The city around the colony. Reconversion and extension of the post office and the colony

Authors’ Comment

The potential to overcome the state of stagnation in a contracting city may lie in celebrating all the layers that have contributed to creating the city as it stands today. In the case of Petroșani, it is necessary to mediate between layers that appear, at first glance, indifferent to one another. The historical substrate and the communist period- even if one built and the other mostly destroyed- must coexist, as both have shaped the current form of the city. The Ianza Colony and the old post office represent symbols of these two eras, alongside the Maleia stream, a natural element that witnessed both periods and now is ignored, appearing to separate these two objects. Along the portion where it crosses the city, the Maleia stream has always been enclosed and hidden behind walls, vegetation, and the backs of buildings. Only its sound betrays the presence of a watercourse. This condition stems from a lack of dialogue between the city and the stream. The intervention proposes bringing the water back to the surface by flooding the targeted area with paving. In this way, the two banks of the stream begin to communicate and connect. Maleia is no longer just an accident within the urban fabric but becomes a central actor. To harness this latent potential of the area, a catalyst is needed to initiate change. Given the social, economic, and historical context of the city of Petroșani, a training and professional retraining center could open new perspectives. Following the collapse of the mining industry, the entire Jiu Valley lost its identity. People were left in despair, and the evolution of the towns came to a standstill. Today, the wounds are still open, and to heal them, it is necessary to change people’s perspective on what Petroșani is and what it can offer.