Dumitru Rusu, architect and president of the B.A.C.U. Association, is Vice President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage (ISC20C) (2021–2023, re-elected for 2024–2026), a member of the ISC20C Heritage Alerts working group and co-coordinator of the Heritage Alerts initiative, and a member of ICOMOS Romania, ICOMOS Moldova and ICOMOS-ICOFORT. This page brings together B.A.C.U.’s contributions to ICOMOS and to other international heritage initiatives, with links to the original sources.
ISC20C Bureau profile · ISC20C Bureau · ISC20C Heritage Alerts initiative
ICOFORT International Conference 2026, Matsue, Japan
At the ICOFORT International Conference held in Matsue on 8–11 November 2026, Dumitru Rusu presents the paper “Mapping the Black Sea Defense Front: Research, Conservation, and Digital Interpretation of a 20th-Century Coastal Fortification System” in the academic session. The paper was accepted after peer review in July 2026 and will appear in the conference proceedings. The conference is followed by a post-conference excursion on 11–14 November.
ICOMOS 22nd General Assembly – ISC20C Annual Colloquium, Kuching, Malaysia
On 16 October 2026, in the framework of the ICOMOS 22nd General Assembly, Dumitru Rusu presented Monuments to Collective Joy – State Circuses and Socialist Modernism: Adaptive Requalification and Reuse in the Former Eastern Bloc. The talk was part of Session II, Living Heritage and Social Values, of the ISC20C Annual Colloquium Adaptive Futures: Living with 20th-Century Heritage in a Changing World, held at the Borneo Cultures Museum after the ISC20C Annual General Meeting.
Programme, Session II (capture) · Full programme (capture) · Event website · ISC20C announcement · State Circus of Chișinău, listed in 2022
Guest Editor – “Socialist Heritage”, Global Heritage (Elsevier)
In September 2026 Dumitru Rusu accepted the invitation to act as Guest Editor of a Virtual Special Issue on Socialist Heritage in the Elsevier journal Global Heritage (in preparation).
ICOMOS Heritage Alert: Republican Stadium, Chișinău
On 5 May 2026, ICOMOS and its ISC20C issued a Heritage Alert calling for stronger legal protection of the surviving historic structures of the Republican Stadium complex in Chișinău, threatened by plans for a new US Embassy on the site. Dumitru Rusu is a member of the working group and co-coordinator of the ISC20C Heritage Alerts initiative, and the contact person named in the press release. B.A.C.U. had filed a classification dossier for the stadium in 2019.
ICOMOS Heritage Alert · Press release (PDF) · Heritage Alerts working group · B.A.C.U. classification dossier, 2019
ETOM 2025 pilot conference “Modernism #Progressive Heritage”, Berlin
Invited speaker at the conference of the European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM NEB Lab, New European Bauhaus), held on 28–29 November 2025 at the Rathaus Tempelhof, Berlin. A paper based on the talk is being prepared for a Docomomo Journal special issue (2026).
Docomomo International – announcement · ArtHist.net – programme
ISC20C Annual General Meeting, Pampulha, Brazil
On 3 November 2025, at the ISC20C Annual General Meeting held in Pampulha (Belo Horizonte) and online, Dumitru Rusu, ISC20C Vice President, took part online and presented the report of the Socialist Heritage group (item 11.4, Advocacy & Liaisons).
ICOFORT 20th Anniversary International Symposium (online)
On 29 October 2025 Dumitru Rusu presented the paper “Mapping the Black Sea Defense Front: Research and Conservation of a 20th-Century Romanian Coastal Fortification System” at the online symposium “2005–2025: Two Decades of Protecting Fortified World Heritage”, organised from Talca, Chile, by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Fortifications and Military Heritage (ICOFORT), of which he is a member.
Dissonant Heritage Online Agora
On 28 May 2025 Dumitru Rusu took part in the Digital Marketplace of the Dissonant Heritage Online Agora, hosted by the Buzludzha Project Foundation, presenting The Black Sea Defense Front: A Dissonant Legacy and an update of the Socialist Heritage project, with newly listed sites in Moldova and Romania and recent research in China and Laos.
