The “CO” paradigm is increasingly present in everyone’s life: co-living, co-working, co-production, co-branding, co-education… “co-incidence”? Coincidence or not, this is the story of hills and intertwined lines—co-lines—that have successively illustrated Iași, Bucharest, and Chișinău.
The co-lines project, presented under the Atelier Spre umbrella, started from the need of colleagues and friends at “MEDARU Architects” to bring graphic life to the glass partitions in their Iași office. “A business card of the city” was the succinct yet comprehensive brief that transformed white lines into buildings, monuments, objects, symbols, and ideas on these partitions.
Although abstract by definition, the line is used to delineate, clarify, remember, organize, connect, direct, and—above all—to communicate. This simple graphic language, with infinite configurations, transforms Iași, the city of seven hills, into the city of co-lines. Here, lines intertwine like great destinies, overlap like architectural forms in an eclectic collage, soften like the soul of a pilgrim, and rise toward the sky with the verticality of church and monastery spires.
Later, these playful lines extend onto a larger surface: the accent wall of the office. The new composition becomes more than a map in the conventional sense. It is, rather, an affective cartography that pays homage to the city as it is lived, felt, and explored on foot. The white co-lines and stylized outlines offer a subjective interpretation of the city, evoking both old and new entities and identities. Through the playful flow of lines, we witness a fusion of Iași’s collective memory with the rich, meaningful imagination of a young, ambitious, ever-evolving team.
The inventory of Iași landmarks captured includes houses, palaces, museums, churches, monuments, bridges, statues, staircases, towers, offices, theaters, and universities. Trams, bicycles, and the traces of footsteps lost among the co-lines enliven the space and guide the eye from one landmark to another. The scale and layout of the landmarks are approximate, with relative positioning and flexible scale to capture their aesthetic and architectural essence.
After originating in the Iași office, the co-lines expand to Bucharest and Chișinău. Here, their dynamics adapt to local architecture and character, yet retain their playful nature in overlapping layers of meanings and subtexts waiting to be discovered. With each new MEDARU Architects office, the co-lines connect people, histories, memories, buildings, concepts, and ideas into a multicultural, global web.
Whether representing Iași, Bucharest, or Chișinău, the CO-LINES project invites the discovery of the city, its discussion, and the connection of its stories into a continuous, fluid, and easy-to-follow narrative. The co-lines remain eager to expand and connect, perpetually seeking new urban nodes in which to manifest.
Iași Legend:
Palace of Culture, Independence Statue, General Henri Mathias Berthelot House, Three Hierarchs Monastery, Elisabeta Esplanade, Coat of Arms of Moldavia, Alexandru Ioan Cuza Statue, Stone Bridge, Cub Square, Philharmonic, Pogor House, Great Synagogue, „Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre, Metropolitan Cathedral, Heroes’ Monument, Cismarilor Synagogue, Luceafărul Theatre, Dosoftei House, Romanian Academy, Museums House, Saint Sava Church, Roznovanu Palace
Bucharest Legend:
Mausoleum in Carol I Park, CEC Palace Bucharest, Romanian Athenaeum, Headquarters of the Union of Architects of Bucharest, House of the Free Press, Arch of Triumph, North Railway Station, Coat of Arms of Wallachia, Saint Joseph Cathedral, Telephone Palace, Patriarchal Cathedral, Bucharest National Opera, Ford Hall, One Tower, Sky Tower
Chișinău Legend:
National Museum of Ethnography, National History Museum, Palace of the Republic, „Emil Loteanu” Patria Cinema, Presidency Building of the Republic of Moldova, National Opera and Ballet Theatre, „Eugen Doga” Pedestrian Street, Chișinău Metropolitan Cathedral, Arch of Triumph, Stephen the Great and Holy Statue, Graphic Symbol of the Republic of Moldova, Capitoline Wolf, Water Tower, National Art Museum of Moldova, Central Army House – Military History Museum, Moldtelecom, State Circus of Chișinău, Railway Station, City Gates, City Hall, Organ Hall, Luceafărul Theatre, Eternity Memorial Complex
Tiberiu Teodor-Stanciu, arhitect, Atelier Spre
