Cito Sanum. Medical recovery center on Calea Moșilor

Authors’ Comment

The Calea Moșilor area represents a valuable segment of Bucharest’s historical fabric, yet decades of uncoordinated interventions have led to a loss of morphological coherence and the ability to ensure urban continuity. In this context, the proposed project takes on the role of contributing to the revitalization of a deteriorated portion of this artery, by capitalizing on the local character and responding to both the built memory and the contemporary needs of the city.

The chosen site is located in the southern part of Calea Moșilor and stands out through its proximity to the Christo Gherghief House, a historical monument, as well as its dual frontage on two important streets: Calea Moșilor and Radu Calomfirescu Street. This dual orientation, together with the presence of a valuable heritage building, turns the site into a strategic point for initiating a coherent urban regeneration process.

The intervention aims to activate the memory of the place not solely through preservation, but through a thoughtful and functional recontextualization. Thus, the project proposes the conversion and extension of the Christo Gherghief House into a medical recovery center, incorporating various functions – from consultation and treatment rooms to specialized physiotherapy areas. Simultaneously, the historical house gains an educational role, hosting theoretical seminars for students in rehabilitative medicine. This multifunctional use reflects an interdisciplinary approach where past and present collaborate.

The project places strong emphasis on spatial morphology. The typology of courtyards, specific to the area, is used as a tool for restoring urban coherence. The two resulting courtyards – each corresponding to one of the adjacent streets – are activated through porticos: the existing one belonging to the historical house, and the newly introduced one within the proposed intervention. A continuous visual and functional link between the two spaces is ensured by an extended portico, symbolically reinforcing the connection between old and new.

Another key design strategy is the balanced relationship with the site’s boundaries, especially with the existing blind walls. Rather than enclosing the site through a rigid perimeter, the project generates courtyards along the blind walls, reflecting the logic of an organic urban fabric. These serve the medical offices and are conceived as autonomous spatial units – reminiscent of individual houses with private yards, each vertically developed and functionally connected to the upper levels.

Access is mediated by street-front volumes that mark the transition from public to semi-public space. These include functions such as a pharmacy (located at the ground floor of the historical house) and a gastro-bar (at the base of the new volume), contributing to an active street frontage. The architectural insertion seeks to create coherent spatial relationships between the existing house, the new extension, and the surrounding urban fabric. The volumes are arranged to clearly define two main courtyards, each with its own identity but forming a unified ensemble.

Thus, the project proposes a model of urban revitalization through the revalorization of a heritage building and its integration into a contemporary program, supporting the idea of spatial and functional continuity within a fragmented context. The intervention does not aim for a mimetic restoration but rather generates a dialogue between past and present, between memory and modernity, between heritage and current urban needs.