B.A.C.U. launch: “Defense Architecture – The Black Sea Defense Front, Romania (1939–1944/1950–1956)”
On 14 November 2024, at the “Simion Stoilow” Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, B.A.C.U. – together with Romanian Military Archaeology (RMA) – launched the database, the interactive map and the printed guide map of the Black Sea Defense Front, with a debate with invited guests. The project is part of the “Defense Architecture” programme (research 2012–2024). The launch was also announced to the ICOMOS ICOFORT members.
Exhibition “Socmodernism. Architecture in Central Europe during the Cold War”, International Cultural Centre, Kraków
Photographs of the Catholic church in Orșova (arch. Hans Fackelmann) by Dumitru Rusu / B.A.C.U. were used in the exhibition (3 October 2024 – 19 January 2025) and in the accompanying book published by the International Cultural Centre (MCK).
Background: the initiative came from MCK. In spring 2017 MCK, through the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), contacted B.A.C.U. and invited it to Kraków to organise an exhibition of the Socialist Modernism project; Dumitru Rusu presented the Romanian case study at the Academy of Heritage, and in August 2017 B.A.C.U. sent a concept covering Poland, the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Ukraine and Germany, with research trips planned for 2017–2018. No agreement was reached on the terms of the collaboration, and MCK later developed its own exhibition and book on the subject (by Łukasz Galusek and Michał Wiśniewski), which opened in 2024 and includes B.A.C.U. photographs.
Article in Arhitectura, the magazine of the Union of Romanian Architects
In May 2024 Arhitectura (founded 1906), the magazine of the Union of Romanian Architects, published Dumitru Rusu’s article “Bureau for Art and Urban Research (B.A.C.U. Association)” in its Projects section. It presents the Socialist Modernism and SocHeritage programmes and B.A.C.U.’s campaigns for the listing and protection of buildings from 1955–1991 in Romania and the Republic of Moldova – among them the State Circus and the Romanița tower in Chișinău and the Black Sea coast resorts.
ICOMOS Heritage Alert: Belgrade’s 20th-Century Heritage at Risk (Generalštab and Belgrade Fair)
On 22 November 2024 ICOMOS, through its ISC20C, issued an International Heritage Alert for the Generalštab buildings and the Belgrade Fair complex, threatened by delisting, demolition and new construction. Dumitru Rusu supported the alert as a member of the ISC20C Heritage Alerts working group, and the alert is illustrated with his 2014 photographs of the Generalštab from the B.A.C.U. books Socialist Modernism in Serbia and Socialist Modernism in Former Yugoslavia (with Sandra Uskoković, 2019). In November 2025 Europa Nostra, ICOMOS, DOCOMOMO International and ACE issued a joint statement against the “lex specialis” for the site.
ICOMOS Heritage Alert · Press release (PDF) · Joint statement 2025
Launch of the guide/book “Socialist Monumental Art in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (1955–1989/91)”, Bucharest
On 14 November 2023, at the “Simion Stoilow” Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy, B.A.C.U. launched the bilingual guide/book on socialist monumental art in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN). The event was co-hosted with the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage (ISC20C).
Facebook event · The book – Socialist Monumental Art in Romania and the Republic of Moldova
National Symposium of Cultural Studies, 5th edition, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova
On 26 September 2023, at the symposium dedicated to the European Heritage Days and organised by the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the “B.P. Hasdeu” Municipal Library (“Tudor Arghezi” Arts Branch), he presented the paper “Analiza patrimoniului modernist-socialist din Republica Moldova prin studii de caz” (An analysis of the socialist-modernist heritage of the Republic of Moldova through case studies) in Section II, “Artistic heritage”. The abstract is published in the programme and abstracts volume (p. 38).
ISC20C Annual General Meeting, Sydney, Australia – re-elected Vice President
At the ISC20C Annual General Meeting held on 1 September 2023 at the Sydney Opera House (in person and online), Dumitru Rusu, ISC20C Vice President for 2021–2023, was confirmed as Vice President for 2024–2026.
Getty Conservation Institute – International Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage
Invited by the Getty Conservation Institute, Dumitru Rusu was guest lecturer in the Module on Advocacy for Modern Heritage of the GCI International Course on the Conservation of Modern Heritage (May–August 2023). His recorded lecture on Socialist Modernism, an advocacy showcase built on social media, formed Lecture 6, “Dissonant Heritage and Harnessing Social Media”, together with Prof. Dr. Jörg Haspel. On 6 July 2023 he took part in the module’s live session with the course participants, alongside Ho Weng Hin, Donovan Rypkema, Catherine Croft, Charles Birnbaum, Cecilia Chu and Jörg Haspel.
