On Tuesday, 26 May, we opened the studio's courtyard for a conversation about the future of architecture: the 5-year anniversary edition of #abcTalk - from the ABC • Agency. Business. Community ecosystem, part of #BucharestDesignFestival 2026.
We wanted to host it precisely because the evening's themes are the ones we live every day at the studio: where creativity ends and business begins. What quality actually costs. What it means to build a stable team in an industry that constantly tests you.
Moderated by Armina Popeanu, the conversation brought together Raluca Șoaita (TESSERACT Architecture), Alex Dabija (DAA • Dabija Arhitecți Asociați), Mihai Munteanu (Bucharest City Hall) and Andrei Lefter, managing partner at DRS-Architects - four different models of practice, with different goals and visions, yet with so much in common.
Highlights of this conversation, which carried on long after we switched off the microphone:
→ Raluca Șoaita, who has turned the humanisation of hospitals into a design standard, spoke directly about the link between fees and the quality of the cities we all live in.
→ Mihai Munteanu, who set out to repair the bridge between architects and public administration, described a bureaucracy that still runs on tools from another decade.
→ Alex Dabija, who set out to be „a good architect of cafés”, shifted the conversation from the object towards emotion, belonging and the capacity of space to create real experiences.
→ Andrei Lefter spoke about shaping DRS-Architects as a creative corporation and the real tension between creative ambition and the economic sustainability of a studio that has been growing visibly in recent years.
Each of them shared their journey. The difficulties. What they would change. And one of the conclusions: the profession started from a place of respect in society, went through a period of compromises that eroded its credibility, and now, slowly, we are regaining our place. Through assumed quality standards, through transparency towards clients, and through the courage to place real value on our work.
Last but not least, the closing question also stayed with us: „What will your studios look like in 2030?”.
At DRS-Architects, we don't have a definitive answer. But we do have a direction: a multidisciplinary team shaped through complex projects, a studio that treats coordination, strategy and responsibility with the same seriousness as the design concept. We grow through what we build, but also through the conversations we choose to be present for. And the place of an architecture studio is no longer only at the drawing board, but at every table where decisions are made about how the city will look.
And we are glad to have had alongside us in this conversation Sergiu Petrea, the new president of OAR Bucharest, and Andrei Ladislau Fenyo, vice-president for legislation, regulation, rules and digitalisation in the team that has just completed its mandate.
Thank you to the #abc community and to everyone who joined us on Tuesday evening.
Thanks also to our partners at AVstore.ro & to our new friends at Casa Plantelor - Floral Soul, who supported us in organising the event.
Our house remains open, and we look forward to welcoming you on 11 June, at the Night of Architecture Studios.
See how it went here.