English French • COMPUTER SKILLS Archicad 21 Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Media Encoder Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) • PUBLIC SPEAKING 3 years experience as presenter at Seri(i)le D’arc cultural event • TRAVELING Preference for long and difficult mountain hikes, camping Urban Exploration • BOOKBINDING Manual realization of notebooks, using mainly recycled materials • PAINTING AND WATERCOLOR ILLUSTRATION
Achievements • CONTESTS: 1st prize at “Fredericia Health Center Entrance” International Competition, Fredericia, DENMARK, 2017 • DESIGN: bookcover design for the upcoming indie novel “Decolorat” by Miruna - Lavinia • EXHIBITED WORK: 1st years students’ selected model exhibition 2015, “Casa cu Har” Summer School Exhibtion 2017, “Joia culturala - Dintr-o lume în alta lume” illustrations exhibition
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index Design Studio • Tertrapolis 8 • Ciprian Porumbescu st. Apartment Block • Revitalization of “Fabrica de gheata” (Ice Factory)
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Contests • 24H Competiton - Simulacrum • CASA 32 • Fredericia Health Center Entrance Hall
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Extracurricular / Workshops • Mental Garden 45 • EASA 2017 - Falling Man 2.0 Workshop 46 • Casa cu Har 2016 Summer School 48 • Seri(i)le D’arc 50 • Graphic Design 51 • Alpha Beta Sigma Workshop 52
Hobbies • Bookbinding 53 • Painting and illustrations 54 • Modelmaking 56
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“Casa cu Har” Restoration Summer School 2016, Topârcea, Sibiu County, Romania
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9 tetrapolis 2nd semester design studio, FAU Timisoara, 2015
This project was a SIMULATION GAME with the mission to build 4 “neighbourhoods”, one for each of our 4 design studio groups. Our small city, like any city, had its beneficiaries; in our case, it had to be a CHARACTER FROM LITERATURE or a known personality of our own liking. Analyzing our “client”, we had to create a HOME for our character on a given lego-like site, in the same time NEGOCIATING WITH OUR NEIGHBOURS in order to create a city that is composed of multiple SPATIAL SEQUENCES, PASSAGES, MOTION DIRECTIONS, VIEWPOINTS, relaxation areas. All are negotiated through the relationship that exists between the PUBLIC and the PRIVATE space. Our main task was to set a BALANCE between the two.
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The 4 completed neighbourhoods together; we can observe that they each look differently, with their own style and atmosphere but they are homogenous and each individual negociated successfully with their vicinity to obtain qualititive public and private spaces.
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Sketch of solution axonometry in early stages
Top view of the final solution
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14 The Ciprian Porumbescu street is located near Balcescu Square in
Timisoara, Romania, being one of the MAIN SQUARES in the city. This area being populated with mostly DEGRADED century-old residential buildings, our proposition had the purpose of REVITALIZING THE AREA and bring new residents to this central zone while offering a QUALITATIVE ATMOSPHERE: seven apartments, all equipped with private terraces, underground parking, bicycle rack, a common kitchen and socializing space and a green playground with relaxation area in the backyard.
ciprian porumbescu street apartment block 5th and 6th semester design studio, FAU Timisoara, 2016 - 2017
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The area is abundant is green spaces which can offer a beautiful perspective and air quality; unfortunately, these spaces are often left adrift. Mainly being a residential area with height regime varying from houses with only ground floor, often with a semi-basement level, to houses with 1 or 2 upper floors, my project had extended this height but kept all the imposed regulations.
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View from the interior courtyard.
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On the right, we can observe the public passages which connect the two parts of the building; thus, every resident can admire the courtyard while being protected by the hot sun rays in the Summer. Thus, my wish was to create a very tight connection between the man and nature, the residents being in the middle of “green� even in unconventional spaces which have often attributed secondary functions, exactly like circulation areas which are often left without natural light and ventilation in Romanian apartment blocks.
