24 YEARS IN THE SERVICE OF ROMANIAN HERITAGE AND COMMUNITIES
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Studying the types of plaster and textures – incredibly diverse in form, materiality and manufacturing – we also observed the types of decay that are encountered. Many people ask us how to repair them. That’s why the Pro Patrimonio team continues to study practical ways of intervening in different situations. We are currently studying repairs to a fence plinth made of bush-hammered similipierre, which was loose and cracked, and cleaning graffiti designs on different types of plaster.
The problems encountered on the fence are much more complicated than we initially estimated: very high humidity in the brick structure, poor quality support layers, detachments over much larger areas than the initial analysis. Work is currently underway to repair the structure and straighten the wall (it was leaning dangerously close to the street).
Regarding the cleaning of the graffiti drawings on the facade, we had technical discussions and some practical tests with the company Clean Teach Expert, which uses gel solutions to dissolve the pigments in the graffiti paints and then washes them with a hot water jet. Old drawings dissolve more slowly and need to be scrubbed off with a soft brush, but this can erode poor surface plasters. It is important that after cleaning, the facade is treated with a protective solution to prevent future spray paints from penetrating deep into the facade, in line with a functional and consistent City Hall policy to discourage this type of vandalism in the city.
25 Mai 2021
Today the European Commission and Europa Nostra have just announced the 2021 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards, the EU prize for cultural heritage funded by the Creative Europe programme. This year, Europe’s top honour in the heritage field goes to 24 exemplary achievements from 18 European countries.
Among this year’s winners is the Wooden Church of Urși Village, Vâlcea County, (România), laureate project in the Conservation category, designed and coordinated by the Pro Patrimonio Foundation.
The Award winners were selected by independent juries composed of heritage experts from across Europe, upon evaluation of candidatures submitted by organisations and individuals from 30 European countries.
(The winners are listed alphabetically by country)
Category Conservation
Category Research
Category Dedicated Service to Heritage by Organisations & Individuals
Category Education, Training and Awareness-raising
IMPORTANT: Heritage supporters and enthusiasts from across the world are now encouraged to discover the winners and vote online to decide who will win this year’s Public Choice Award. The Public Choice Award winner will be announced during the European Heritage Awards Ceremony, which will take place in the autumn of this year. The Grand Prix laureates, each of whom will receive a monetary award of €10,000, will also be made public on this occasion.
This wooden church, found in the cemetery of the small village of Urși, has been carefully restored with the close involvement of many partners including the local community. “This is the outcome of an exemplary interdisciplinary conservation of a painted wooden church in a rural setting. Made from materials from its surrounding landscape, it is of outstanding value and beauty”, the Jury said.
The main partners involved were the Pro Patrimonio Foundation, the Art Conservation and Restoration Department of the National Arts University of Bucharest, the ASTRA Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization, the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering “IRASM”, the National Chamber of Romanian Architects, Asociația 37 and the owner of the church, the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The project would not have been possible without the voluntary work of Urși’s community, who provided food, accommodation, access to electricity, labour and transportation, as well as the in-kind work from national and international volunteers who helped with the conservation works. The funding for the project was provided by the International Music and Art Foundation, the World Monuments Fund, the Headley Trust, Holcim Romania, online crowdfunding and the European Investment Bank Institute along with several private donors.
The Wooden Church of Urși Village, dedicated to the Annunciation and the Archangel Michael, was built between 1757 and 1784. Though it survived a fire in 1838, after which it was repaired and decorated with frescoes in 1843, the church was later abandoned following the construction of a new church in the village. On its rediscovery in 2007, the church lay without a foundation and was at risk of collapse while its shingle roof was in urgent need of repair. The frescoes, painted in the Post-Byzantine tradition with Western influences and of remarkable artistic value, faced serious decay. In 2009, the church of Urși was included in the “60 Wooden Churches programme” in Romania by the Pro Patrimonio Foundation, and thus later nominated to the 7 Most Endangered programme 2014.
From 2009 to 2020, the restoration works took place each summer following months of fundraising efforts in the preceding year. The Jury found the restoration quality to be commendable: “This is an example of vulnerable architecture and an endangered monument that has been restored fully in accordance with conservation principles, with the original elements closely examined and reintegrated wherever possible. Sustainability was also central to the project, with trees planted to provide materials for future restoration work”.
The restoration site itself was an open one, functioning as an educational space to raise awareness about the value of the church, its wooden construction technique, the fresco technique and the content of the mural iconography, icons and iconostasis.
“The conservation of the Wooden Church of Urși took place in a remote area, with limited resources and with the close involvement of local society. Over the course of the project, many opportunities for the exchange of knowledge were created. The project also led to a deeper local understanding of the value of the heritage and a sense of stewardship among the local community. This is an exemplary approach to the conservation of vulnerable buildings such as this one”, the Jury stated.
