106 – CL2030 – METAPOLIS ARCHITECTS

Autori principali: Mircea Munteanu, Cristian Panaite

Colaboratori arhitectură: Metapolis Architects: Diana Sava, Mihai Șom, Laura Dinu-Constantin, Ștefan Mirică, Ioana Afloarei, David Muntean, Bogdan Ilie, Tran Hoang;

Colaboratori specialități: prof. dr. biolog Ioana Mihaela Georgescu

LOT 1 – PREMIUL 2

“ Proiectul este puternic, coerent și sensibil la context. Echipa răspunde mai multor probleme ale locului printr-un proiect care se concentrează asupra nodurilor, accesurilor și podurilor. Juriul apreciază faptul că propunerea peisagistică pornește de la principii naturale, precum și faptul că echipa și-a asumat o arie mai largă de intervenție în cadrul zonei de studiu. Autorii proiectului și-au dorit prezervarea memoriei locale prin refolosirea și reactivarea unor structuri și elemente existente, cum ar fi de exemplu bazinele. Calitatea generală a imaginii propuse și a expresiei grafice este una profesională. Juriul a apreciat simplitatea și caracterul respectuos și atent al intervențiilor. Deși proiectul este unul valoros, juriul a considerat că soluția prezentată și demersul conceptual au mai puțină forță decât cea a proiectului câștigător. .” – aprecierea Juriului

THE COLLENTINA VALLEY TODAY: A RICH PALIMPSEST

Shaper of territorial dynamics

The Colentina river was, along with the Dâmbovița river, the main shaper of the territorial dynamics of Bucharest. This goes back to: geological times (the river eroding the plain, cutting through the top clays strata, down to the Colentina gravel and sand deposits), prehistoric and ancient times (settling the strategic valley promontories/edges), medieval and preindustrial times (villages radiating from the promontory-monasteries/domains), industrial times (massive extraction of clay for bricks and sand and gravel for construction, massive expansion of urbanisation both planned and informal, systematization of the lakes, public parks) and post-industrial times (privatisation, prime real-estate pressure and gentrification).

How can the river and its subtle geography be re-acknowledged as positive shapers of urban development, thriving on them rather than working against them?

Iterative regenerative ecologies

The sometimes-radical urbanisation dynamics along the river have repeatedly reduced and even erased the river ecologies. Nevertheless, when abandoned and left to their own devices, natural processes resurfaced, creating hybrid new communities of plants and habitats. The constants in these iterations remained the underlying geographical conditions: geology-pedology in relation to topography, with very diverse slope steepnesses, wetness and dryness, soil permeability, and last but not least the pulsating dynamics of surface and underground water in the valley in-between drought and rainy periods.
How can the project interventions embrace the natural dynamics and give room to native habitats to expand and re-connect?

Social superdiversity

Equally diverse are the social dynamics along the Colentina River in Bucharest and not least in the Sector 2. The successive waves of migration to the city from the last decades and centuries produced and are still producing a fascinating palimpsest of communities. These range from those formed around the promontory-monasteries/domains (St. Sofia Floreasca, Plumbuita, Ghica, St. Trinity Tei, Fundenii Doamnei, Mărcuța, Pantelimon), mahala/slum-ish suburban communities (in Tei-Toboc, Fundeni, Dobroești or Pantelimon), interbellum planned micro-communities (Negroponte), socialist mass-housing communities (Tei, Colentina, Pantelimon), turbo-capitalist housing compound communities (Pipera-Glucose Factory and the various ongoing lake-side developments), and the more recent foreign migrant-workers communities with various formal or informal meeting and worship centres. While there is a marked thinning out of formal public amenities from West to East, a closer inspection reveals that this lack is addressed by various informal counterparts.

How can the project address issues of social and physical fragmentation and isolation, while at the same time give careful responses to each specific local social condition through the proposed amenities?

THE COLENTINA VALLEY FUTURES: CONNECTING LIVING ENVIRONMENTS

Expanding on the rich layering of local conditions, the project aims to re/connect the various social and natural living environments, while enhancing their specific identities and mediating their contrasts. The resulting socio-ecological network have the Colentina River blue-green open space as a continuous spine, with transversal corridors branching off into the urban tissues and linking to the various parks and valuable open spaces further afield.

Nodes, portals, bridges

Defining the connections in the urban green network is also defining “Places” – important spots for the spatial, ecological and social identities. These to-be-connected spots are structured in three categories: nodes, portals and bridges.

The nodes are the spatial expression of the activities that they houst: community gardens, recreation area for playing, sunbathing, having a chat or a drink with friends and neighbours.

Portals are where major avenues but also local streets are joining the waterfront. Sometimes this link with the waterfront is not yet done so the new portal integrates the waterfront into the neighbouring urban flows.

Bridges are more than simple connections in-between the banks of the river. They become iconic places where social activities, leisure and wildlife diversity can cross each other. They are implemented in strategic places with a potential of maximal intensity of those 3.

LOT 2 – MENȚIUNEA 1

LOT 3 – PREMIUL 3

“Proiectul propune o un atractor funcțional sub forma unei plaje urbane, punct focal de conexiune între mai multe cartiere. Propunerea unei coborâri treptate către apă a fost apreciată de juriu, dat fiind că această experiență nu este posibilă în alte puncte de-a lungul râului. Echipa a propus soluții tipologice diverse pentru renaturarea malurilor. De asemenea, s-a avut în vedere refolosirea unora dintre facilitățile existente, precum și aducerea apei în Parcul Cosmos. Designul obiectelor de arhitectură și mobilier urban nu a fost considerat ca fiind la nivelul celorlalte proiecte premiate.” – aprecierea Juriului