We’ve been busy
Hello, Micul Haos community! I hope you've missed us these past two months. We've been traveling.
Tour Perret double exposure with Auguste Perret, Grenoble.
It was supposed to be a trip
We thought it would be easy. We planned for months in advance. We knew exactly where we were going: the train tickets were ready, the whole itinerary, the buildings and sights we wanted to see. Our characters were ready too.
It was supposed to be a trip. Honestly, we almost felt like we didn't deserve it: to create, travel, research and photograph. To spend our days doing what we love.
But it was also one of the hardest work experiences of our lives. Turns out loving what you do makes you work harder, not less.
Our character inspired by Adrienne Gorska on the stairs at 7 Rue Méchain, Paris.
Lost and found
Long story short, we visited sooo many places, both in France and Romania. We had some very unpleasant moments, like losing some of our characters on the train from Bucharest to Paris. A few months of work, lost in a fraction of a second!
We got them back safely thanks to the people at the Bludenz train station in Austria, the ones who take care of the trains and the station. They keep train travel safe and clean, they all know each other, and they know who to call and how to help, even when it's not part of the job. It was a beautiful, real-life reminder of the human connection and empathy at the core of what we do at Micul Haos ❤️
There were also chance encounters with lovely people along the way. And a big thank you to our friends who exchanged apartments with us. Because of them, we were able to stay in Paris long enough to set up a base there and travel by train to each location. And another big thank you to the people at the French Institute in Bucharest who helped us with ideas and connections.
On Rue Mallet-Stevens
Our route
Here are the cities we visited: Paris, Clamart, Nancy, Firminy, Grenoble, Le Havre, Marseille, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Hyères, Strasbourg, Nice, Bucharest, Câmpina, Cluj-Napoca, Deva, Timișoara, Constanța. Plus some along the way!
Zilberman on Stelea Spătarul 8, Bucharest.
A few impressions
Traveling by train is a lot easier in France. You can see it in our list: even though we had more time in Romania, we got to fewer cities. The distances are longer, especially when measured in hours, not kilometers.
There are so many wonderful buildings in Romania! The modernism here is a bit tamer and more decorated, sometimes almost Art Deco. Very charming. But many of these buildings are almost crumbling, or neglected, or renovated in a way that makes you feel no architect was involved. There are also buildings that are well kept, but far fewer than in France. Then again, we also heard stories of French buildings that were neglected for many years and have only recently been restored, like Villa E-1027. We'll tell you its story in another letter.
Maria arranging a character
George on the scale of the Modulor
What comes next
Now the films are being developed and we're choosing the photographs for the album and the exhibition at MNAC. More about that in the next letter!
Until then: which of these cities above would you like us to tell you about first? Just reply to this email.
Thanks for reading and for waiting for us,
Keep playing,
Maria & the team
The cultural project "The Resilience of the Forgotten Fairy Tale: Modernism" is co-funded by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The project does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Cultural Fund Administration. The National Cultural Fund Administration is not responsible for the content of the project or for how the project's results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the grant recipient.
