ELASA Romania: Landscape architecture as a shared and boundless experience

Article by Machiel Oosse and Tobias Arends

In the middle of a busy few weeks at the studio, we boarded the plane to Bucharest, carrying our flight shame as carry-on luggage. After long queues at Schiphol Airport and some hassle navigating our bags and suitcases in Bucharest, we arrived exhausted at the classroom where the other students had already been spending some time. Here, at the Agricultural University of Bucharest, we met the group of European students with whom we would be traveling for the coming week. 

Apart from the students present, our lanyards with names, a few lukewarm pizzas, and a tray of beer—illegal on campus—were waiting in the corner. With our striking green lanyards around our necks and our hands full, we sat down at a table where other students were already engaged in lively conversation. Once settled, we introduced ourselves using the words that could already be read on the lanyard and were immediately bombarded with the most important introductory question here: “Where are you from?” 

To understand the importance of this question, it is useful to take a step back and explain exactly what this trip entails. A few months ago, a Swedish friend asked us to participate in a trip organized by the European Landscape Architecture Student Association, ELASA for short. ELASA is the student organization of IFLA Europe and was created to bring together landscape architecture students from all over Europe. This is done through workshops, short trips, or longer journeys within Europe, such as this eight-day trip through Romania. The group that participated this time consisted of 37 students from 15 different countries, so your nationality is initially an important part of your identity.

Figure 1&2: Vaçaresti National Park, located in the middle of urbanization. (Source: Tobias Arends)

After our first meeting with the group, it was time to go to our room on campus where we fell asleep exhausted, with the sound of the local soccer field in the background. We started our first official day with just the two of us at the breakfast table, a stark contrast to the increasingly busy breakfasts that would follow in the coming days. After squeezing ourselves into an already full bus with the entire group, it was time for our first excursion through urban Bucharest. Due to the crowded and stuffy bus, it was a relief to get some fresh air in Vaçaresti National Park. Contrary to our expectations, this area was not located somewhere outside the city, but right in the middle of it. Partly because of this, it is a diverse mix of exotic and native species. The group of students also became more and more mixed in this special interplay between native and exotic. Between jokes, everyone got to know each other better and better, and names and nationalities increasingly turned into faces and personalities.  

During our afternoon walks through the communist blocks of the city, we got to know more and more people, and eventually the lanyards and national segregation disappeared deeper and deeper behind zippers, pockets, or bags.  

The highlight of all our encounters and exchanges that day was ending up in a peaceful courtyard with an international dinner. The idea was for everyone to bring a typical dish or drink from their own country to share with the group. The result: a table full of sweets, desserts, side dishes, and snacks. During this culinary feast and a few international drinks, everyone really loosened up and the introduction was complete.

Figure 3: The international dinner, featuring all kinds of distinctive dishes. (Source: Bulut Şengör)

With heavy heads from the drinks and slightly upset stomachs from the lack of fiber, we boarded the bus the next morning after breakfast with the group to make our way through the Carpathian Mountains to the Romanian countryside. After hours on the bus and a lunch stop at a castle in the middle of the mountains, we arrived in the mountain village of Movile. The contrast with Bucharest was enormous. Here, the blaring sirens gave way to the barking of countless village dogs, and after the chaos of the city, we found ourselves in the simplicity of the countryside. On the edge of this village, on a small hill, stood the fortified church where we would spend the next few days.

Figure 4: The fortified church in the center of Movile. (Source: Tobias Arends)

A few years ago, the church was on the verge of collapse, but it is now being renovated by a group of former ELASA participants. This group of friends is primarily focused on preserving the community and the unique landscape of Movile, which we would get to know the following day. After a cold night, during which we had to take turns waking up to renew the firewood in the stove, we found ourselves in a large dining room where the entire group sat together having breakfast and chatting. Here we were given instructions about what everyone would be doing that day before the group split up for a walk.