ICOMOS Europe Group / ISC20C seminar, Tartu, Estonia
On 20 June 2023, during the ICOMOS Europe Group annual meeting hosted by ICOMOS Estonia, Dumitru Rusu presented Socialist Modernism in the Baltic Countries – Digital Architectural Guide and Publication in the Dissonant heritage session of the public seminar Challenges and Dissonance of 20th Century Heritage at the Tartu University Library.
Seminar programme (ICOMOS Estonia) · ICOMOS Europe Group meeting 2023
Book presented: Socialist Modernism in the Baltic Countries (B.A.C.U., 2023)
ICOMOS Turkey / ISC20C online seminar: New Forms of Urban Living
On 28 April 2023 Dumitru Rusu presented “Socialist Modernism” at the fourth seminar of the series “Exploring the Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework in the European Context”, organised online by the ICOMOS Turkey National Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage and ISC20C on Theme 1, Rapid Urbanization and the Growth of Large Cities. He also took part in the closing roundtable with Susan Macdonald, Grethe Pontoppidan, Wessel de Jonge and colleagues from ICOMOS Turkey.
ICOMOS Germany workshop: Socialist Modernism in Central and Eastern Europe, Berlin
On 18–20 April 2023, for the International Day for Monuments and Sites, the Max Lingner Foundation and ICOMOS Germany, with BTU Cottbus, organised a workshop at Max-Lingner-Haus in Berlin. Its starting point was the B.A.C.U. Photo Album / Digital Architectural Guide volumes by Dumitru Rusu on the Baltic States and the Balkans, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and Germany. The programme notes the “remarkable resonance” of B.A.C.U.’s work in Eastern Europe.
Workshop programme (ICOMOS, PDF) · B.A.C.U. page
Books presented: 18 April – Socialist Modernism in the Baltic Countries, Socialist Modernism in Bulgaria, Socialist Modernism in Former Yugoslavia · 19 April – Socialist Modernism in Ukraine, Socialist Modernism in Russia · 20 April – Socialist Modernism in Germany
ISC20C Heritage Alert: Hotel National, Chișinău
ICOMOS Moldova and ISC20C, together with B.A.C.U., issued a Heritage Alert for the Hotel National (1974) in Chișinău, threatened with demolition. Dumitru Rusu co-authored the October 2021 letter to the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Chișinău and brought the case to ISC20C. On 29 July 2022 the National Council of Historic Monuments of the Republic of Moldova voted unanimously to list the building.
National Symposium of Cultural Studies, 4th edition, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova
On 28 September 2022, at the symposium dedicated to the European Heritage Days and organised by the Institute of Cultural Heritage and the “B.P. Hasdeu” Municipal Library (“Tudor Arghezi” Arts Branch), he presented the paper “Analiza patrimoniului socialist din Republica Moldova (patru studii de caz)” (An analysis of the socialist heritage of the Republic of Moldova: four case studies) in Section II, “Artistic heritage”. The abstract is published in the programme and abstracts volume (p. 37).
ISC20C Annual General Meeting and Symposium, Porto
From 29 June to 1 July 2022 Dumitru Rusu took part in person, as ISC20C Vice President, in the Annual General Meeting of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Twentieth Century Heritage at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP). The meeting was followed by the symposium “Recognising and Managing 20th Century Heritage Places: Current Issues and Experiences” at the Serralves Museum, organised with ICOMOS Portugal, ICOMOS France and the Getty Foundation. In the Bureau meetings of that year he reported on the Hotel National case and other Heritage Alerts from the region.
Final InnovaConcrete Workshop, University of Cádiz, Spain
Took part, at the invitation of Gunny Harboe (ICOMOS, InnovaConcrete Awareness Committee), in the final workshop of the Horizon 2020 project InnovaConcrete, “Conservation of the 20th Century Concrete-based Cultural Heritage: Innovative materials, procedures and awareness”, held on 2–4 December 2021 at the University of Cádiz, where the Cádiz Document – InnovaConcrete guidelines for the conservation of concrete heritage – was presented.
