It was in the monastery of Hurezi in Romania where a seminar held on September 11-14, 1998 made it possible to continue on a theoretical level the engaged practical reflection on the projects received for the first session of the contest and to prepare the second one. The participants, people in charge of Unions and architects' Societies coming from Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Serbia, Republic of Moldova, and Luxembourg drew up a review of the situation of rural architecture in their respective countries by comparing it to various situations from western Europe presented by the Institute.

constatations

If the professionals gathered in Hurezi compared the problems and interrogations of very different European countries with regard to safeguarding the integrity of cultural landscapes, they also underlined two essential similarities: difficult adaptations between traditional heritage and the new life habits of the inhabitants, as well as their requirements in term of comfort on the one hand and, and, on the other, the importance of use conflicts between traditional values related to work and new uses related to leisure.

These two remarks led to the reaffirmation of general objectives for the actions intended to be carried out in the future within the framework of the route of rural dwellings:

• to fight the pollution of the environment and of cultural landscape;
• to avoid turning rural areas into a desert;
• to encourage good practices of new constructions and reassignment of heritage in the rural environment;
• to awaken the interest of all those concerned and in particular of the inhabitants and of political decision-makers;
• to restore in the owners and inhabitants alike the legitimate pride in the quality and originality of their dwellings.

First prize of 1999 competition. Arch.
Stefan Beyazov, Bulgaria

They also led them to wish:

• one second edition of the competition;
• the set-up, starting from the Architecture Institutes of Romania, of an optional experimental workshop in order to sensitise students to the problems of architecture in the rural environment;
• the set-up of marked routes bearing on traditional architectures in the rural environment in an intercultural and transborder spirit;
• the drawing of the inventory of a pilot village in the Romanian region.

One should not forget the publication of the results of the competitions and the quality steps already taken in various countries of Europe.

the second competition

Following this seminar, a steering committee was given the task to prepare the terms of the second edition. It was accommodated by the Institute in Luxembourg on February 22, 1999, after visiting the transborder rural heritage of the so-called Grande Région. The conclusions of this meeting indeed made it possible to adopt various new steps:

• in addition to new constructions, the prizes could be allotted to rehabilitations because the question of abandoned rural heritage is a phenomenon common to all Europe;
• religious buildings were also included in the contest;
• landscape interventions, which make it possible to take into account man and his environment, were also part of the eligible projects;
• companies that play a significant part in the quality and success of the achievements could also receive prizes;
• the files were to comprise a justifying description, in addition to plans and photographs;
• finally, the concept of "rural character" based on the size of the villages - which should not exceed 10000 inhabitants - was reaffirmed.

As for the first version, it was implemented by the Union of Romanian Architects; scientific supervision was ensured by Claudia Constantinescu. The competition was officially launched in April 1999 by the Union of Romanian Architects, the Ministry for Regional Planning, Institute Prodomus Inc. and the European Institute of Cultural Routes.

Second prize of 1999 competition. Arch. Ivan Jarina, Slovak Republic

Again gathered in Sibiu, this time during the launching of the Campaign "Europe, a Common Heritage", on September 13, 1999, the jury was impressed by the increase in number of projects: twenty-one applications coming, among others, from Romania, Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Ukraine. The prizes, to which private sponsors also contributed, were shared, as envisaged by the regulation, between architects and their patrons, as well as companies. The work awarded the first two prizes, in Bulgaria and Slovakia, was marked by great quality in terms of materials and execution. Unfortunately, the projects of landscape interventions did not make it possible to award the prize suggested (creation of a secondary school garden in Terrasson in the Dordogne Area). It is partly what explains why the Institute decided to launch in 2000 an action aiming at the collaboration of professionals from this sector. It was also suggested to think about the way in which this contest could intervene to help rebuilding in rural zones in the countries subject to recent conflicts.

The results of this contest were the subject of several exhibitions in Bucharest (at the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Town Planning, at the Galleries 3/4 of the National Theatre) and in Cluj (during the European Meetings organised by the French Cultural Centre in 2001), as well as of a presentation during the twenty-first Congress of the International Union of Architects in July 2002 in Berlin. After a two-year's pause, largely devoted to thinking through the questions of landscape dimension, the Institute should restart the process.