Revitalization of the Courtyard of Domnița Bălașa Church in Bucharest

Authors’ Comment

The narrative of this diploma project originates from what can be called a structural contradiction within the urban fabric of Bucharest—a contradiction generated by the aggressive superimposition of historical layers and the emergence of deep zones of fragmentation.
On one hand, the urban fabric reveals areas with a traditional, organic, sinuous, and cohesive structure, as depicted in the Borroczyn Plan from the mid-19th century. Characteristic of the old fabric is an organizational model based on the repetition and juxtaposition of a basic structure: the parish, centered around a church, generating a polycentric system. Bucharest could thus be described as a “landscape of steeples.”
The research behind this diploma project focused on understanding the relationship between churches and their surrounding territory. It found that churches historically acted as urban stabilizers, concentrating the city’s life around them. The study also identified a clear hierarchy: local parish churches serving neighborhoods, and urban monasteries—such as Mihai Vodă Monastery—serving as nuclei for more complex urban activity. This evolution left a specific imprint on Bucharest, shaping its later development and the structure we see today.
However, this cohesive urban structure—flowing seamlessly from parish to parish—was disrupted over time by modernization efforts and, more drastically, by post-earthquake restructuring. The old urban fabric was fragmented and hidden behind socialist mega-boulevards.
This is the project’s core problem: what do we do today with these forgotten fragments, buried behind communist mega-structures? How do we return to the people the spaces that were taken from them? And, in the most pragmatic way, how do we refunctionalize and reintegrate into the urban system the alienated spaces that now dominate these fragments?
To address these questions, the project proposes the concept of a “Dispersed Museum” that connects 17 historic churches through a cultural route. Each church courtyard is assigned a dual function: a shared cultural role (museum) and a site-specific community role, adaptable to the particularities of each location.
Within this framework, the architectural project focuses on the courtyard of Domnița Bălașa Church, near Unirii Square. Beyond its functional proposal, the project is underpinned by in-depth research into the spatial relationship between church and enclosure, aiming to define an ideal model for their interaction.
The study revealed a specific dynamic around sacred spaces, consisting of:
– a circular movement around the church, expressed through a pedestrian ramp mediating the connection between the church and the surrounding apartment blocks;
– an axial movement toward the altar, expressed through a vegetal garden aligned with this direction;
– a vertical movement toward the sky, materialized in the form of a tall bell tower, 50 meters high, designed to announce the church’s presence beyond the dense block curtain that conceals it.
The revitalization also includes a reconfiguration of Unirii Square, restoring the connection between front and back by reorganizing the ground floors and mezzanines of nearby buildings. This intervention is reinforced by a new pavement pattern emphasizing the transversal connection, and by vegetative barriers shielding the public space from boulevard traffic.
From a functional perspective, the courtyard of Domnița Bălașa Church is returned to the city as a hybrid public space, combining cultural facilities (the Brâncoveanu Foundations Museum, the ramp, the garden, the pedestrian bridge) with community services such as an afterschool program and social canteen—reactivating the memory and role of one of old Bucharest’s most important community spaces.