| MAGIC BLOCKS - SCENARIOS FOR SOCIALIST ERA BLOCKS OF FLATS IN BUCHAREST 09/12/2009 |
| Last updated: 2009-12-10 13:57 EET |
A big city, made of concrete blocks of flats. People call them boxes, sometimes match boxes – supposed to house close to two million inhabitants of the capital city. A discriminating eye could identify something that is hardly visible: a sense of energy and excitement inside and around these magic box buildings, something that resembles normality and disaster alike. These hideous, yet wonderful blocks of flats are the protagonists of Magic Blocks, an exhibition that is part of a project initiated by the Zeppelin Association and “Architecture” Magazine.
The main goal is to design principles and strategies for the restoration of socialist era residential areas, as well as the implementation of some pilot projects. But restoration is not reduced to providing solutions to technical problems. Instead, a complex programme of urban regeneration must be designed, which should cover all aspects of the problem, including social and economic ones. With details about the Magic Blocks project, scenarios for the socialist era blocks of flats in Bucharest, here is the initiator of the project and director of “Architecture” magazine, Constantin Goagea:
“We have set out to offer to authorities several scenarios, topics for discussion on the issue of the blocks of flats built in the socialist era. They account for around 80 per cent of the area of Bucharest and host 80 per cent of the people living in this city. These should taken into account, and viewed as a resource for the development of the city, and not as a lost battle. Whether we like it or not, we must look at the facts as they are, instead of trying to dismiss them. And it is a fact that no one likes these socialist blocks of flats. Even repainted in bright colours, these buildings offer the same living standards.”
Since 1989, most of the flats in these buildings have become private property. Over the past 20 years, virtually all improvement measures have been taken on an individual basis (including upgrades of apartments, parking lots, playgrounds, etc.), without consistent planning and coordination. Meanwhile, the state of these buildings has worsened, and a look at their prices in the real estate market reveals not only a steady downward trend, but also a widening gap between the prices in central parts of the city (housing wealthier population) and apartment prices towards the outskirts of the city. In the future, such apartments at the periphery of Bucharest may create major economic and social problems, our guest also told us.
A positive aspect has to do with the restoration programmes initiated by the authorities in recent years. But more often than not these focus on specific technical aspects, such as the thermal insulation of buildings, the construction of parking lots and green belts around these blocks of flats. Funds from various sources have been allotted, but for the time being there are no economic strategies to ensure the huge resources required by a complex overhaul programme. On the other hand, the private ownership model, the growing awareness regarding problems and the huge open space between these blocks of flats are remarkable growth opportunities. Constantin Goagea:
“What we have suggested with the Magic Blocks exhibition included a number of urban strategies for rethinking the open space between blocks of flats in several ways, and for identifying what urban functions may fit those areas, who could be interested in doing it and where we could find the money to do it. Foreigners have visited the exhibition, who have shared with us similar experiences in Serbia, Croatia and Germany, and they were well received by the public. We intend to carry on with this project, to take it beyond a mere exhibition.”
The initiators of the magic Blocks project intend, among other things, to draw up case studies and to come up with pilot projects. They would also like to build partnerships of tenants, experts and institutions, to implement these projects, in order to turn Romania’s socialist era blocks of flats into more comfortable and more friendly homes.
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2010-09-06
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