Art Urbain

Space fluidity rebirth – Urban strategy for Bucharest

General theme: “Validating forgotten void spaces – the reintegration of forgotten, empty spaces “

Context
Bucharest was not a fortified city. The marish terrains along the Dambovita river, as well as its meanders, were nature defense mechanisms. During the city’s early existence, its inhabitants integrated the river into their life.
Today, the river is isolated from the city. The 80s dictatorial intervention entrapped the river in a concrete casing. Today, the river serves chiefly as a line between the two banks. Only students transit the river as pedestrians because most of the universities are located alongside it.

Concept
The project studies and reintegrates the empty spaces surrounding the universities and the cultural centers located alongside Dambovita river. It identifies the available spaces that are adjacent to the river and improves them by creating a fluid connection, with the purpose of producing a cultural and social axis, as well as a biodiversity network.

Strategy
Each fixed point has its own personality that sets it apart and that deserves to be maintained and highlighted (the university buildings, the Romanian Opera House, the Military Technical Academy, theaters, parks, bridges, etc.). The future connections do not aim to erase the existing differences, as much as to highlight the possible connections through a fluid and permeable flow network.