Architects from France, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine to Collaborate on Cultural Heritage Preservation
A three-day international project seminar has been held at the palace complex in Balchik, Bulgaria, bringing together architects from five countries to collaborate on educational exchange and the preservation of immovable cultural heritage.
The initiative is led by the Ecole de Chaillot in Paris and the National Institute of Immovable Cultural Heritage (NIICH) of Bulgaria with the support of the Ministries of Culture of Bulgaria and France, French institutions and ICOMOS France, BTA reports.
The plans are to create a training cycle and a network of experts in Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine who will be able to work together on joint projects in the future. Delphine Aboulker, Deputy Director of Ecole de Chaillot - Paris, told about this. She added that in the future, the initiative hopes to involve North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey. She and her colleagues presented several restoration projects and teaching methods for the 137-year-old French school.
The cooperation in Southeastern Europe will build on the experience gained during the Châteaubourg-Bulgaria course with its almost 24-year history. The two-year specialised course combines lectures on the history of architecture, building materials, conservation and restoration of buildings, international and national legislation with architectural workshops, during which experts go through the entire process in real conditions from research and documentation, through analysis and synthesis of site data, to ideas and design for its new life.
"The workshops shape a way of thinking," said Stefan Manciulescu, chief architect of historic monuments in the Cantal, Correze and Haute-Loire departments and a Chailly teacher in Paris. He noted that the achievements of the Chailly-Bulgaria course are a model that deserves to be adopted in other countries.
According to Petar Petrov, Director of NIICH, the partnership between experts from the region is also valuable because the exchange of information and experience will help clarify the overall picture of the state and preservation of architectural heritage, legislation and the attitudes of experts. and society.
The forum participants visited the emblematic buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries located between Balchik and Eforie Sud in Romania.
This autumn, the first seminar for architects from the region will be held in Eforie Sud.
As a reminder, 1974 cultural infrastructure facilities in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed due to the full-scale Russian war, which has been ongoing since 24 February 2022.
Another 2,115 cultural institutions have remained in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia since 2022.