Liebrecht-Filipescu Gardens

Authors’ Comment

The project starts from the identification of a green space with historic value in the center of Bucharest, currently in a state of under-utilization and with limited access to the public. The intervention aims to activate the Garden of the University House through a strategy developed at two scales: the city, by strengthening a green infrastructure that connects existing public spaces, and the site, by restoring and expanding the historic greenhouses built in 1863. On the urban scale, the project connects the garden of the University House with Arthur Verona Street, Icoanei Garden Park and Ioanid Park, building a continuity between these green spaces. The adjacent segment of Arthur Verona Street is transformed into a pedestrian street, and the existing parking is reorganized underground, freeing up space for pedestrian movements, vegetation and public activities. At the scale of the site, the intervention starts from the restoration of the historic greenhouses in the garden of the former Liebrecht-Filipescu property, today part of the University House, which is under the administration of the University of Bucharest. They are complemented by a new set of greenhouses, open to the public and dedicated to research and education. Existing and new greenhouses are connected by the Botanical Research Hub, a functional and spatial articulation element of the ensemble. The ground floor brings together exhibition, educational and meeting spaces, while the floor houses laboratories and research spaces with controlled access. The intervention preserves the existing vegetation and positions the new volumes around mature trees, limiting the intervention on the ground and preserving the landscape character of the garden. The greenhouses are made of metal structures and glazed enclosures and integrate microclimate control systems for the cultivation of tropical, equatorial and temperate species. The collection, filtration and reuse of rainwater are integrated into the assembly's coating system. In contrast to the transparency of greenhouses, the Botanical Research Hub is defined by apparent concrete and zenital light, marking the transition between existing heritage and contemporary intervention and contributing to the formation of a new urban pole.