Sportul Studențesc Palaestra

Authors’ Comment

Sportul Studențesc Palaestra addresses the students’ community of Bucharest and its need to complete the Sports Complex in the Regie neighbourhood.
The project's aim is not solely linked to a functional necessity but also strives to correlate with the success story of the club. The location of the palaestra is a site steeped in a history of sports and academic performance, a place of origin for the students’ community of Bucharest. The diploma is a project through which this artefact of memory is restored. Therefore, it is a project to re-establish the site, it is about urban reconciliation, and fundamentally, it is about the reconstruction of an idea: the idea of university sports and its significance. The status of sport as a complementary element of education, much like the site where the palaestra is located, needs revitalization. The intervention also includes a masterplan project that aims to "work" at the city scale. In addition to sports facilities and park landscaping, the project seeks to restore some urban connections, successfully integrate the intervention into the disrupted urban fabric, and position the future construction to appropriately relate to its surroundings.
The ancient palaestra was a representative structure serving as a place for sporting activities and the cultivation of moral and civic ideals. The palaestra identifies a specific typology, a formal archetype for its spaces and plastic expression, and a distinct way of interacting with the natural territory. In this sense, the surprising reappearance of a palaestra today can be achieved with a form that is both gestural and abstract. A clear, forceful form that can bring the same elemental and primal calmness. Today's almost conventional modern sports hall is a result of adhering strictly to sports standards. This mathematical "unit" provides a specific dimension and scale to work with. By focusing on a single, clear, sculptural volume that integrates the sports hall, exhibition spaces for the museum, an auditorium, piazzas, public squares, and sun-shaded areas, the palaestra, with its architectural expression and multifunctionality, becomes a "permanent" building in a way that this architectural object does not immediately and unequivocally reveal its purpose and meaning. "When I did this project, I imagined that it could become a fish market. And when I realized that it was a real possibility, I told myself: Yes! It is a good solution!" - Livio Vacchini, about the Palaestra Polivalente from Losone, Switzerland.
The elliptical shape stands out as a surprising element within the orthogonal system that structures the surrounding spaces. With the concept of intervening in a densely vegetated park, the palaestra should embody a seamless and cohesive structure without distinct façades. The palaestra is a building that invites entry, encircles, and that can be "climbed". The roof of the palaestra is a public piazza that can be accessed from the surrounding terrain next to it. The highest point of this surface is located directly above the center of the sports hall, creating a slight distortion in relation to the actual center of the ellipse.
The project engages in direct dialogue with the natural territory. With elements that articulate key areas, the palaestra can be perceived differently from the sports complex park. The palaestra is more than a sports hall.