Workshop poster and agenda (PDF) · The Cádiz Document (ICOMOS Open Archive)
ISC20C Annual General Meeting 2021 (online)
In December 2021 he co-presented, with Stefania Landi, the report of the ISC20C Advocacy area (Heritage Alerts, Socialist Heritage and the other advocacy initiatives) at the committee’s online Annual General Meeting.
Technical University of Munich – lecture series “Resozialisierung II”
On 15 June 2021 Dumitru Rusu gave the online lecture “Socialist Modernism (1955–1991)” in the series “Resozialisierung II. Zum Umgang mit einer ›Sozialistischen Moderne‹”, organised by the TUM Professorship of Recent Building Heritage Conservation (Prof. Andreas Putz) and the Chair of Conservation-Restoration (Prof. Thomas Danzl).
MaMo webinar “Materializing Modernity”, Academy of Albanian Studies / University of Milan
On 6 May 2021 he gave the closing lecture of the MaMo webinar cycle (Horizon 2020 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie project, coordinated by Federica Pompejano): “Socialist Modernism in the former Eastern Bloc (1955–1991)”.
LEAV Lab – webinar programme · Antropologji – MaMo Webinar Cycle (Zenodo)
ARA Symposium no. 21 “Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology”, Bucharest (online)
At the 21st ARA Symposium (22–24 April 2021, online), organised by the ARA Association with the “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology of the Romanian Academy, Dumitru Rusu had two papers in the programme: on 22 April, the B.A.C.U. database and interactive map “Defense Architecture – the Bucharest Fortification Belt and other fortified regions of Romania”, and on 24 April, opening the round table “Monument and Society”, the database and map of socialist heritage in Central and Eastern Europe, “SocHeritage (1933–1991)”.
B.A.C.U. online launch: “Defense Architecture – The Bucharest Fortification Belt (1884–1915)”
On 8 February 2021 B.A.C.U. launched online, on Facebook and Zoom, the interactive map and the architectural guide of the Bucharest fortification belt, with a debate with invited international guests.
B.A.C.U. online launch: “Socialist Realism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (1944–1958/55)”
On 15 December 2020 B.A.C.U. launched the interactive map and the architectural guides of the two capital cities, online on Facebook and YouTube, with a debate with guests from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
Article in Plural. History, Culture, Society
Dumitru Rusu, An Analysis of Socialist Modernist Heritage in Romania and the Republic of Moldova through Case Studies: Utilitarian Buildings and Industrial Facilities, Plural, vol. 8, no. 2, 2020, pp. 131–141.
International Symposium “Modern Heritage’ Futures: Between Conservation and Innovation”, Zagreb
On 21 November 2020, within the Smarter City programme of Shadow Casters, Dumitru Rusu presented the Socialist Modernism platform in the session “Initiatives” of the international symposium held in Zagreb and online, alongside speakers such as Sheridan Burke, Gunny Harboe, Aziza Chaouni and Kyle Normandin. The symposium was conceived by Sandra Uskoković (University of Dubrovnik) and Boris Bakal.
Launch of the “Soc Heritage Map (1933–1991)” platform, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
On 6 March 2020, during the 17th DOCOMOMO Germany conference, B.A.C.U. launched at the Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg, Berlin) the cultural platform SocHeritage – a database and map of socialist-realist and socialist-modernist buildings and monuments (1933–1991) in Central and Eastern Europe, the result of research carried out since 2012 within the “Socialist Heritage” programme.
17th DOCOMOMO Germany Conference “Modern Movement and Digital Challenges”, Berlin
At the conference held on 5–7 March 2020 at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Dumitru Rusu presented the book Socialist Modernism in Germany at the “Vernissage and Book Pitches” evening in the Architekturmuseum of TU Berlin on 5 March. He then took part in the panel discussion moderated by Uta Pottgiesser, with Jean Molitor, Donatella Fioretti, José Gutierrez Marquez and Andrew Kiel.
Programme · Book of Abstracts · Facebook event – book launch “Socialist Modernism in Germany”
Jury member – AFCN Awards 2019, Bucharest
Dumitru Rusu was a member of the jury of the AFCN Awards 2019 (Administration of the National Cultural Fund), nominating and selecting among the projects financed by AFCN in 2019. The awards gala took place on 14 January 2020.
