{"id":163031,"date":"2026-04-28T20:54:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oar.archi\/galerie-proiecte\/119-ms8317\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:57:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:57:54","slug":"119-ms8317","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/oar.archi\/en\/concursuri\/oar\/mures-parks\/galerie-proiecte\/119-ms8317\/","title":{"rendered":"119\u00a0– MS8317 –\u00a0ATELIER MENOU SRL\u00a0+\u00a0SFERA ARHITECTURA SRL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Main authors: <\/strong>dr. arh. Miruna Moldovan, arh. Adrian-Ovidiu Bucin, dr. arh. Alexandru Sab\u0103u, arh. Ioana-Andreea Sab\u0103u, ing. peis. Alexandra-Mara Buz, arh. Laura-Sabina Dragomir, stud. ing. peis. Dinu Laz\u0103r, stud. arh. Daria-Sanda M\u0103lan, stud. arh. Magda Neme\u0219, stud. arh. M\u0103d\u0103lin-Constantin Stanciu, stud. arh. Carina \u0218uteu <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country or countries of origin:<\/strong> Romania <\/strong> 
OAR Territorial branch:<\/strong> Transilvania <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Design Concept and Urban Gesture<\/em><\/strong>
The potential of the project is exuberantly depicted in the axonometric friezes, which illustrate how the scheme would activate the new green-blue corridor in the city. The jury appreciated the gateways and \u201clearning circuits\u201d that engage humans and other species. They noted methods for jump-starting biodiversification and creating new habitats for the city at large, but were unable to clearly align these processes with the resulting drawings.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landscape Strategy<\/em><\/strong>
The project presents a well-detailed, well-researched explanation of plant communities and their implementation in the parks and corridors. The jury appreciated the diversity of landscape conditions, but was not convinced that it would be legible to the park visitors.\u00a0 The large space of the hippodrome was subdivided many times at the expense of retaining a large, flexible open space.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban Connections<\/em><\/strong>
Urban connections are numerous and well located, but the jury found it difficult to understand the circulation patterns at the points where paths meet the larger roads and the railways.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability<\/em><\/strong>
Maintenance is well thought out, with clearly zoned ecological corridors treated separately from the high-maintenance areas.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stormwater management is well thought out, but it misses the potential of these new hydrological elements as biodiversity generators. The artificial lake seems to contradict the overall hydrological strategy. The jury appreciated that the Miyawaki method of afforestation is economical and systematic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Feasibility & Management<\/em><\/strong>
The Hippodrome park spaces are over-determined, meaning less flexible programming is available to the city and citizens. The railway connection is overthought. Viewing platforms could be scaled down.<\/em>– appreciation of the Jury<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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A gradient<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park is structured through a gradient of active, transitional, and passive areas<\/strong>, balancing human presence with ecological preservation. The Hippodrome Park and the Municipal Park, together with the existing sports facilities, form the main active cores, dedicated to social interaction, recreation, and movement. Around them, a passive green corridor is established as a protective ecological buffer, preserving natural processes through limited human access while encouraging slow activities such as walking, jogging, moments of pause, and contemplation. Transitional crossings and liminal spaces, shaped by vegetation, mediate the shift between these layers, ensuring a gradual passage from urban activity to environmental quietness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Learning City<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city historically developed in symbiosis with water, yet modern interventions have progressively distanced the river from the city through regulation works and infrastructural barriers. These spaces have become peripheral, residual, or purely technical, and the city has gradually turned its back on the Mure\u0219 River. The proposal acts as a process of restoring the city\u2019s fluvial identity by transforming isolated fragments into a unified system. Water becomes the central element around which urban, recreational, and sports-related functions are organized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project proposes an ecological approach to existing barriers through local interventions that open visual corridors and improve accessibility<\/p>\n\n\n\n

towards key points of contact with water. This reconnection is not merely aesthetic, but also social: the riverbank becomes a primary pedestrian space that links different neighborhoods into a shared public realm. A continuous ecological infrastructure is proposed, transforming residual spaces into corridors for sustainable mobility, both pedestrian and cycling, reconnecting the historic center with the river landscape and creating increased urban permeability, enhanced mobility, and a coherent public space system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Thresholds and Mobility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historical and ecological traces of water are revealed through the superimposition of historical cartographies and the reinterpretation of the landscape as a palimpsest. A series of strategic crossing points, including secure at-grade crossings, pedestrian links, and passages, transforms the railway from a barrier into a traversable landmark. Abandoned areas are integrated into the overall route and become active components of the visitor experience, accommodating playgrounds, viewpoints, relaxation areas, and flexible multifunctional spaces. The Turbinei Canal represents the city\u2019s connection to proto-industrial development and early energy production, introducing an anthropic layer to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans and fauna traverse infrastructural barriers through fundamentally different spatial logics. Human movement is supported by elevated walkways that privilege light, exposure, speed, and active mobility. In contrast, fauna requires protected and continuous contact with the natural ground. The ecoduct is therefore conceived as a sheltered ecological corridor, ensuring biological continuity and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedagogical Architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project integrates a pedagogical dimension, transforming the park into a living landscape of learning and environmental awareness<\/strong>. A network of lightweight architectural interventions, observation points, totems, interactive