UNIRII SQUARE AND THE NEW NATIONAL PATRIARCHAL CATHEDRAL

  • 1999

  • AWARD

    Third Place

  • Contest

    International Contest of Arhitecture and City Planning - 1999

The complex problem of the Union Square should not be viewed only through the lens of the Cathedral, but, as an area with stringent functional and representative requirements, it must be solved first of all by reconfiguring and bringing it to the level of a square of great personality corresponding to a central area and, above all , a European capital. Of course this Cathedral will be the central element, but the non-collaboration with other framework elements placed in response to a series of shortcomings (lack of variety of functions and their complementarity, absence of the personality of the current ensemble, compositional scale and landmarks) would aggravate the state of imbalance presence in the area. The center essentially expresses the respective city, defining itself as an urban territory of great use and of great aesthetic interest at the same time. This realistic project based on a phased development of the center responds to the dysfunctions of the area and balances the current crisis situation.

FEATURES – DIFFERENTIATION Functional enrichment was perhaps the first guide of this project. The Museum of Orthodoxy or better said of Faith, the Multimedia Complex and the University are part of those endowments capable of generating a cultural, educational and formative pole with a balancing role, University Square – Union Square. The center is a manifestation of culture, offering itself at any time as a source of information of great value. The presence of a 5-star hotel in the current landscape of a high demand for accommodation in Bucharest, and especially in this particularly important node, is almost mandatory. Underground parking solves the problem of parking, and commercial pedestrian passages (equipped with public food, bookstores, various trades, etc.) streamline pedestrian circulation. All this raises the standard of living of the area, bringing it to where it should be located as a cast plate of the entire city, one of the most important nodes of the Capital.

SPACES – HETEROTOPY Subdividing the current amorphous space and bringing it to a human scale is the second desideratum of the solution. In this way, three distinct and carefully hierarchical areas are created dimensionally, functionally and symbolically: a – area: Mediateca – Museum of Orthodoxy – Manuc Inn b – Cathedral Square c – University Square – Hotel The two underground pedestrian passages that develop in the proximity of two squares (Mediateca Square and that of the new University) have direct connections: one with the media library, with the parking lots below it and with the Unirea 2 highway; and the other with the hotel, the parking lots in this area and the Rahova – Colentina and Unirea 1 highways. These streamline pedestrian circulation in the area, creating easy connections with the Cathedral Square. a) The media library generates a profile suitable for the Inn of Manuc, highlighting the aesthetic qualities of this building. The main body of the Museum borders Halelor Boulevard, announces the next space of the Cathedral, and like a gate, lets you glimpse what is to come, the part from the intersection of Halelor Boulevard with Brătianu Boulevard being suspended (free ground floor), accentuates this sensation. b) The Cathedral Square is an introverted space flanked by the other two and isolated from the urban agglomeration by the perimeter setting with tall vegetation and the arrangement of a park, around the Cathedral, suitable for meditation and recreation. The entrance to the Cathedral Square is through a row of massive concrete piles on which the names of the nation’s heroes are inlaid and which each have a bell positioned at the top. They create a symbolic filter in the transition from the space of the street to that of the Cathedral. c) The hotel (P+11) happily balances the volumetric composition of the ensemble dominated by the Cathedral, but the great role is that of closing the composition on the west side, emphasizing the Patriarchy – Cathedral axis, being situated as it leads to the Square and at the same time largely obscuring the perspectives towards the People’s House. Connected to this Square is the New University Park, present both as an ecological necessity and as the completion of the University Complex. Of course, the project can be perfected, but first of all it is very possible due to the ease of insertion by the fact that it does not require extreme construction solutions, all the buildings being on good foundation land and having a normal size for the space where they were proposed (of at P+2 to P+11). We tried to create an ensemble with human, convincing and attractive spaces, an ensemble full of interest, related to its particular value.