RADU DRAGAN
DRAGAN ARCHITECTURE
“Did the Pope Sixtus IV ask
Michelangelo to decorate the
Sistine Chapel as an architect, as an
interior designer? In his time, this
question would have been perfectly
incongruous!”
Graduated from the Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture in Bu-
charest, Radu Dragan has become a prominent architect and
urban planner, establishing his own company in Paris, Dragan
Architecture, which was founded in 2007. He is a proud member
of the French Order of Architects. In addition, the architect has
also taught for over ten years in an Architecture School.
The opportunity to enter in the design industry arose in 2001
after a client requested a decoration proposal for his Conference
Centre in Saudi Arabia. Despite the fact that his office, which
he managed with some friends, was only executing architecture
projects, after a convincing and thought out presentation, they
were the chosen ones to complete the proposal from a long list
of competitors.
Concerning his signature style, Radu Dragan discloses, “As an
architect, I was used to thinking about space, not only about the
walls and floor decoration, but to think the space in its whole,
to think to proportions between void and empty, and so on.”
The architect’s most beloved style to use in spaces is minimal-
ist and refined; however, it is a variety that does not attract all
sorts of crowds, so the company doesn’t get asked very often. He
furthers explains that the most coveted desires involve classical
and expensive decorations, and he finds it difficult to convince
certain clients otherwise.
Moreover, Dragan considers that there aren’t that many dis-
similarities between architecture and interior design, only as of
lately, has this comparison gained notice mainly due to extreme
specialisation, as he continued “Did the Pope Sixtus IV ask Mi-
chelangelo to decorate the Sistine Chapel as an architect, as an
interior designer? In his time, this question would have been per-
fectly incongruous!”
