Casino Constanța
Exhibition Center
In 1910, when the Casino first lit up its lights, it represented a statement of modernity, a manifesto of a courageous and avant-garde Romania, looking to the future. Today, after a five-year restoration, the Casino shines again, not only as an architectural monument, but also as a dynamic cultural space, where contemporary culture and leisure intertwine in a living spirit, open to all.
The project carried out by Zeppelin Design consists of creating an exhibition centre within the building, integrating both the curatorial concept, historical and scientific content, as well as exhibition design and multimedia elements, into a unified cultural and spatial experience. The surface area of the exhibitions is approximately 1100m2. As of the time of this judging, the number of ticket-paying visitors is approximately 170,000 since the venue opened in May 2025.
The New Casino reopens its doors with exhibitions on all levels, the content of which is organised into different reading layers, to respond to both the interest of specialists and the curiosity of the general cultural public of the year 2025. The exhibition route covers the ground floor, the entire basement and the sea-facing rooms on the first floor, and the themes resonate strongly with the spaces that accommodate them, while developing unseen narrative threads that intersect throughout the building. Thus, the permanent exhibition on the ground floor is dedicated to architecture, the Art Nouveau style and the cultural, social, urban and political life around the Casino, over more than 100 years. The basement invites visitors to descend into the depths, where ancient vestiges, shipwrecks and legends of sunken cities can be found in this very place, overlaid with the real world of underwater life, subject to scientifically analysed physical phenomena. The floor is intended for temporary exhibitions, the inauguration being made with a research dedicated to the great visionary engineer Anghel Saligny, who made a crucial contribution to the development of the Constanta port and the Casino coastline.
The design of the exhibition system is based on three fundamental principles, defined according to the site and identity of the host building.
First of all, the installations in the exhibition respect and enhance the monument-building, the casino architecture being treated as an exhibit in itself. The configuration and placement of the exhibition furniture and lighting, as well as the visitor routes, emphasise the spatial logic of the building, privileging the best perspectives on the iconic architectural elements (shell windows, columns, openings between spaces, monumental staircases, stained glass windows, etc.). The metal facade sign with the name Casino, which many visitors to the seaside remember from a few decades ago, has been recovered for the space dedicated to the reception. The display cases in the ground floor hall are oriented perpendicular to the facade with windows facing the sea, to leave the panorama of the water free. The modular system for temporary exhibitions on the first floor is made of a transparent metal grid to ensure the passage of natural light and a presence as discreet as possible.
Secondly, the intervention in a highly ornamented and decorated context requires a minimal physical occupation of the space and a minimalist aesthetic of the exhibition systems, the information content being offered in extensive multimedia formats (augmented reality, virtual reality, films, animations, 3D visualisations, sequential immersive experiences, digital content navigation, etc.). Also, for a minimal occupation of the space, the notes written by the political prisoners who worked on the reconstruction of the casino in the 1950s, found with the uncovering of the masonry, are exhibited in niches existing in the volume of the columns on the ground floor, instead of dedicated showcases.
Finally, for a wide cultural audience, in a building by the sea, the transfer of knowledge is done in an experiential and playful way, unlike traditional museums, where the approach is pedagogical, unidirectional. In this regard, all exhibitions feature interactive installations, with intuitive, accessible functionality that seasons the most serious historical or scientific information with a dose of humour.
EXHIBITIONS: THE GROUND FLOOR
The History of the Casino
From the vision of King Carol I and the talent of architect Daniel Renard to the transformations it has undergone over more than a century of life, the Casino has witnessed the brilliance and decline of worlds, withstanding wars and other terrible moments, followed by repairs and reinventions.
THE BASEMENT: Tales from the depths of the Black Sea
Ovid’s Metamorphoses
An immersive show about the creation of the world, gods, humans, love, war and destiny, inspired by the masterpieces Metamorphoses and Tristele: Letters from Pontus by the great Roman poet Ovid, exiled in Tomis.
In Search of Noah’s Ark
A VR exploration of the wrecks of the Black Sea: from Greek and Byzantine ships, to interwar cargo ships, modelled after real archaeological discoveries – some preserved almost entirely underwater.
The Gods Who Move The Sea
A symbolic map of the sea presents the forces of the ancient deities Pontos, Fortuna or the Glycon Serpent, who unleash storms, lightning and waves, in an interactive experience.
The Depths of the Black Sea
The control panel makes it possible to explore the stratified life of the Black Sea, from birds of prey on the surface of the water to ancient shipwrecks in the depths, in a fascinating underwater journey.
The ARGO Submarine – A Journey to the Depths
A multi-modal and multi-sensory experience to explore the complex ecosystem of the Black Sea, discovering how marine life perceives light, protects itself and orients itself.
The Wave
An interactive installation simulates the formation of waves from water and wind, against the backdrop of the hazards of the sea, where science and faith in the gods meet in front of untamed nature.
Diving suits
A history of underwater diving: from Alexander the Great’s glass bell 300 years before Christ, to the discoveries of Commander Constantin Scarlat – the founder of the first combat diver unit in Romania, and the participation of Romanian military divers in NATO mine neutralization missions in the Black Sea today.
FIRST FLOOR: Anghel Saligny – Beyond the Bridge
A temporary exhibition dedicated to Anghel Saligny – a visionary engineer who had a clear mission: to build a solid infrastructure network in the service of a strong and modern state. This system also included the ensemble of bridges over the Danube, the most important being the King Carol I Bridge in Cernavodă, and the modernization of the Port of Constanța (silos, power plant, Royal Pavilion, tunnel, lighthouses, oil station, railway network, quays, port buildings, coast line).
Project funded by Constanța City Hall
DESIGN TEAM:
Constantin Goagea, Cosmina Goagea, Cristina Ginara-Ivanof, Mara Stancu, Ana Constantinescu, Lisa Dres, Andrei Dilă, Mihail Sibiceanu, Mădălina Stănășel, Dinu Hoinărescu
CONTRIBUTORS:
HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND TEXTS
Cristian Cealera, Marius Cosmeanu, Alexandra Stoica, Apollon Cristodulo, Mădălina Mirea
RESEARCH PARTNERS
National Museum of History and Archaeology, Constanța
National Heritage Institute
GeoEcoMar – National Institute for Research and Development in Geology and Geoecology
MULTIMEDIA DESIGN
Les Ateliers Nomad
Alexandru Berceanu
Dilmana Yordanova
Ovidiu Eftimie
Cristian Dorobănțescu
SOUND AND MUSIC DESIGN
Vlaicu Golcea
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Policromic
Artemisa Pascu
Andrei Grosu
EXHIBITION SYSTEM PRODUCTION
Kaustik
MECHANICAL INSTALLATIONS
Atelier SET
OBJECTS ON DISPLAY FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF
Gabriel Puchiu, Pascale Roibu, Apollon Cristodulo, Aristide Cristodulo
National Museum of the Romanian Navy – Constanța
PHOTOGRAPHY
Vlad Pătru