games, and thematic routes structures the site as an open-air educational infrastructure. Thematic circuits are organized around key actors present within the landscape – beavers, birds, fish, horses, and pollinators such as bees<\/strong> – allowing visitors to learn from natural processes, habitat dynamics, and species-specific behaviors. In this way, architecture and landscape operate together as interpretative tools, fostering understanding of the relationship between biodiversity, ecological resilience, and urban environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecological Corridors and Habitat Response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ecological corridors are structured on an 8 X 8 m grid<\/strong>, following the Miyawaki forest method<\/strong>, generating dense clusters of native vegetation. The proposed vegetation strategy responds directly to the habitat requirements of the fauna species identified on site, aiming to strengthen the local ecosystem by providing suitable habitats, food sources, and ecological continuity for native wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two main planting categories are defined according to site conditions: hydrophilic species<\/strong> for wetter areas and drought-tolerant species<\/strong> for drier zones. These interventions are distributed along the Mure\u0219 riverbanks, the Relict Meander, the Turbinei Canal, the Hippodrome area<\/strong>, and the transition zones connecting them. Planting density varies in order to maintain the continuity of ecological corridors with limited human access, while more open areas allow controlled public access for educational purposes and preserve necessary spatial connections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Blue-Green Framework<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition from the anthropic space to the natural landscape is marked by a dense grid of Populus nigra<\/em>, conceived as green cathedrals<\/strong> – natural vertical portals with strong visual and tactile qualities. Their rhythm and height prepare visitors for the encounter with nature while evoking a sense of humility in relation to the surrounding natural environments. Nature is understood as a dynamic and continuously evolving system; therefore, the design of green spaces is approached through an understanding of long-term transformation processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a carefully orchestrated interplay of trees, shrubs, and flowering meadows, the proposal creates a sequence of open and enclosed spaces that guide movement and perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biodiversity Core and Existing Vegetation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Relict Meander functions as the site\u2019s biodiversity core, hosting protected species and representing a highly sensitive ecological system. The proposed vegetation strategy reinforces ecological continuity by creating an uninterrupted ecological flow that enables fauna to traverse the urban fabric and maintain habitat connections throughout the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time is recognized as the primary material of transformation. Vegetation is not installed as a finished product, but allowed to evolve, mature, and reclaim autonomy over time. The Municipal Park is conceived as an active and accessible area through which the ecological corridor continues. Existing mature vegetation is preserved, while ornamental perennials and grasses are introduced as educational plantings that help visitors recognize native species encountered across the wider site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water as a Living Process<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water constitutes the primary structuring element<\/strong> of the proposal, present both as a permanent and temporary condition. The design embraces this dynamic through a system of floodable and seasonally adaptive landscapes<\/strong> with an ever-changing character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the Hippodrome area, shallow temporary basins are introduced according to the existing topography to capture and retain stormwater. These temporary water surfaces become moments of pause and reflection, both literally and metaphorically.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nature-Based Water System<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal integrates nature-based solutions<\/strong>, such as rain gardens and controlled floodable zones, enhancing stormwater management while supporting ecological resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landscape as Process<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The park is conceived not as a consumable urban product, but as a living ecosystem in continuous change<\/strong>. By relying on native species and self-sustaining systems, maintenance requirements and long-term operational costs are significantly reduced, ensuring both environmental and economic responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The maintenance strategy is intentionally minimal, relying on native species and focused primarily on the establishment phase during the first 2\u20133 years. Once stabilized, interventions become punctual and limited to controlled irrigation, annual tree pruning and meadow mowing, with additional soil improvement measures applied only when necessary. Ecological corridor areas are largely left to evolve autonomously, while active zones receive targeted maintenance to preserve their intended spatial character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lightweight and punctual nature of the built interventions supports adaptability over time, allowing the landscape to evolve while maintaining the educational and social role of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future development phases may strengthen the relationship between the Hippodrome Park and the unfinished complex on Intrarea Matei Ene, between the Municipal Park and the Electricity Distribution Mure\u0219 Complex together with the derelict barracks, as well as between the Turbinei Canal and the Aquaserv Complex and all the adjacent industrial heritage buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turbinei Canal can evolve as a cultural and public landscape corridor<\/strong>, transforming its technical and proto-industrial character into an urban resource that reconnects the city with its infrastructural memory and early energy production heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":162864,"template":"","class_list":["post-163031","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n119\u00a0- MS8317 -\u00a0ATELIER MENOU SRL\u00a0+\u00a0SFERA ARHITECTURA SRL - OAR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oar.archi\/en\/concursuri\/oar\/mures-parks\/galerie-proiecte\/119-ms8317\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"119\u00a0- MS8317 -\u00a0ATELIER MENOU SRL\u00a0+\u00a0SFERA ARHITECTURA SRL - OAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Main authors: dr. arh. 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