Launch of “SocMonumental Art – Romania and the Republic of Moldova (1955–1989/91)”
On 14 November 2019 B.A.C.U. launched the database and the interactive map of socialist monumental art in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest. The project was co-financed by the Order of Architects of Romania.
ISC20C Annual General Meeting and Symposium, Sidi Harazem (Fès), Morocco
At the ISC20C Annual Meeting held on 11 October 2019 at Sidi Harazem, ahead of the ICOMOS Advisory Committee in Marrakesh, Dumitru Rusu and Jörg Haspel reported on the ISC20C Socialist Heritage Initiative. At the symposium the following day he presented “Socialist Heritage Map (1933–1991)”, the Soc Heritage research platform created by B.A.C.U. with the ISC20C Socialist Heritage working group. That year he was also in charge of updating the ISC20C website.
InnovaConcrete Warsaw Workshop “Post-war Concrete-based Cultural Heritage in Central and Eastern Europe”
Participant in the InnovaConcrete (Horizon 2020) workshop organised by the University of Łódź (Błażej Ciarkowski) at the SARP Pavilion, headquarters of the Association of Polish Architects, Warsaw (26–28 September 2019); he attended the opening days before leaving for the ICOFORT symposium in Shenyang.
ICOFORT International Symposium, Shenyang, China
At the symposium held on 27–28 September 2019, Dumitru Rusu presented, on 28 September, the paper “Defense Architecture – The Bucharest Fortification Belt and Other Fortified Regions of Romania” at the ICOFORT symposium “Conservation of Historic War & Fortification Monuments and Sites”, organised in Shenyang by ICOMOS ICOFORT, ICOMOS China and Shenyang Jianzhu University. He travelled to Shenyang directly from the InnovaConcrete workshop in Warsaw.
InnovaConcrete Rome Workshop “Concrete Architecture in the Mediterranean Area and the Works of Pier Luigi Nervi”
Participant in the InnovaConcrete (Horizon 2020) workshop held on 21–22 February 2019 at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Rome, dedicated to 20th-century concrete architecture in the Mediterranean and to the work of Pier Luigi Nervi (Stadio Flaminio case study).
AFCN Award 2018 – “Innovative Solutions in Heritage Promotion”
The B.A.C.U. project “Socialist Modernism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova” received the AFCN Award 2018 in the category “Innovative Solutions in Heritage Promotion”, granted by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. Dumitru Rusu received the prize on behalf of B.A.C.U. at the awards gala in Bucharest on 15 January 2019.
Launch of the architectural guide “Socialist Modernist Architecture – Romania and the Republic of Moldova (1955–1989/91)”, Bucharest
On 13 November 2018, at the “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum in Bucharest, B.A.C.U. launched the bilingual architectural guide and the interactive map of socialist modernist architecture in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, with a debate with guests from both countries. Dumitru Rusu opened the programme with the presentation “Socialist modernist architecture in Romania and the Republic of Moldova”, followed by Vasile Mitrea, Tamara Nesterov and Ruxandra Nemțeanu (moderator: Irina Iamandescu), a debate on unprotected socialist modernist heritage and the opening of the photo exhibition “Socialist Modernism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova”. The cultural project was co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN); the book was published with the support of the Order of Architects of Romania.
Invitation (PDF) · Programme (PDF) · The book – Socialist Modernist Architecture, Romania and the Republic of Moldova · Facebook event
Kyiv Art Week – discussion programme on Soviet architectural heritage
On 19 May 2018 he gave the lecture “Socialist Modernism Map” in the public programme “Where? To whom? For nothing! What to do with the Soviet in the contemporary city” of Kyiv Art Week, at the Kyiv Palace of Children and Youth.
ARA Symposium no. 19 “Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology”, Bucharest
At the 19th ARA Symposium (19–21 April 2018, “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Bucharest), Dumitru Rusu presented on 19 April the paper “Analysis of the socialist modernist heritage in Romania through four case studies” – the Telephone Palace and the Gheorgheni district in Cluj, the Nord district in Ploiești and the Romanian Black Sea coast resorts, all proposed by B.A.C.U. for listing as historic monuments.
