Conversion and extension of industrial heritage. Turda brewery factory

Authors’ Comment

Following the historical-urban research of the city of Turda, I came to the conclusion that with the accelerated growth of the young population and the development of infrastructure, the site offers many opportunities from a cultural and social point of view. Solving the city's dysfunctions can be done by creating a new social core, which should directly affect the daily life of the citizen. My main requirements underlying the project were to comply with the built fund, to integrate the new proposal into the landscape and to take forms and dimensions from the existing building that have been treated and reintegrated into the landscape in a contemporary note.
The building is part of the list of monuments in Romania, so I consider it important to highlight the history of the place through an innovative method of heritage conservation through the digitalization method ( Digital Heritage ) ital Heritage ). In this way the community and tourists can have a unique experience through a note of originality that can attract as many visitors as possible eager for a digital and interactive experience. Moreover, this method offers the opportunity to assimilate historical knowledge according to the annual events organized on the premises, but also to know in detail the history of the factory.
All these elements put together can bring back the long-forgotten life of an industrial site, but it can also create a new social connection. The site is strategically positioned between the axes of the main roads leading to Cluj, Alba-Iulia and Târgu-Mureș. Due to this key position, I considered that the site can become the new social nucleus that generates all tourist routes in the area, being an excellent starting point to local objectives. The volumetric concept is closely related to the symbol of light and water. Light intervenes as an innovative goal in an industrial site. As the old extension did not have enough natural light, I considered it important that the new function be welcoming and warm at first glance, to be enveloped by light. The lack of light in industrial buildings was a defining element, because society at the time considered light to be a distraction from work and concentration, that is why the lack of natural light in most old industrial buildings.
I set out to make the new volume come as a harsh replica of the old habits that have affected countless workers, to be as airy and naturally enlightened as possible, and the predominant material should be glass.
The proposed volume itself is characterized by simple and defining elements, which mark respect for the existing building through predominant horizontal lines that show some obedience, while the factory is predominant by verticality, the dominant element. Due to the right ground, there was no need for too many interventions on it, and the volumetric ensemble complies with the current alignments.