Restoration of the Dudești - Cioplea Mansion. A Laboratory of Underground Bucharest

Authors’ Comment

The project took its starting point from the characteristics of an abandoned and dilapidated site in Bucharest: the Dudești-Cioplea Mansion - a former aristocratic estate of the Dudescu family that has not been the subject of any research or conservation initiative yet. The project thus addresses a series of interdependent issues: the deterioration of the aforementioned mansion, its disappearance from the city’s collective memory, the understanding of the role of the inclosure for this historical monument, the lack of public space in a densely populated neighborhood and the absence of the necessary infrastructure for urban underground research. These conditions converge at a fragmented site centered on the mansion and, according to documents, traversed by a secret underground tunnel that may once have connected it to Văcărești Prison.
In this regard, the Laboratory of the Underground Bucharest is presented - a complex and unique space that has addressed the aforementioned theme from both a functional and pragmatic perspective, serving as a center for research, archiving, and exhibition of all the city’s underground layers. In addition to these, the project includes temporary housing units for researchers, multifunctional spaces and workshops, as well as facilities designed for the neighborhood’s residents.
The methodology combines historical research with a morphological analysis of the relationships between the manor house, the original enclosure, the later industrial buildings, and the underground structures. This interpretation informs the strategy: the existing heritage is preserved, the new residential spaces are concealed from view, and the freed-up land is returned to the community. The principle of perimeter construction is preserved: the enclosure wall, which is protected by law, is thickened to accommodate public spaces, transforming the former boundary into an open civic structure and redefining its original role as a means of separation. The spatial strategy also allows for the opening up of the site’s center, creating a public garden.
The restored mansion serves as the centerpiece of the site, an exhibition space that, together with the underground tunnel, functions as a visitor access point, showcasing the history of this site. To preserve the building’s autonomy and minimize the footprint, the expansion is largely located underground. The underground expansion is based on the three functions that represent the evolution of the concept from the professional sphere to society as a whole - research, archiving, and exhibition - which, together with complementary functions, serve as a mechanism for generating knowledge and, subsequently, raising awareness of the importance of the urban underground through the preservation and public exhibition of studies in this field.
The architectural project thus addresses three levels of inquiry: on a literal level, the specialized laboratories serve as the site for research into the underground city; on a methodological level, the areas dedicated to interpreting the studies and archiving the data become the tools for generating knowledge about the subject; and on a metaphorical level, the entire exhibition itinerary transforms the underground space into a venue for interpreting and representing hidden urban memory. The underground space, in fact, becomes a program in and of itself, one that looks not only toward the boundaries of the Dudești-Cioplea Courtyard, but toward the entire hidden urban space, with its material and immaterial memory - whether rediscovered or lost.