ICOMOS Heritage at Risk World Report 2014–2015
Dumitru Rusu, Socialist Modernist Heritage in the Republic of Moldova, in the ISC20C chapter of Heritage at Risk: World Report 2014–2015 on Monuments and Sites in Danger (ICOMOS, published 2017), pp. 147–151.
ICOMOS 19th General Assembly, New Delhi, India
At the Scientific Symposium Heritage and Democracy of the 19th ICOMOS General Assembly (December 2017), Dumitru Rusu presented the paper Socialist Modernism Map, introducing the interactive map of socialist modernist architecture in Central and Eastern Europe developed by B.A.C.U. on socialistmodernism.com. His participation was supported by a Getty Foundation travel grant through the ICOMOS Victoria Falls Fund.
Launch of the first B.A.C.U. book – photo album “Socialist Modernism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (1955–1989/91)”, Bucharest
On 28 October 2017, at the Giulești Cinema in Bucharest, B.A.C.U. launched its first book, the photo album “Socialist Modernism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova”, the starting point of the “Socialist Modernism” book series. The editorial project was co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN), with B.A.C.U. Chișinău and the North-East branch of the Order of Architects of Romania as partners.
Facebook event · The book – Socialist Modernism in Romania and the Republic of Moldova (3rd edition)
International Cultural Centre, Kraków – Academy of Heritage
On 6 July 2017 Dumitru Rusu gave the lecture “Romanian Socmodernism” (Rumuński socmodernizm) – “The Socialist Modernism Project – a Romanian case study by B.A.C.U.” – in the Open Lectures series of the Academy of Heritage of the International Cultural Centre (MCK) in Kraków, at the invitation of its Educational Department (Dr Michał Wiśniewski). The visit was part of MCK’s own proposal, made through the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), that B.A.C.U. organise an exhibition of the Socialist Modernism project in Kraków. In August 2017 B.A.C.U. sent MCK its exhibition concept; no agreement was reached on the terms, and MCK later produced its own exhibition and book, “Socmodernism. Architecture in Central Europe during the Cold War” (2024–2025), which uses B.A.C.U. photographs – see the 2024 entry above.
International Cultural Centre, Kraków · MCK – lecture page · Video of the lecture
International Conference “Military Landscapes. A future for military heritage”, La Maddalena, Sardinia
In June 2017 Dumitru Rusu presented the paper “The Bucharest Fortification Belt” at the international conference held at La Maddalena, Sardinia, to mark 150 years since the decommissioning of the Italian fortresses. His short paper was published in G. Damiani, D.R. Fiorino (eds), Military Landscapes. A future for military heritage, Skira, Milano 2017 (ISBN 978-88-572-3674-2).
ARA Symposium no. 18 “Architecture. Restoration. Archaeology”, Bucharest
At the 18th ARA Symposium (April 2017, “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Bucharest), Dumitru Rusu (Bureau for Art and Urban Research) presented on 20 April the paper “Socialist Modernism – analysis of the modernist heritage in the Republic of Moldova through four case studies”: the “Romanița” collective housing tower, Hotel National (former Intourist), Hotel Cosmos and the State Circus in Chișinău, for which B.A.C.U. had started listing procedures.
ICOMOS TheoPhilos and ISC20C conference, Florence, Italy
On 12 March 2016 Dumitru Rusu presented Socialist Modernism – Analysis of Modern Heritage in the Republic of Moldova at the international scientific conference Modern Heritage – Identifying, Assessing and Managing its Protection and Conservation (Florence, 10–13 March 2016). The conference was organised by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration (TheoPhilos) and ISC20C, with the Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco – Life Beyond Tourism.
Berlin Protocol – ICOMOS ISC20C “SocHeritage” working group meeting, Berlin
On 5 September 2015 the ICOMOS ISC20C working group “SocHeritage – Conserving the Heritage of Socialist Realism and Socialist Modernism” met at the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (Altes Stadthaus), with fourteen experts including the Presidents of ICOMOS Germany (Jörg Haspel) and ICOMOS Poland (Bogusław Szmygin). Dumitru Rusu presented the socialistmodernism.com initiative and, with Dora Ivanova, case studies of sites at risk – the Romanița tower, Hotel National, Hotel Cosmos and the State Circus in Chișinău – for which listing procedures were started the following year. He also offered the SocHeritage website as the common platform of the working group. The meeting followed the Sofia round table of August 2015.
