The Paper Mill Association, together with the Department of Architecture of „Spiru Haret” University, has the pleasure to invite you at the closing event of the cultural project „Verna-cultura. Traditional crafts in the context of contemporary architecture” which will take place on 17.11.2015, starting with 17.00, at the Centre for Architectural Culture of the Architects’ Union in Romania, situated in Jean Louis Calderon Street, nr. 48, sector 2, Bucharest. The event will propose the opening of the itinerant exhibition „Verna-cultura Summer School. Traditional crafts in the context of contemporary architecture” and will launch the Good Practices Guide, both parts presenting activities carried on within the project.

Re-cognizing traditional crafts in construction field represents re-cognizing the essence of Romanian architecture. With this purpose in mind, the Paper Mill Association, in partnership with the Department of Architecture of “Spiru Haret” University and the European Foundation for Eco-sustainable Development organized over 13th–23^rd of July 2015 the Summer School „Verna-cultura. Traditional crafts in the context of contemporary architecture”, in Comana village,  Giurgiu county. It addressed a number of 15 young architects and was financed by the „Architecture Stamp” Fund, through the Cultural Projects Session 2015 of the Architects’ Union in România.

By taking part in the Summer School, young architects had the opportunity to  participate in theoretical and practical sessions meant to help them discover techniques of vernacular-type traditional construction works. The theoretical sessions in which they participated were completed with visits of certain special places in Comana village, showing examples of vernacular building practices. Moreover, the young architects got involved in the building site of Comana Crafts Village Satul meșteșugurilor, a project of the Paper Mill Association, unique in Romania both by traditional  construction techniques and by its social, educational and cultural objectives – building a small village dedicated to traditional crafts, meant to be a source of income for the community.

For further details on this project, please check the facebook page Școala de vară Verna-cultura, the site of the Paper Mill Association www.moaradehartie.ro and the site of „Spiru Haret” University www.spiruharet.ro.

Verna-cultura Summer School will take place over 13th – 22nd of July 2015 in Comana, Giurgiu county, within Comana Crafts Village site. Traditional crafts in contemporary context!

By taking part in the Summer School, young architects will acquire new skills in the domain of restoring the built heritage. They will therefore have the practical possibility of initiation and knowledge acquisition in terms of crafts, materials and  techniques of making vernacular-type traditional construction works, specific both to the restoration of heritage buildings and to building new spaces in the spirit of bioarchitecture. The practical activity will be coordinated by architects, folk craftsmen and specialists in vernacular building practices.

Within this project, young architects will have the opportunity of getting involved into activities carried on the building site of Comana Crafts Village project, a project unique in Romania due to the traditional construction techniques and also to its social, educational and cultural objectives – the building of a small village dedicated to traditional crafts, meant to be a constant source of income for the villagers involved in the project.

“Verna-cultura Summer School. Traditional crafts in contemporary context” is co-financed by the Union of Romanian Architects, within a project carried on by the Paper Mill Association in partnership with the Faculty of Architecture of the University Spiru Haret and the European Foundation for Eco-sustainable Development.

For further details on this project, please use the site  www.moaradehartie.ro, the facebook page Școala de vară Verna-cultura, the e-mail echipa@moaradehartie.ro or the telephone number 0743.266.262 – Ion Georgescu – Project Manager.

We joyfully invite you to visit the Paper Mill on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of May! Beside visiting the workshop-museum, we are willing to tell you about our great projects, to hear your opinions, ideas and hopefully find together means of collaboration and support.

We have gone through a lot of adventures since 2009, when the idea of the Paper Mill started to take shape in our hearts. We have lived moments of intense happiness, we have known people of an extreme inner beauty and we managed to plant seeds that started to give fruit. As time passed, we realized that almost all the people who were close to us and helped us in our daring actions, were or became our friends. That without them, the Paper Mill may have remained just an idea and we would not have lived these precious moments, full of hope and joy.

That is why we wish to continue making our projects grow together with all those who believe in us and in our ideas. At the beginning of our story we tried to manage by ourselves, but all throughout these years we learnt to give up pride and ask for help. Every time, our family and dear friends were there for us. We were surprised to see how people that we had not known for a long time cared for us and the Paper Mill, offering us all their support. We felt that there are friends everywhere, just that we had not known them yet. All we need is find a way to call them and they will come to us. It is exactly what we started doing this spring and we shall continue doing this in those to come.

Therefore, those of you who hear us and want to find out about our story, dreams and projects, are impatiently invited on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Paper Mill in Comana. We shall inform you, first of all, about the newest and most complex project of the Paper Mill Association, Comana Crafts Village, project financed by Innovation Norway, through Norway Financial Mechanism 2009-2014, within the financing domain Innovation in Green Industry – Romania, which sustains projects with positive impact on environment.

The hours when we will be waiting for you are: 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00. Please inform us if you come via e-mail at dana@moaradehartie.ro, by sending a message on our facebook page or by telephone at 0724.290.010. The entrance will be free of charge. Still, if you like the projects that we wish to develop, any donation is more than welcome and helps us go on, to be of use!

Looking forward to welcoming you,

The Paper Mill Team