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Ground floor plan
First floor plan
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2nd floor plan
3rd floor plan
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Covered common hangout place for residents, under the passageway leading to the 2nd part of the residential block
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Pedestrian and vehicle entrance from the street level
22 The ex-”ice factory”, built in 1910, is in a poor shape in the present but its evolving surroundings present a huge OPPORTUNITY for a new life. Situated in the Iosefin neighbourhood in Timisoara, this area is set to become the city’s new CORPORATE and BUSINESS distric. Thus, “Fabrica de gheata” will embrace an new and emerging group of users and, after the restoration, it will inhabit a SOCIAL PLAYGROUND for adults, practically, an afterwork facility: a public house with a touch of DOMESTICITY.
“Fabrica de gheata” revitalization 8th semester design studio, FAU Timisoara, 2018
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Considering the fact that Timisoara was accorded the opportunity to become the Capital of Culture in 2021, until this date (included), the building will function as a contemporay art and performance gallery.
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On the long term, the building is going to become a social playground for corporate people and young families living in the newly buily apartment buildings nearby. The main structural interventions were applied to the consolidation of existing concrete beamn and masonry columns, including the addition of a new staircase to the basement wich is proposed to accomodate a wine cellar. While the public ground flood (+visitable wine cellar) is destined for larger groups of people, the upper floors offer the possibility of renting by certain groups of friends or colleagues.
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28 24 h competition - matrix
SIMULACRUM teammates: Nica Madalina, Timut Sergiu; 2017
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We live in an age when EVERYTHING CHANGES in the blink of an eye. Our conception of reality has ceased to be physical REALITY to become a possible UNREALITY. Based on the idea that all we see are mere projections created withing us, the PERCEPTION OF REALITY varies from person to person. At some point in our life we have to choose a PATH, make a CHOICE, follow the INSTINCT: blue or red, reality or illusion. You’re in Times Square, what you see may not be what you think it is. Influenced by light, time or space, follow your instinct and draw your perception of reality.
“Have you ever had a dream, Neo, in which you were so sure it was real?” - Morpheus
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Watercolor illustration of the city of Sighisoara, Romania. On the middle-left part our site can be seen.
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ANNUAL ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS’ CONTEST 2016
CASA CASA
4 semester design studio, FAU Timisoara, 2016 teammate: Timut Sergiu th
7 families, 7 medieval guilds, 7th edition of the contest. The creation of 7 INDIVIDUAL HOMES in the medieval city of Sighisoara, on a site with a steep SLOPE might have raised some feasability questions but we accepted the challenge. We chose to create 2 or even 3 partially overlaying houses, while offering a beautiful VIEW, PRIVACY AND EXCITMENT to each of the resident families.
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The residents “inherited� a medieval guild and they continue to work in the leather craftsmanship’s domain. The access into the house leads the way into living and dining areas. The ground floor includes a guestroom for the occasional visits of the grandparents, helping the resident family. The superior level permits the illumination of the entire house, thus, each room can beneficiate the best possibility of privacy and light.
One detailed house from the seven houses proposed to the site.
The medieval city of Sighisoara has an organic disposition of streets margined by residential lots. Our site, having a big slope, we turned it into our advantage: we created overlapping houses, each of them keeping its individuality.
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Street view of the model. In front we can observe the covered parking lots which can be accessed on the upper level as a green space, intented with the purpose of panorama viewing and relaxation area. The glass-facade building in the middle houses a common dining space which can be completely opened to the common interior yard.
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The main conceptual ideas that define our solution.
Facade of the ansamble from the lower street.
