RO

The ARK – Bursa Mărfurilor

It is the most recently restored patrimony building in Bucharest. It brings together a cluster of companies and independent organizations from the creative industries. DC Communication (www.dccom.ro) and Headvertising (www.headvertising.ro), the two developers of the project, have invited several other companies to join the ARK: Media Factory(www.mediafactory.ro ), Interactive Look (www.interactivelook.ro), Re-ply (www.reply.ro), Space Syntax (www.spacesyntax.com), the International Center for Contemporary Art (ICCA - www.icca.ro ) and the "Radu Anton Roman" Initiative Group (www.targultaranului.ro).

In the old Bucharest, the building was known as Vama Antrepozite or the Bucharest Commodities Exchange, from 1898. It is a monument building (B class) and it is part of the urban complex denoted by the “industrial architecture” style. It is the creation of the Italian architect Giuglio Magni, assisted by the Romanian engineer Anghel Saligny. At the time of its construction, the building was a symbol of the connection between the Romanian and the European economy. The reconversion project in to The ARK was realised by the Architecture Office Re-Act Now (www.re-act.ro ).

The ARK project saved the old building which had been abandoned for 16 years and it was already declared in collapse. Its new architecture integrates important elements of the old style – like the façade and reconverts the functions of the former commodities exchange into the new contemporary trends – a place in Bucharest with offices for the creative companies, a public space for exhibitions and a market for the creative industries.