Architectural Intervention at the “Lia Manoliu” Sports Complex

Authors’ Comment

My first encounter with the skydiving tower was somewhat unexpected. Standing alone within the landscape, it seemed to have lost its purpose, surrounded by a site that still revealed traces of a former order. Beyond the fence, along Aleea Belvedere, the lake emerged through the park: a reflective surface at its very heart. The two had once been connected, but that relationship had gradually disappeared. The project began with the ambition to restore this connection by reactivating the area north of Aleea Belvedere: the „Lia Manoliu” pool.

The proposal focuses on the regeneration of „Lia Manoliu” Swimming Complex and „Ioan Soter” Indoor Athletics Hall, both originally part of the former Complex Sportiv Național „23 August”. Planned by J. W. Juster in 1953 for the World Festival of Youth and Students, the complex was conceived as an integrated landscape dedicated to sport, recreation and culture.

Following 1989, this coherent ensemble gradually became fragmented. While the stadium and ice rink were demolished and later rebuilt, the swimming facilities were largely left behind. Today, the indoor pool and diving pool are closed, while the outdoor pool is covered in winter by a temporary inflatable structure. Fences and restricted areas divide the site, disrupting both movement through the park and the relationship between its different elements.

The proposal emerged from an extensive urban and historical analysis of this layered context. More than an intervention in the existing sports facilities, however, it is conceived as an intervention within the park itself.

The new indoor Olympic swimming facility brings the 50-metre competition pool and the diving pool together within a single volume. Its placement also re-establishes the spatial symmetry with Patinoarul „Mihai Flamaropol”, envisioned in the original 1953 masterplan.

The existing outdoor pool is retained as both the functional and historical heart of the complex. Along Aleea Belvedere, a low horizontal volume accommodates changing rooms and supporting facilities, connecting Sala de Atletism „Ioan Soter” to the new swimming facility while establishing a new main entrance from the park.

By removing the existing fences, the project reconnects the site with its surroundings. What was once an enclosed and restricted area becomes part of the park again: a place to move through, meet and engage with, rather than a barrier within the landscape.
The renewed complex is designed to serve both elite athletes and the wider public, while bringing its sports infrastructure up to contemporary standards. In doing so, the project seeks not only to restore a sports facility, but to recover the spatial continuity and public character that once defined this part of the park.