Built space
Danube Microhouse
Author Name
Alexandru DamianProfession
ArhitectCo-authors (team members)
Dan Purice, Bianca Purice-AzapCollaborators (team members)
Cristian CîrstulescuLocation
Divici, Caras-Severin, RomaniaClient
Alexandru Damian, Adriana DamianBudget
25000 euro
Project description
Danube Microhouse is an architectural and family project, its story being built on a narrow and long plot, between 4.5 - 5.5 m wide and 100 m long, in the village of my childhood. After discovering the land owned by my grandparents, I started the first sketches of 2 little houses located in the quarter of the land towards the Danube, with a terrace at the end. The next step was the staging of the project, due to a relatively small budget. After 2 months of documentation and accommodation with the decision to build everything entirely by our family members, so began the construction of the terrace above the water, executed by my grandfather and by my father. Its infrastructure is metallic, and the structure is made of local wood, with the reed cover collected near the village. The budget representing again a challenge after the completion of the dock, we decided to make the first Microhouse, using a material with a strong significance in this area, so we managed to bring back to life old bricks from buildings that were being demolished, saving money on the material that represents the structure and soul of the house. In the end, the 9 sqm house (7 usable sqm) was built entirely by my grandparents and promoted on Airbnb as being the smallest house in Romania, where guests enjoyed a new experience that they lived it in a warm brick nest with a terrace on the water. After a successful year, a new chapter in my grandparents' life has opened, that reactivated their youth, receiving guests from all over the world, accumulating new energy to start the construction of the second Microhouse. So in February 2021 a new construction site started, respecting the shape and proportions of the first microhouse, but differing in materiality, colour and contrast. Although the materials have been specially chosen to be different, they relate by shape and texture. The built surface of new Microhouse is 16 sqm (12 usable sqm). The new structure is built entirely of wood, and 95% of the entire project was built by my grandparents, by my father, by me and my wife, being the most beautiful construction site I have lived during the profession as an architect. In June 2021, Micrhouse no. 2 took final shape and both houses began to receive with open arms even more guests, benefiting from a fairytale view through the bedroom window that opens to the waves, sound and reflections of the Danube.
Author's presentation text
Alexandru Damian, Dan Purice and Bianca Purice-Azap - architects and co-founders of the company SC 313 DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE PARTNERS SRL, founded in 2019 in Timisoara, Romania. Our office offers complete architecture and interior design services, covering all stages of a project: consulting, concept, design, project management and site monitoring. Through our projects we combine the passion for design with the aesthetic and functional requirements and needs of our clients.
