The Archive of Collections. A blueprint for recovering Bucharest’s cultural heritage

Authors’ Comment

On the matter of "ownerless" collections
Bucharest lacks a coherent infrastructure – both physical and legislative – dedicated to the preservation of mobile heritage. In a city where numerous culturally valuable objects (rare books, manuscripts, artworks, furniture, and decorative items) remain without a clear future, the absence of a specialized space to safeguard, preserve, and activate them is increasingly felt.
This vulnerability is the result of a recent historical trauma. During the communist regime, Romania underwent a systematic dismantling of private collections. Countless families were dispossessed of valuable objects, which, regardless of their nature, were either absorbed into state museums, irretrievably lost, or destroyed.
Today, in the absence of an "institution" capable of taking such collections into custody, ensuring their protection, and reintegrating them into public life, this kind of heritage remains exposed: it lies forgotten in attics or cellars, scattered, sold off piecemeal, or simply ignored.

The "House of Collections"
The project involves establishing a "House of Collections", which will serve as an archive, research center, and exhibition venue. It is not merely a storage facility, but rather the framework for a new type of care-based infrastructure: a place where collections of historical, artistic, or emotional value can be preserved, studied, and reactivated through exhibitions, educational programs, and interdisciplinary residencies.
The Archive of Collections aims to serve as a platform linking personal heritage with public interest, connecting historical materials with Bucharest’s efforts to engage with its cultural identity.

The site as an "urban fact"
The former Benisch-Patzelt house, now in a state of ruin, serves as the conceptual basis for the project. Following its unjust demolition, only a few wall fragments remain facing Christian Tell Street. Yet these remnants are enough to support the idea of a reconstruction, based on archival documentation, not just as an architectural gesture, but as a symbolic act of restitution and urban repair. Within this reconstructed volume are located public functions such as reading rooms, classrooms, and lecture spaces, transforming the house into a true threshold between the city and the gallery.
The second key landmark is the Byzantine Studies Library, housed by the Assumptionist Congregation. This extraordinary archive contains nearly 25.000 rare volumes, most of them manuscripts. The project establishes a physical and functional link with this collection through the creation of an unerground conservation and restoration hall.

The "Ark"
Between these two "presences", the archive takes shape as an abstract volume – an "Ark" that preserves and gives structure. It is deformed under the "pressure" of the site, folding and adapting to its irregularities, yet it maintains a certain autonomy and identity. Anchored by two utilitarian "buttresses", the building is organized around a central column that acts as a convergence point for radial beams.
This is where the galleries, storage spaces, restoration workshops, and the treasury – home to the most valuable artifacts – are located. This is where the forgotten collections of Bucharest finally find their refuge.