Architects in progress
Hello Micul Haos Community and sorry for the longer-than-usual break.
We are deep in the research and creation phase for our new project, "The Resilience of the Forgotten Fairy Tale: Modernism," and I actually can’t wait to share the journey with you but life got into the way.
As you know, we are building 15 new mediator-characters to accompany us across Romania and France. But before we could build them, we had to understand the world they belong to. We decided to anchor our exploration primarily in the architecture of the 1920s to the 1940s, a time of radical social utopias, profound aesthetic shifts, and immense human turmoil.
Three Lenses, One Vision
Choosing the buildings we will visit is a delicate, collaborative dance. And we are still searching!
Our core team approaches this from three distinct perspectives: Ruxi was searching for structures that embody true modernist ideals and structural honesty from the architect’s perspective. George was looking for captivating angles, the interplay of light and shadow, and the raw texture needed for analog film as a photographer. And I was searching for the psychology and the narrative. Who were the artists behind these blueprints? What were their visions? What is the context that they designed in? And maybe more importantly, what were their human vulnerabilities?
The Stories We Found on the Streets
While we poured over books and archives, the most profound discoveries happened simply by walking the streets of Bucharest.
During one of our walks, we stumbled upon a building bearing the engraved name of its architect: Burah Zilberman. This led us down a deeply moving historical path. Zilberman was a talented Jewish architect who studied in Milan before returning to build in Bucharest. Tragically, his story ends far from the buildings he designed. He was among the hundreds who perished on the Struma ship in 1942 while attempting to flee the fascist regime. Standing in front of his building, you realize that architecture is in a was a physical footprint of a life lived.
Because our project is highly subjective and artistic, we also wanted to shine a light on the often-overlooked female pioneers of the era. We are drawing inspiration from brilliant minds like Charlotte Perriand, Eileen Gray or Henrietta Delavrancea-Gibory.
We are also exploring the hidden dynamics of architectural partnerships, for example, Lucia Creangă. While her husband, Horia Creangă, is celebrated as a giant of Romanian modernism, Lucia co-signed and collaborated on many of the projects he is famous for. Another one is Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Widely known as a brilliant avant-garde artist, she also designed the magnificent studio-house for herself and her husband, Jean Arp, in Clamart (initially, Theo van Doesburg was supposed to design it, but he ended up building his own remarkable house nearby!).
The Craft: Bringing the Characters to Life
Our 15 characters are not direct, 1-to-1 historical portraits. Instead, they are amalgams, playful embodiments of the diverse, brilliant, and sometimes forgotten personalities of the modernist era.
Building them is a meticulous process. They are constructed like stop-motion puppets, with fully articulated armatures so we can seamlessly pose them within the architectural environments we visit. It requires endless patience and a blend of different tactile materials. I also have to give a massive thank you to my mother, who is helping me craft the incredibly tiny, highly detailed, period-accurate clothing!
A sneak peek at a character largely inspired by Jean Badovici. (Badovici was a fascinating Romanian-born architect and critic who lived in France. He edited the highly influential avant-garde magazine 'L'Architecture Vivante' and was instrumental in the creation of the iconic E-1027 villa alongside Eileen Gray!)
A work-in-progress shot. Anyone care to guess who might have worn those iconic, perfectly round glasses?
Help Us Build Our Itinerary! 🗺️
We are currently finalizing the list of modernist gems we will photograph in Romania and France over the coming months.
Do you have a favorite modernist building in your city? Or perhaps a hidden gem with a fascinating story? Reply directly to this email or send us a message on Instagram. We would love to see this era through your eyes!
Thanks for reading and see you in two weeks,
Stay curious and keep playing,
Maria & the Micul Haos Team