Built Heritage Conservation Training Centre
Bánffy Castle Bontida, Romania

The purpose of the centre is to promote excellence in the conservation of the historic environment and specifically to teach traditional building craft skills which can be utilised in the repair and maintenance of historic buildings.

The Centre promotes a policy of Minimal Intervention in dealing with the repair of historic buildings, combined with a strategy of Compatibility in techniques and materials, and the use of local resources. It promotes a philosophy of analysing, understanding, and recording historic buildings before and during intervention.

Types of courses:

1. Landscape architecture;
2. Art history;
3. Archaeology;
4. The Centre is developing programmes in painting, photography, tourism marketing, and history;
5. Involvement of schools: heritage days for schoolchildren.

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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The Transylvania Trust, responsible for the restoration and revitalisation of Bánffy Castle, Bonțida, Romania, is launching an invitation for participants  to take part in a “hands-on” learning experience in the field of historic building conservation.

Transylvania Trust has been organising training projects since 2001, 20 years ago, to address the lack of craftsmen and professionals in the field of historic building conservation. So far approximately 3000 participants from around 32 countries (Romania, Albania, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, France, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, etc.) have participated in our international training courses.

Duration of the courses

1^st Module: 1^st-14^th August 2021[1]

2^nd Module: 15^th-28^th August 2021.

Who can apply?

The international restoration workshop is aimed especially at undergraduate students in Architecture, Structural Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Archaeology, History of Art, and other related fields. The workshop can also be attended by craftsmen who seek to specialise in the restoration of historic buildings, but our training course is open to anybody interested in the field of historic building conservation, or who wishes to acquire practical knowledge related to traditional building crafts.

Why apply?

The two-week international training course offers the opportunity:

• to learn the theoretical principles and methodology of investigation and restoration from qualified lecturers, as well as traditional building craft skills through direct, “hands-on” learning,
• to work on a real restoration site along with a team of craftsmen experienced in this field and to contribute to the restoration of Bánffy Castle,
•  to meet people from a variety of professional and cultural backgrounds, widening one’s understanding of the field through interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue,
• to learn more about Transylvania, to discover the built and cultural heritage of the region and Cluj-Napoca, through the study field trip, respectively a free day on the first weekend.

At the end of the workshop, participants will receive a certificate of participation.

Course structure:

• Theoretical training on the first day of the workshop. The lectures delivered by qualified lecturers from Romania and abroad will be translated simultaneously to Romanian, Hungarian, and English.
• Practical training with the guidance of specialised craftsmen, focusing on 3 main areas:

1. Structural interventions in historic buildings: vault restoration, restoration of brick and stone walls, rendering (9 days), mural decorations and specialised techniques (fresco, secco, sgraffito, stucco – 2 days),

2. Stonemasonry – only in the 2^nd Module,

3. Traditional joinery and furniture restoration

• Field study trip related to the built heritage of the region.

Practical information:

The course takes place on the grounds of Bánffy Castle, Bontida, Romania. This is where the accommodation and catering is also offered, as part of the registration costs.

Registration details:

Participants can register online.

Note: The number of available places is limited.

The registration fee is 350 euro per student (a contribution towards tuition, accommodation, and catering costs, which are offered on the castle grounds).

The deadline for application is the 31^st of March 2021.

Full details of our restoration camps and our work can be found at http://www.transylvaniatrust.ro/program/built-heritage-conservation-training-project/.

For further details please do not hesitate to contact us at or .

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Yours sincerely,

AVRAM Adela Luiza                                                                                   BERKI Tímea

Transylvania Trust Foundation                                                                   Transylvania Trust Foundation

Executive Director                                                                                       Programme Director