Interstitial spaces and urban regeneration. Case study: Revitalising the Old City’s Blanduziei Galleries

Authors’ Comment

This project proposal consists in a revitalising intervention on an urban island of Bucharest’s Old City, by revealing and acknowledging a famous Gallery’s past, understanding today’s needs, in order to add value, educate, attract capital, improve quality of life by offering the premises for growth, in a functional, aesthetic and fluid space.
The scenario is implanted in the heart of Bucharest, in the academic, cultural, social and financial epicenter of the capital. The choice of this site was dictated by the subjective perception of the conflict highlighted in this area. In the past, here one would have found the Blanduzia Galleries, consisting of small thriving boutiques, art galleries and a garden, that hosted theater and operetta performances. It was a place of high social, cultural and economic importance. After the communist era, not much of the bourgeois charm remains. While highly transited, the site’s appearance and functions don’t bring any interest to pedestrians, who are are rushing to cross the area without any attachment.