Applications are now open for the Black Sea Architecture and Heritage Preservation Workshop, an international program dedicated to exploring, documenting, and preserving architectural heritage along the Black Sea coast.
Teaching team & institutions
To address this issue, an international team of architects will gather in Eforie Sud from May 4 to 10, 2026:
The Chaillot School, part of the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, which has trained architects in heritage conservation for over 140 years;
The Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning, Bucharest;
The National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage, Sofia;
The Kharkiv School of Architecture, Ukraine;
Heritage preservation experts from the Republic of Moldova
FIELD OF STUDY
The preservation of seaside resort heritage represents a major cultural and architectural challenge in Romania and across Southeastern Europe, as coastal tourism has profoundly shaped the region’s landscapes, economies, and patterns of urban development. Following the rise of therapeutic sea bathing at the end of the nineteenth century, a chain of resorts gradually developed along the Black Sea coast, from Yalta and Odesa to Constanța, Eforie, Albena, and Varna.
During the interwar period, these resorts became important sites of architectural experimentation and cultural life. Modernist villas multiplied along the coast, while casinos and seaside promenades redefined the urban landscape. Prominent architects, such as Henrieta Delavrancea-Gibory, contributed to shaping the interwar architectural identity of the Romanian littoral.
From the late 1950s onward, the Black Sea coast became a laboratory for large-scale seaside development led by the arch. Cezar Lăzărescu. The expansion of mass tourism, supported by industrialized reinforced concrete construction, led to the creation of extensive resort complexes and collective leisure facilities—open-air theaters, cinemas, baths, and children’s camps—typical of socialist tourism infrastructure.
Today, this heritage faces significant challenges: neglect, decay, energy and insulation issues, redevelopment pressure, climate challenges affecting coastal areas, and increasing tourist development. Many buildings are demolished or remain underused or vacant, despite their historical and symbolic importance.
For more details:
https://www.uauim.ro/en/events/workshop-in-eforie-sud/
[RO] Au început înscrierile pentru Workshopul de arhitectură și conservarea patrimoniului din regiunea Mării Negre, un program internațional dedicat explorării, documentării și conservării patrimoniului arhitectural specific zonei de coastă a Mării Negre.
Pentru detalii consultați pagina apelului: