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Argument › No. 18/2026

Anchored and Traversed Time in Rural Micro-Architectures. A Design-Research Study in Comana (Romania)

https://doi.org/10.54508/Argument.18.09

  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, RO
  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, RO
  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, RO

Abstract

This article examines how small-scale architectural interventions mediate between permanence and change in rural environments through a design-research study conducted in Comana, Giurgiu County (Romania). The paper proposes a focused conceptual framework based on two complementary temporal regimes: anchored time (routine, memory, maintenance) and traversed time (movement, orientation, and landscape experience).

Methodologically, the study adopts an analytical approach derived primarily from Francesco Careri’s theory of walking as spatial production, as framed in his book Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice (2002/2017), complemented by selected insights from Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life (1984). Fieldwork identified temporal ruptures such as abandoned routes and village–landscape thresholds, which were tested through student design projects.

The results are evaluated through a comparative framework addressing repeatability, orientation, seasonal traces, and maintenance. The findings demonstrate that micro-architectures generate duration primarily through the structuring of use, care, and embodied movement rather than through architectural form. Successful interventions operate as mediators between local routines and ecological rhythms, avoiding both static preservation and touristic over-design.

The paper argues for a shift in architectural evaluation from formal outcomes to temporal performance.

Keywords

anchored time, traversed time, duration, walking practices, orientation, micro-architectures

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References

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