Beyond the Iron Gates: Reclaiming Șimian Island through the memory of Ada-Kaleh Part 2 Project 2025 Dragoș Pungă Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism | Romania This project addresses the disappearance of Ada-Kaleh Island and the unsuccessful attempt to replicate it on Șimian Island.Rather than rebuilding a lost object, the proposal explores how architecture can engage with memory, identity, and place. It began with a simple question: If a fortress had been designed for Șimian — not as a copy — what might it become?The project responds by creating a linear path along the island’s southern edge, connecting a series of spaces: research workshops, gardens, exhibition areas, and reflective courtyards. Positioned at the intersection of three key layers — the imaginary boundary of the relocated fortress, the untouched edge of Șimian Island, and the point where both meet the Danube — the intervention is anchored in a moment of spatial tension. These architectural elements adopt a non-referential, consistent formal language. Their similarity — despite varied functions — becomes a critical reflection on replication and authenticity in contemporary architecture.The design draws from Ada-Kaleh’s spirit: its rituals, vegetation, and cultural hybridity. It does not aim to reconstruct the past, but to give form to what remains — atmospheres, blurred stories, and memory — proposing a commemorative architecture that is alive, open-ended, and interpretive. Tutor(s)