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GREEN, GREEN, IT’S GREEN THEY SAY ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE HILL GREEN, GREEN, I’M GOING AWAY TO WHERE THE GRASS IS GREENER STILL
38 24 h competition (1 st prize)
FREDERICIA HEALTHCARE CENTER ENTRANCE teammates: Rune Arleth (Denmark), Sebastian Bidault (Mexico), 2017, Fredericia, Demark http://www.fyens.dk/modules/mobile/article?articleid=3172801
Once being a municipal hospital, now it is being RECONVERTED into Denmark’s best healthcare center. This center, besides creating synergies and COOPERATION between the various operators that can help to create a comprehensive BOOST for citizens’ HEALTH, it should also serve as a natural GATHERING SPACE for many citizen groups.
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Åbent Elevatorrum
Ventilation
Gang
Espalier
Lounge
Bath room
Cold storage
Gang
Changing room
Storage
Køkken Vinduer til trappeopgangen
e Bar
Granitfliser
Café
Espalier Atrie Reception Sundhedshus Fynsgade
Administration
Forbindelse
Terasse
LEGEPLADS Havet
Kontor
Gyngestativ
Ping Pong
Our response for the competition drew inspiration from the history of Fredericia, embedding the structural and sculptural aspect of the old rusty H-type steel railways that were left behind at the abandoned train station. The proposal is the result of the convergence of ideas that emphasize the experience of the moment and place, nature and people. One of our main intentions was to create a visual flow that connects the city to the seaside, first of all by converting the main hallway into a transparent volume but also with playing around the surrounding terrain and landscape; thus we eliminated the rigid physical limit that separated the interior space from the exterior and now acts as an extension of the architectural scenario.
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Secondary entrance by the seashore
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2. 3.
1. Rails - reused from local tracks 2. Thermo-panes, 3 layers, 6mm glass 3. Wooden frames 4. Insulation
Transversal section through the new entrance hall. Although the previous entrace has been only one s open lobby and ground floor.
story high, we extended its height and kept the upper floor only as a “bridge� that crosses over an
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44 mental garden in collaboration with Altfel Studio, Street Delivery Festival, Timisoara, 2017 https://www.altfelstudio.com/gradina-mentala
This pavilion is an INTERACTIVE installation, a dichotomous space, born from the contradictions existing in the public spaces of Timisoara, between the BEAUTIFUL landscapes, the central areas and the IGNORED, leftover, ugly and peripheral spaces of the city. Their coexistence marks the TWO DIMENSIONS of the pavilion - the outer and the inner one.
The main function of the pavilion is to convey a message, to generate a dialogue between it and the user. After interacting with the beautiful green side of the outer shell of the pavilion, the user will be greeted by a chaotic, overwhelming space in the interior (realized with the help of local graphic artists). After contemplating, the user has to make a decision: he may leave this habitat or act directly on his cleansing. Thus, by a simple mechanism, the user is urged to over paint one of the negative messages with a prepared brush and white paint. This will be a symbolic gesture through which participants are urged to contribute to maintaining the cleanliness of “urban gardens”, thus also contributing to their own “mental garden’s” health.
Although the main idea of this project was mainly finished when I joined the team, my contribution consisted of helping constantly with the physical realization, working with materials, “decorating” the interior with chaotic messages and also, acted as a curator of the pavilion during the 3 days of the festival.
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46 falling man 2.0 workshop part of EASA Denmark - Hospitality - Finding the Framework tuturors: Jean Ebejer, Samuel Cremona (Malta) https://www.facebook.com/EASAfallingman/
“An exploratory experiment of space and non-space. Existence and non-existence. Groundedness and suspension. Mind and mindlessness. Feeling and numbness. Consciousness and unconsciousness.’’ The workshop focused on exploring and delving into the variety of spaces and changing environments in Fredericia; from the land-sea interface, to the harbour post-industrial lands, to the urban city and finally the natural setting that encircles the fortified city.
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The workshop immersed us into the atmosphere and essence of Fredericia by examining and documenting these experiences through a variety of subjective media such as film, prose, photography, sketching and audio. This way we aimed to take a snapshot in time of Fredericia through our investigation of the changing Frederician context - documenting a city in transition. The 2 week workshop ended with a public multimedia exhibition of our gathered information.
