In January this year, Romanian architect, designer, and educator Oana Stănescu has been named the curator of Beta 2024 - Timișoara Architecture Biennial, now in its fifth edition. Based in New York and Berlin, Oana Stănescu is internationally recognized for her diverse portfolio of interventions around the world, challenging the confines of the profession and addressing significant societal issues. Recently, Stănescu, along with the team behind Beta, announced the theme of the main exhibition, taking place in Timițoara, Romania, between September 13th and October 27th.
The curatorial exhibition of the 2024 Beta Biennial is set to follow the theme "cover me softly." According to the curatorial statement, this is envisioned as an exploration of the concept of covers, challenging notions of copying, stealing, imitating, and bootlegging, all concepts entangled with ethical considerations and restrictions. With links to the music industry, the idea of 'cover' aims to provide a different understanding of the process of transferring knowledge and to challenge the structures of authorship within the field of design.
The theme represents an invitation for interconnectedness and openness. The main exhibition will gather a wide selection of practitioners from various fields, including architects, designers, musicians, artists, activists, photographers, writers, directors, and those that elude categorization. The event, located at the Garrison Command building in the city center of Timișoara, will be open to the public, offering visitors a themed program of live performances, lectures, and community events.
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"You Can't Do Architecture Just with Architects": In Conversation with Oana StănescuTo cover is to work with what’s already there. Cover also means shelter. To protect or hide. To conceal or disguise, to extend over time or space. To run for cover, to cover one’s back. - Oana Stănescu
Born in Romania and having finalized her architectural studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Timișoara, Oana Stănescu’s career spans a wide range of cultural and interdisciplinary projects, having opened studios in New York and Berlin. These include large-scale installations at MoMA and Coachella, an ongoing infrastructure rehabilitation project in her natal town of Reșița, Romania, and co-founding of the ambitious +POOL project in New York, aiming to reopen the river to open-air swimming. Additionally, last year she presented the Fresa pavilion as part of the annual event Concentrico in Logroño, Spain.
Through her experience, Oana brings a city-focused approach, reflecting her commitment to reimagining the potential of urban spaces while also acknowledging the limitations of architecture and the need to work beyond the confines of the profession to address the challenges of our times. Last year, she was selected as part of the 2023 New Practices by ArchDaily.
I am deeply honored, excited and nervous, thrilled, and moved all at the same time. We live our lives within the confines of architecture, which makes it the perfect excuse for urgent socio-cultural conversations, especially in Romania’s unique position, with its simultaneous proximity and distance to the West. - Oana Stănescu
Beta represents one of the most important architectural events in the region, as the city of Timișoara, the European Cultural Capital of 2023, has strong relationships with the neighboring countries of Serbia and Hungary. The biennale is structured in two main sections, the Beta Awards, which promotes and supports professionals to contribute to the improvement of the built environment, and the Curated Exhibition, centered around the theme set by the curator and an encouragement to delve deeper into international relevant themes colored by the uniqueness of the local context.
The previous edition of Beta, curated by Daniel Tudor Munteanu and Davide Tommaso Ferrando, centered around the theme “Another Break in the Wall,” aiming to explore the concept of commons and collective actions, striving to empower citizens to appropriate their city through subversive urban strategies. For the same event, Laurian Ghinițoiu and the Vice Versa Association presented a photographic installation documenting the landscape around the line that separates NATO and non-NATO nations.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on January 16, 2024, and updated on May 27, 2024.
