Timpuri Noi Dock

Authors’ Comment

Timpuri Noi Dock – A New Beginning on the Banks of the Dâmbovița
In the heart of Bucharest, hidden between the Timpuri Noi Square office buildings, collective housing blocks, the former Dâmbovița factory, and the metro station, lay an abandoned space with a rich yet forgotten history: the Timpuri Noi Dock. Ever since it was built in the 1980s, this place has been ignored by the city, transformed into a residual territory where nature, people, and the memory of the place were suspended. A space that became a shelter for vulnerable, homeless people—silently observed from the office windows above.
Few know that before the systematization of the Dâmbovița River, the Timpuri Noi area was home to a popular spa destination. In 1872, at the end of Calea Văcărești, near the old iron bridge, the Domnița Maria Fountain was inaugurated, capturing ferruginous mineral waters with a strong taste and therapeutic properties. Bucharest residents would come here on weekends, often using the city's first horse-drawn tramway, to fill their bottles or follow the internal cure recommended by doctors. It was a place of health and social life—a local equivalent of the famous Spa baths in Belgium—a story lost in the rush of urbanization.
Following micro-interventions in 2025, the dock has gained a new meaning: it has become a lively, open, and accessible public space with a distinct contemporary aesthetic. A universal access ramp for all users, a friendly wooden platform inviting people to sit, breathe, observe, floating pontoons that bring people close to the water’s surface. We chose to work with environmentally friendly materials, with reversible, even temporary solutions, developed through a co-creation process involving designers, makers, water sports operators, and the local community.
The transformation was profound: from an unusable, degraded space to a place for relaxation, gatherings, and water sports. Accessibility was a top priority: right next to the dock stands the Special School No. 3, and since the space was opened, paralympic athletes from Kayak Champions have started training on the water. Mothers with strollers, elderly people, or those with mobility challenges can now reach the river without barriers.
But this project meant more than an urban intervention. It meant facing reality: the dock was home to people without shelter—young people living off recycling PET bottles or street flower vendors who found refuge here. We worked alongside the Carousel Association to offer tangible support while redeveloping the space. We believe that genuine urban regeneration cannot exclude care for all city dwellers, regardless of their social status.
The impact was immediate. People from the surrounding office buildings told us: “My view has become better because of what you’ve done.”
This project is only a first step, with the potential to evolve in many directions. The dock can become an active urban node, a space of solidarity and shared responsibility. We invite major developers in the area, the local administration, and civil society to join us: to support essential public infrastructure, to contribute to the integration of vulnerable individuals, and to help us transform the banks of the Dâmbovița into a vibrant, open place for everyone.
The Timpuri Noi Dock is part of the broader vision of Dâmbovița Apă Dulce, an initiative through which we aim to transform the river into a green-blue corridor that cools the city—a living, breathing public space. The Dâmbovița Apă Dulce program is developed by the Ivan Patzaichin–Mila 23 Association and Nod Makerspace.
The Timpuri Noi Dock project is funded through the Environmental Platform for Bucharest, an initiative of the Bucharest Community Foundation and ING Romania, in a round supported by Orange Romania. The project is also supported through partnerships with Apele Române (Romanian Waters) and ALPAB (Bucharest Lakes, Parks, and Leisure Administration).
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