“Tenacity, consistency of thought and a relationship built around a goal might after all be one of the reasons why such a project could be promoted and rewarded in some way. Probably there are many places and many objects of this kind, rich architectures, but this one made there and intervened upon is a sensitive point as an acupunctural gesture applied to a territory and that can probably influence a much wider area and from this point of view perhaps heals a society” – arch. Șerban Sturdza, President of Pro Patrimonio Foundation.
“The restoration of the wooden church in Urși village is the result of a salutary initiative dedicated to saving a unique category in the configuration of European rural heritage: small Romanian wooden churches painted in fresco. Respect for heritage, professionalism, responsible involvement, assumption of site conditions, in a steadfast solidarity, a mobilizing sense of urgency, have governed the teams of young volunteers and restorers in operations whose scope and difficulty have reached surprising performances”.- Dan Mohanu, Prof. PhD, Director of the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, National University of Arts in Bucharest, at the beginning of the project.
264 years of history
Built between 1757 and 1784/ painted in 1843
Discovered in 2009 in poor state of structural pre-collapsing
11 years of the restoration process/ 1 June 2009 – 7 August 2020
Outstanding European heritage
Wall frescoe of remarkable artistic quality
250 people involved including 102 national and international volunteers
1 architectural survey; 31 technical drawings; 1 emergency intervention for temporary protection and conservation, restoration of the wooden church in Urși; interior and exterior religious fresco restoration (82 sqm interior, 40 sqm exterior frescos); 15 icons and 5 pieces of religious furniture restored;
20 diploma projects on the mural painting; 6 professional communications at national conferences and another 3 at international conferences); 1 professional publication (a guide)
Budget about 132,000 Euros, only private funding
International impact and support: World Monuments Watch 2014 and The Seven Most Endangered Heritage Sites in Europe 2014
The desertification process has become a chronic problem in southern Romania. Experts estimate that over 1,000 hectares of land become sand dunes every year, which means that in 50 years the vast majority of southern lands will be covered with sand, in the absence of immediate action.
The Neamţu manor in Olari is located on 1.3 ha terrain which, in the interwar period, was the administrative center of another agricultural field, surrounded by a recreational garden. In the 50’s it became the CAP in the village, gradually becoming dry land, transformed into a vacant lot.
Located in the Olteţ meadow, 30 km from Slatina and 43 km from Craiova, Olari village in Pârşcoveni commune is a predominantly agricultural, impoverished area, with certain desertification tendencies due to climate change, deforestation and destruction of existing irrigation systems. Many families live only on unemployment support, the inhabitants are deprived of access to information, which is why they practice the same type of agriculture without the result with which they were accustomed.
The “Experimental Center for Studies and Education at the Neamţu Manor in Olari” will initiate a model of experimental agriculture that will provide soil stability with sustainable solutions for the future. We also want to offer a model for the use and rescue of these types of arid, dried up lands for the rural community. Thus, the locals will be able to practice a subsistence agriculture and even medium-term long-term agriculture.
In this process we partnered up with Forgotten Herbs for their expertise in culinary archeology, with an emphasis on food plants from spontaneous flora or forgotten by contemporary gastronomy. Together we planned to create a small experimental garden around the mansion. We will grow there some species and varieties resistant to drought, the scorching heat of Oltenia and its type of soil. This year we will try an experiment with some more resistant historical species, but which will also have a connection with the place.
For this we chose fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), an aromatic plant from which both leaves and seeds are used and which we know were used in the old Oltenian cuisine, and peas (Lathyrus sativus), a legume almost unknown today, but widely consumed in the ancient Balkans, for which we ordered the seeds from Croatia. We add two kinds of artichokes (Cynara scolymus), an ingredient that appears in the Brâncovenesc Manuscript from the early 1700s, giving us indications, practically, that these plants were cultivated in southern Romania.
We will plant four traditional species of Mesoamerican corn well adapted to drought conditions, obtained from a collector of rare varieties from Satu Mare.
We try to help the dry soil from Olari by practicing traditional agriculture according to the “three sisters” method by which corn is grown with beans and pumpkins, three species that grow in harmony and help each other by loosening the soil in depth and enriching it naturally with nitrogen. and nutrients.
We also join some varieties of traditional beans (including Anasazi), others of pumpkins of many kinds and calabash (Lagenaria siceraria) another culinary plant that appears in the Brâncovenesc Manuscript, consumed at the royal court before the pumpkins reached Eastern Europe, today completely forgotten.
In autumn we will also put raisin vines that we will take from the Research Station from Drăgășani and possibly lavender.