Figure 5, 6&7: Impressions of the shared mornings and evenings. (Source (from left to right): Agnes Arumetsa, Katerina Brind, Yekaterina Rublyova)

The deeper we ventured into this landscape, the more absurd the hills became. Eventually, we found ourselves in a world that bore more resemblance to the land of the Teletubbies than the landscapes we were familiar with. It was therefore not surprising to hear that there is still no good geological explanation for the characteristic hills. During the walk, we were given several workshops that showed us not only the beauty but also the destruction of this landscape. In recent years, foreign landowners have been illegally buying up plots of land to engage in large-scale agriculture, resulting in the destruction of natural values, but also of the community. 

Figure 8: The inexplicable hilly landscape around Movile. (Source: Senka Bekric)

This experience showed us that the preservation and development of landscapes is not just allocated to landscape architects sitting behind a desk somewhere in an office, but is in fact something very everyday and human. For us, Movile was a wonderful mix of informal European cooperation, theoretical knowledge, practical action, and a lot of fun. All of this together has greatly changed our view of what landscape architecture can be.

After these inspiring days in the countryside, we resumed our journey westward for our final stop: Cluj Napoca. Due to its western location, the city has been part of various large empires throughout history and is therefore rich in history. In addition, the European Union has invested a lot of money in Cluj. This is partly evident in the good cycling and walking infrastructure, but especially in the European flags that hang everywhere in the city center and are impossible to miss.

During our stay, the temperature had risen considerably, so we regularly interrupted our city tour to cool our feet in the river or run through the fountains in the public squares. It was precisely these informal moments that showed us the importance of good landscape architecture for everyday use. It is precisely by placing beaches along the river or fountains in small squares that encounters around these kinds of places in the city are encouraged.

Figure 9&10: Impressions of the walks through Cluj-Napoca. (Source: Katerina Brind & Bohuslava Slezáková)

We ended this hot day at the local campus where we held a meeting to discuss the future of ELASA and the next trips that are planned. We noticed how smoothly the meeting went compared to other meetings we have attended previously. The atmosphere was relaxed, and because everyone knew each other, it was easier to understand each other. This emphasized to us the importance of sharing pleasant and everyday moments, even in a professional setting. 

Figure 11: The plenary meeting that is being held during each trip. (Source: Katerina Brind)

On the last morning, still a little tired from the karaoke the night before, we were taken on a tour of the campus and a few new parks in Cluj, one of which had turned out well and one not so well. Then, in the afternoon, it was time for a closing workshop in which we processed all the experiences of the past week together in a group and turned them into a work of art. It was very interesting to share all our experiences and hear the different perspectives. In the evening, we ended the trip at a restaurant where the first farewell gifts and hugs were given and, as always, we laughed a lot together. After a wonderful trip together, it was really over, but the memories and new friends we made will stay with us for a long time!

Figure 12&13: The team of Romanian students who organized the trip (left) and an afternoon of sketching in one of the parks (right). (Source: Bohuslava Slezáková & Rahel Küng)

For us, the value of this trip lies not only in the substantive things we learned, but above all in the encounters with other students and unique landscapes. Not only in terms of getting to know each other, but also in the sense of encountering everything that landscape architecture entails within the walls of the university or studio.  Instead of learning in the lecture hall, it took place here during a conversation at the dinner table, a discussion on the bus, a walk through a shopping street; through everyday life. In addition, it was not the guest speakers or tour guides who taught and inspired us the most, but our fellow students. With their own perspectives and interests, everyone brought something unique to the table, but all around the same connecting topic: the landscape. 

After all European borders had slowly crumbled away among the students over the course of a week, it was time to catch the plane back home. But this time, our carry-on bags were not only filled with a nagging sense of flight shame, but also with all the new encounters, memories, and energy we had gained on this trip, which we took back with us to the Netherlands.

Figure 14: The view of the Carpathian Mountains. (Bron: Senka Bekric)