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At the first glance it may seem as a worthless abandoned house, but getting to know its history reveals many secrets and demostrates that it is a building worth restoring. While my team was responsible for the partial restoration of the main facade, using only traditional materials and techniques, other volunteers worked together to restore the main porch and barn of the site.
casa cu har
Restoration Summer School, Toparcea, Sibiu County, Romania, 2016 https://www.facebook.com/casacuhar/
The first step was cleaning the base of the brick wall of the old mortar and cleaning in thoroughly from any remining dangerous particles.
We only worked with traditional materials and techniques in order not to alter the memory of the house. This is how we prepared the mortar manually.
49 The application of the fresh mortar and technique of applying it.
Our workshop also included the partial restoration of the degraded cornice of the main facade. This “scaffold� was used for retracing the exact shape.
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I was MEMBER OF THE ORGANISING TEAM for 2 years and PROJECT COORIDNATOR for 1 year; my task consisted throughout the years of contacting the speakers, paperwork concerning accomodation and transport and, of course, PUBLIC SPEAKING during the biweekly events.
seri(i)le d’arc a project of Asociatia de la Patru, The Architecture Students’ Association of Timisoara 2014-2017 http://asociatiadela4.ro/parteneriat/seriile-darc/ With a history of 8 years, “Seri(i)le D’arc” (eng. “D’arc Series”) consists of CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS on architecture, urbanism, travel, music, photography, which have become a PLATFORM FOR DIALOGUE. With these events, we promote education, encourage COMMUNICATION AND INTERACTION between professions and their participation in the educational and cultural - social life. Seri(i)le D’arc, followed by discussions between students, teachers, professionals and the general public, are housed in an informal setting of D’arc Café - Bar in the historic city center of Timisoara.
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I was member of the Department of Marketing for 2 years and COORDINATOR OF DEPARTMENT for 1 year; my task consisted of realising promotional materials for our events, such as POSTERS, FLYERS, tickets and stickers. Usually, we worked either alone, but mainly in teams to share ideas, using Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop or manual illustration.
graphic design posters for the events of Asociatia de la Patru, The Architecture Students’ Association of Timisoara 2016-2017 http://asociatiadela4.ro/
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The purpose of the workshop was to re-discover the educational model initiated by the artistic group “Sigma” almost 50 years ago, by exploring the ways in which the educational, experimental and collaborative platform can evolve in favor of the contemporary context
alpha beta sigma workshop tutors: Space Caviar Studio (Italy) Timisoara, 2016
DETACHMENT teammates: Raoul Bologea, Anita Perta
We were looking for a rule. A leaf can fall a thousand times, from the same branch but maybe never in the same way. The wind, the height, the weight, the shape and outline of a leaf make every movement of the falling unique. This is the way our experiment was born. We created a mechanism that allowed us the “detachment” of the same leaf over and over again and allow us to find a pattern. The installation, a dynamic “observation machine”, with its vibrations caused by the wind, represents the steps of a “detachment” from a branch until the moment of the landing in an artificial way, static as a natural phenomena but a lot more revealing.
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At first, we only made notebooks for personal use but in time it developed into a small online shop. Using mostly recycled materials (such as leather from old clothes in perfect shape), we always wished to create something original and interesting which cannot be found in shops and bookstores.
bookbinding
BeaM team handmade shop, together with my colleague, Madalina Nica https://www.facebook.com/beamteam21/
54 painting & watercolor illustration
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.759077270783573.1073741834.100000439208261&type=1&l=ce38074b81
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“Desolate Wasteland”
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Central area of Timisoara, Romania, with a new project proposed for implementation by the Architecture Firm Andreescu & Gaivoronschi
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57 modelmaking
Peter Eisenman’s House III
Wooden structured roof stratification
Venice Biennale of Architecture, 2016
Thank you!
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