Sofia Protocol – round table “Socialist Heritage – Heritage at Risk”, ICOMOS Bulgaria, Sofia
On 20 August 2015 the Bulgarian National Committee of ICOMOS organised the round table “Socialist Heritage – Heritage at Risk” at the Union of Architects in Bulgaria, Sofia, conducted by the B.A.C.U. Association within the SocHeritage platform and supported by ICOMOS ISC20C. In Panel 3, “Opportunities for protection and adaptation”, Dumitru Rusu presented “Preservation of functional buildings from the Socialist Modernist period”, alongside Jörg Haspel (ICOMOS Germany) and Bulgarian experts. The conclusions were gathered in the Sofia Protocol.
Sofia Protocol – programme and contributions · Sofia Protocol on SocHeritage
Bauhaus Lab 2015, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation
Participation in Bauhaus Lab 2015, Cracks in the Curtain Wall, with the installation Curtain Wall and Beyond: Erasing History Increases the Risk of Repeating It, on the Bauhaus legacy in East German curtain-wall architecture and its fate after 1990.
Heritage listings obtained by B.A.C.U.
Classification dossiers prepared by B.A.C.U. within the Socialist Modernism (1955–1991) programme, which led to the legal protection of these buildings.
Telephone Palace, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Designed by architect Vasile Mitrea (first phase completed in 1969). Listed as a historical monument (category II, m, group B) by Order 3177/2020, signed on 27 June 2025 and published in the Official Gazette no. 604. The dossier was prepared by architects Ruxandra Nemțeanu, Sorina Varenic and Dumitru Rusu and approved unanimously by the National Commission of Historical Monuments in 2019.
Listing announcement · Building record · Vasile Mitrea in memoriam
Hotel National (former Intourist), Chișinău, Republic of Moldova
Built in 1974. After the B.A.C.U. campaign and the ISC20C Heritage Alert, the National Council of Historic Monuments of the Republic of Moldova voted unanimously on 29 July 2022 to list the building.
State Circus, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova
Built in 1981. Listed in the Register of Historic Monuments by Decision no. 129 of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova of 19 May 2022, based on the dossier prepared by B.A.C.U.
Heritage listings obtained by B.A.C.U.
Classification dossiers prepared by B.A.C.U. within the Socialist Realism (1933–1954) programme, which led to the legal protection of these buildings – or, where the authorities refused, keep the protection process open.
Republican Stadium, Chișinău, Republic of Moldova – protection in progress
In 2019 B.A.C.U. filed a classification dossier for the surviving historic structures of the Republican Stadium complex. The listing was refused by the authorities after the sale of the site, but the stadium remains in a protection process thanks to the B.A.C.U. initiative and to the ICOMOS / ISC20C Heritage Alert of 5 May 2026, which calls for stronger legal protection of the complex, threatened by plans for a new US Embassy. Dumitru Rusu co-coordinates the ISC20C Heritage Alerts initiative and is the contact person for this alert.
ICOMOS Heritage Alert · Press release (PDF) · Heritage Alerts working group · B.A.C.U. classification dossier, 2019
Selected press
- 2019Scena9 – Ultimii martori ai istoriei artei monumentale din România
- 2018The Guardian – Cities – Socialist modernism: remembering the architecture of the eastern bloc
- 2016CNN Style – Saving the socialist architectural legacy
- 2016ArchDaily – Socialist Modernism on Your Smartphone: This Research Group is Raising Funds for a Crowdsourcing Mobile App
- 2016The Calvert Journal – Socialist Modernism photography series seeks to save Eastern Bloc architecture
- 2016Dezeen – Photography series aims to preserve Eastern Bloc architecture
- 2016LEAF Review, no. 22 – In from the cold – built space in the Communist era (interview by Greg Noone)
- 2015Le Courrier des Balkans – Patrimoine : « il est urgent de sauver l’architecture moderniste socialiste »
- 2014VICE România – Modernismul socialist trebuie prezervat la fel de bine ca arhitectura interbelică
Full press list on futuredesign.ro
