Adina Mircea
- How would you introduce yourself to strangers?
Adina Mircea, mother, wife, architect, jeweler, teacher.
I graduated in 2007 from the Timişoara Architecture Faculty. During my training I studied one year abroad, in Rome and then worked as an architect in Switzerland but “home” is where I feel free, where I loose all constraints – this is how I generally like to do everything. I completed my architectural training in an office and then, in 2010, with my daughter Sofia by my side, I graduated from a Master of Architecture program.
My interest for jewelry came naturally, with the satisfaction of seeing objects materializing and the experimentation of different shapes, materials, textures and colors.
- What made you choose architecture as a profession?
Nobody I knew worked as an architect but a friend of my mother’s, knowing my interests and my personality, suggested I should become an architect. I thought it was amazing to study for college with a pencil, t-squares and paper and not by learning by heart economy textbooks. But in fact, I had no idea what architecture was.
- How has architecture influenced you personal development?
Studying architecture actually (de)formed my perception of public space, buildings, interiors, furniture, proportions, rhythms, textures, shapes, objects – in reality, I look at the whole world through architecture.
- How would you describe your alternative activity to people unfamiliar with it?
Jewels are part of our life. We pick them according to taste, personality, education, budget. I try to design my jewels starting from a story, a concept, with the ultimate goal of creating objects that transcend their simple purpose of adornments. A jewel offers in fact an object imbued with the designer’s energy, emotion, sincerity and passion. In the transition from architecture to jewelry, I simply switched to a new way of comunicating with people.
- How has the transition from architecture to your alternative activity occured?
I was working in an architectural office. We worked long hours, but the market demanded industrial constructions and standardized supermarkets, not architecture. Dreams and expectations built up during six long years of university started to shatter. To overcome my frustrations, after office hours, I started to create my first pieces. The next step was creating a blog ( https://www.facebook.com/adinamirceadesign ) and as consequence of the resulting exposure, my jewels began to sell. After that, I took this passion more seriously, attending specialised courses and entering competitions in the domain. This attraction grew even stronger after an incursion in David Sandu’s jewelry universe. Today, after experimenting with different non-precious metals, I want more. For two years now, I’ve opened a small workshop in the city centre (4 Mercy st.) where I create pieces I sell in several shops in the country and abroad.
- How do the two activities influence each other?
Like in architecture, designing a piece of jewelry starts from an idea, a concept that you must believe in. Only then can you continue with drawing and manufacturing it. In this process you must always take into account the human scale, functionality and always keep a keen eye on details.
Beyond aesthetics, I want my pieces to be comfortable and pleasant to wear.
- To what degree are you present in each of the activities?
In the room next to my jewelry shop, my husband works at his architectural office. I believe this closeness gave me strength to pursue my dreams, to stray from the path I started on. The fact that my husband designs and I have the option of getting actively involved in architectural work allows me to carry on without wondering “what would it have been like if…”.
To sum up, today I teach architecture at the Ion Mincu Highschool, I get involved in architectural projects I find attracting and follow and develop my dream in jewelry.
Back
