Following the three-day Wandering Threads exhibition, workshop, and conference in April, an unconventional and experimental heritage research project took place from July 5–11, 2026, in Oradea, organized by the YBL Faculty’s three scientific and research student circles in cooperation with the University of Oradea and Oradea Heritage. The spring event—a collaboration between Scotland, Hungary, and Romania—explored the field of “transition design,” specifically the interconnections between a community’s vision for the future and the potential inherent in the heritage left to us by the past. The subsequent summer student research project took place in Oradea’s downtown district, with the goal of surveying and analyzing the industrial buildings (textile factory) and the Fekete Sas Hotel (certain sections of the building), which will serve as the basis for the thematic semester project during the fall semester of the Master’s program in Architecture, “RE.”

At the student survey camp, within the complex, the Industrial Heritage Workshop (I’5)—as part of its work, which has come to be regarded as both a tradition and a vital contribution—documented the building complex of the former historic textile factory. In addition to examining and recording the built industrial heritage, the I’5 students also mapped out its history—based on the industrial structures, equipment, and documentation found there.

Continuing the long-standing tradition of student historic preservation “Vacation Surveys” at the YBL Faculty, the Ernő Foerk Student Historic Preservation Circle (FEMDK) worked at the iconic Black Eagle Hotel Palace. The FEMDK students conducted an architectural survey of the currently unused banquet hall section of the building. The assignment covered the two-story lobby, the grand staircase, the theater and ballroom, and the bistro area. In addition to manual methods, the students were able to utilize state-of-the-art digital surveying tools—within the framework of the Heritage BIM LAB, the faculty’s newest workshop—including TLS scanning and, to supplement their hand-drawn sketches, the Leica BLK 360, Trimble, and drone surveying.

FEMDK leader: Dr. Benárd Aurél DLA 
I’5 leader: Prof. Dr. Csontos Györgyi DLA
Heritage BIM LAB leaders: Csóka Zsófia, Vágner Zsolt

YMÉK - Research Project coordinator: Dr. habil. Fáczányi Zsuzsa PhD 
Oradea Heritage - Research Project coordinator: Dr. habil. Zuh Deodáth PhD