Magic Blocks // RO  

The urban fabric of Bucharest is strongly influenced by the socialist housing block, as are the majority of post-socialist cities. But in Bucharest’s case, the housing blocks were not only built on a tabula rasa, they were also built along the existing boulevards. Apartment blocks, eight to twelve stories high, entirely transformed the existing fabric of one- to two-story houses. The slab buildings were like a concrete curtain, framing large areas of low-density housing and giving the boulevards a dense, urban appearance, while protecting the green, suburban setting behind them.

When we started our investigation in 2007, in cooperation with Archis Interventions and local planners, the city ran a façade renovation program, offering thermal insulation and plastic windows for socialist housing blocks. Minimal improvements had been made along the boulevards, and private property owners had renovated their houses. The public space behind the concrete curtains remained untouched and derelict. A substantial part of Bucharest suffers from this condition, and we decided to develop a prototypical solution for this condition along the Calea Mosilor.

Through strategic analysis of typologies activities, we identified particular sets of problems for five prototypical situations. Besides the individual solutions each of them needed, a common factor in all of the areas was that private properties facing the residual space were underdeveloped. Consequently, we developed strategic zones of two kinds: one, an intervention zone, where planning was needed; and a  buffer zone, where private investment was necessary. Private investment was stimulated through strategic legislation, allowing higher building density in the buffer zone. The intervention zone was transformed to improve public spaces for the apartments and to provide high-quality conditions for private investments. Looking at the buffer zone in relation to the entire city, it has the potential to become a huge development area. The proximity to the main roads of Bucharest ensures a good accessibly to the buffer zone from most of the city. Furthermore, an active buffer zone absorbs the existing development pressure in low-density areas, providing them with protection from existing and destructive building activities.

In the next step of the project, we used strategic participation to raise awareness in the professional field by producing an exhibition. To address the local public in the neighborhood and to test our strategic planning, we realized a set of small-scale interventions, which explored re-programming and re-organizing abandoned spaces. With minimal means, we were able to engage the inhabitants, received valuable feedback, and paved the way for a prototypical project, to realize our strategies on a larger scale.

A collaboration between Zeppelin, Bucharest,  Point 4, Bucharest, Archis Interventions/SEE, Hackenbroich Architekten, Berlin