There used to be a water fountain as well as a decorative fountain. We consider it a priority to build a well that provides clean water for these agricultural works as we found the old well to be clogged. So we started drilling a new well. Although the initial forecasts showed that we will find water at a depth of 20 meters, it turned out that nature has plans of its own and the water is at a depth of 33 meters. Additional desanding and protection works against sand were added so the costs doubled. However, through a public call we managed to raise the amount of 5,825 lei which was covered by 34 private donors and the Bilceşti Gardens from Vâlcea County. We give out thanks to all.
Forgotten Herbs started out in 2012 as an independent botanical exploration project from the perspective of culinary archeology, focusing on food plants from spontaneous flora forgotten or lost by contemporary gastronomy. Over time, the project has evolved in several complementary directions, involving a team of people welded around the same passions at the intersection of botanical research and food anthropology, with forays into history and art, but also encompassing a physical side of interaction with nature through community gardening, volunteering and environmental education activities. Thus the “Historical Garden” was born, a thematic sector located in the Botanical Garden of Bucharest populated with plants grown in the eras before the arrival and spread of plant species brought from the New World, followed by the Legumim project, an urban garden of ethically grown and sustainable vegetables. according to the principles of permaculture.
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Detail of beige-yellow carved similipierre plaster with focus on the plate with the architect’s name, also in mortar.
Photo by Andrei Mărgulescu
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
We’ve discovered another small treasure in Bucharest, a linear, horizontal decorative plaster that marks the window registers.
Rough, smooth, uneven, geometric, orderly, random, sculpted, splashed. In our daily walks through Bucharest, we intersect with the textures of the forgotten city: on the base of a fence or a house, on the frame of a door or a window, on the steps of an entrance. Each texture tries to show its beauty and convey an emotion. The hidden emotion of the city. Each seems to have a forgotten story that we try to rediscover and retell through this project.
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
Above the window, an art-deco-inspired plaster in smooth grooves, made of simple lime mortar which highlights through its frequent rhythm the semi-cylindrical shape of the corner volume and accentuates its verticality. In addition, this decorative plaster catches the eye through the subtle gradient play of shadow and light on the facade.
By contrast, the plaster base under the window is very rough and renders the shadows through a different, rugged play. A contrast that makes the charm of this modernist facade in Bucharest.
A facade finish that is almost 100 years old and still keeps its edges sharp.
The soft mortar was “folded” according to an origami pattern with clear edges that creates pronounced shadows and accentuates the horizontality of the volume under the windows.
We can also notice that this decorative plaster is in the company of the black polished cement mosaic and the rough green ”terasit”-type plaster, together dressing the volumes in a tactile and visual play between shadow and light, though and porous.
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
The skill of inter-war craftsmen keeps surprising us with the various similipierre-type treatments of plasters. This scale-shaped model can be found on the fences or bases of several interwar blocks in Bucharest.
In the semi-shade: base similipierre-type plaster carved with a scale pattern.
A base plaster that catches your eye in the sunlight. A similipierre with red pigment mechanically processed with tools specific to stonemasons.
Same colour, two different materials. At the top there is a rough-textured ”terasit” , at the bottom a similipierre crafted with chisel and hammer for an even harsher effect.
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
If the plasters on building bases which we have collected so far were vibrant and wanted to attract our attention when we passed by, the plasters on the upper floors are, in most cases, less elaborate in the apparent finish treatment.
However, the modernists outdid themselves here as well. The delicate decorations gave character to the facade and elegantly marked the different volumes of the building. And, like a painting, they invited you even closer to discover the delicate touches of the skilled plasterer.
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
On walks through Bucharest you often meet the cement mosaic borrowed as plaster for many of the interwar buildings. Mosaic is a material that gives the feeling of a monolith – the smooth and compact texture obtained by sanding. Aggregates (powder or stone semolina) in different granulations which become part of the aesthetics of the material are visible on the surface.
By pigmenting the cement, the mosaic can have several color options: yellow, ocher, red, pink, black or green are just a few options from the range of possible colors for this type of finish.
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Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
Not quite. It is a detail of a similipierre-type base plaster with a rough effect, often found in walks on the streets of Bucharest.
Similipierre is a plaster typical of the interwar period, based on cement, which wanted to imitate the appearance of the stone (hence the name), but with lower costs than the natural material.
The rough effects, found especially on the building base, were obtained by treating the plaster, when it was almost completely dry, with various tools, similar to those used by stonemasons. Through these types of treatment, the play of shadow and light on the facade becomes more vibrant and therefore the texture is much more vivid, giving character to the facade.
Details from the project “Forgotten Textures – Inter-war Bucharest”, a Pro Patrimonio Foundation cultural project carried out in the fall of 2019 which resulted in the guide Forgotten Textures: Inter-war Bucharest. Plaster recipe book. Author: Ruxandra Sacaliş.
