Nomination for the “Architecture, Interventions, and Public Spaces” section

The refurbishment of the central public space in the city of Râmnicu-Vâlcea

Râmnicu-Vâlcea, jud. Vâlcea, România

Authors: arch. Sorin - Dragoș Popescu – șef de proiect, arch. Șerban Marinescu, arch. Bogdan Vitec, arch. Alexandru Pop / Sorin-Dragoș Popescu B.I.A.
Collaborators: Structură: Ductiltech Construct S.R.L.
Instalații: Complet Instal Design S.R.L.

Authors’ Comment

The city center of Râmnicu-Vâlcea had suffered a rather brutal intervention in the 60’s to 80’s, most of the old houses and streets being replaced with blocks of flats and larger avenues.
The post war totalitarian regime had always feared large spontaneous gatherings of people, hence a common feature of public space design in communist Romania: alleys between greenspaces. This type of spaces contributed to social alienation and the destruction of the concept of community.
We wanted with our proposal to recreate a democratic space that would help to re-enable a sense of local community, the civic and participatory spirit. We sought not to redesign and erase almost everything, as the previous intervention had done, but to identify and keep the valuable features and update the area to a contemporary understanding and use of the public space, which we basically considered to be a larger flat open space. This flexible open space would allow any type of activity. The rehabilitation also comprised a two storey underground parking and a pedestrian passage under the main crossroads.

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