Community & Social Cohesion
The founding interest of the association: Casa Jakab Toffler began as an initiative of the building's tenants, aiming to generate new forms of social interaction between residents and the wider Fabric neighbourhood. We nurture a sense of belonging, strengthen bonds among micro-communities, and celebrate Fabric's everyday multi-ethnic cohabitation across difference.
Related activities 35
Football in Traian 2024
The 3rd edition of the amateur football championship with mixed teams of Fabric neighbours — a natural-grass pitch in Piața Traian that became a meeting platform for the district.
F.I.D. – European Prize for Urban Public Space
F.I.D.'s submission to the European Prize for Urban Public Space (CCCB, Barcelona) — the Piața Traian intervention, grounded in the district's real social fabric.
Social Fabric #3
A series of research and creative residencies and a landscape study of Fabric's interior courtyards, with concrete proposals to transform them into shared green spaces.
The Neighbourhood's Player Cards. A residency with Andrei Becheru
A photographic documentation of the third edition of the Football in Traian championship, through a wide series of portraits gathered into a document-album and a set of cards featuring every player.
Vanishing Forms of Social Life. A residency with Vasile Ernu
A series of "meditation-sketches" on the Fabric district, written by Vasile Ernu; the first text — "The Last Non Stop in Timișoara" — retraces the history of the round-the-clock corner kiosk.
The Cultural Lives of Infrastructures. A residency with Adrian Deoanca
An anthropological inquiry into how people in Fabric live together — in spite of, or thanks to, ethnic, religious and class differences.
The Tensions of Urban Regeneration. A residency with Macrina Moldovan
Research into the tensions surrounding the urban regeneration of Fabric — with a focus on the Piața Traian area — and how residents experience recent transformations.
Past and Present in the Same Photograph. A residency with Oana Stoian
A visual documentation of how the past coexists with the present in Fabric: the old architecture, the shops, the streets and the people who inhabit them.
Voices of Fabric #3
The neighbourhood newspaper of Casa Jakab Toffler, produced within the Social Fabric #3 programme: anthropological texts, architecture and landscape studies, photography.
Jakab Toffler's Report Palace Unveiled
Two August evenings in which the garden of Casa Jakab Toffler became a cultural space for the City Celebration: talks, debates, screenings, guided tours, music and a newspaper launch.
Football in Traian 2023
F.I.D. at the BETA 2023 architecture biennale — a participatory installation and an amateur football championship in Piața Traian, as a platform for social cohesion.
Social Fabric 2023
The umbrella programme of the Capital of Culture year: research and creation residencies, presentations, debates, workshops, theatre, documentary film, concerts, exhibitions and the football championship — in the palace courtyards and in Piața Traian.
co-LIZA 2.0. A residency with Atelier AdHoc
The first Social Fabric 2023 residency ended with co-LIZA 2.0 — a mobile community-activation kit designed for Casa Jakab Toffler and Minitremu.
Atelier VRAC. A first public presentation
Zenaida Florea and Cristi Bădescu presented their projects publicly for the first time in the house garden, followed by a discussion on the state of the architectural profession.
Carnaval de Traian. A residency with Arhiva de Sunet
The team behind the documentary podcast Arhiva de Sunet spent two weeks in Fabric with their microphones open. The result is a forty-minute special episode about Piața Traian.
Sport as an art form. A residency with Tom Russotti
A month-long residency and three non-competitive game workshops at the 2nd edition of "Football in Traian": a helium-ball game and a dance contest judged by the audience.
A research residency with Ciprian Homorodean
From July to December 2023, artist Ciprian Homorodean worked at Casa Jakab Toffler on a research project addressing social, political and economic themes.
The corner shops. A residency with Sorin Valea
A visual-anthropology inquiry into Fabric's small commercial initiatives, which produced the interview with "Tanti Gabi", published in "Voices of Fabric" #2.
Neighbourhood journalism. A residency with Vlad Marko Tolea
The residency produced the text of the "Married vs Unmarried" exhibition and the major pieces in issue 2 of the newspaper "Voices of Fabric".
ceva de.plasat — ep. 1
Three days with the CEVA collective, teenagers from Târgu Neamț: a performance about collective identity and safe spaces, performative readings and a playwriting workshop for young people.
With Open Doors
Three evenings when the house stayed open to anyone: the opening of the "Femeia fără mână" installation, the residents' public presentations and two documentary screenings, free of charge.
The Architecture Students' Practice, 2nd Edition
First-year students from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism worked on the house garden, on mounting the "Married vs Unmarried" exhibition and on the pitch in Piața Traian.
Married vs Unmarried
A retrospective exhibition on the traditional amateur football match between married and unmarried men, begun in 1936 — an example of the Fabric district's intangible heritage.
Voices of Fabric
A neighbourhood newspaper published by Casa Jakab Toffler, born from Andrei Becheru's residency — 80+ interviews and photographs about how people live and remember the Fabric district.
Social Fabric – Activity Report
The activity report of the 2023 Social Fabric programme — residencies, workshops, exhibitions and events reimagining the Jakab Toffler palace courtyards and Fabric's heritage.
Made in Fabric / #social fabric
The founding year's programme of free workshops and events in the courtyards of the Jakab Toffler Palace and in Piața Traian — from drawing, fanzines and sound-making to community meals, picnics, debates and film screenings.
Football in Traian 2022
The first edition of F.I.D. — "Football as Infrastructure for Democracy": a participatory installation with a natural-grass pitch in Piața Traian and a 16-team neighbourhood championship, held within the BETA 2022 architecture biennale.
The Architecture Students' Practice, 1st Edition
Twelve first-year students from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism spent two weeks at Casa Jakab Toffler: one week of surveying and design, one of building.
Social Fabric: The House with Monkeys
Basca Theatre's documentary-theatre piece about the stories of the Fabric district and of the Ștefania Palace, performed in the courtyard of Casa Jakab Toffler, with free entry.
Voices of Fabric. A residency with Andrei Becheru
A research-and-creation residency in which photographer Andrei Becheru gathered over eighty interviews and photographs from Fabric, later assembled into the first issue of the neighbourhood newspaper "Voices of Fabric".
A Joint Residency. Paul Breazu & Cătălin Matei
A joint residency hosted by Casa Jakab Toffler in 2022, recorded on the timeline of the association's first year.
A Residency. Sorina Vasilescu
A residency hosted by Casa Jakab Toffler in 2022, recorded by name on the timeline of the association's first year.
A Residency. Vlad Cadar
A residency hosted by Casa Jakab Toffler in 2022, recorded by name on the timeline of the association's first year.
Voices of Fabric #1
The first issue of Casa Jakab Toffler's neighbourhood newspaper, the outcome of Andrei Becheru's residency: interviews and photographs about how people live in and remember the Fabric district.
Narrative Activity Report 2022
The chronicle of the first year of #social fabric activities at Casa Jakab Toffler: workshops, residencies, an architecture practice, concerts, film screenings and a football championship, in the palace courtyard and around Piața Traian.