Initiatives / Experiments / Visions

Grassroots - Community Center

Principal author

Iulian Canov

Profession

Urbanist

Co-authors (team members)

Arh. Vlad Stoica, Arh. Tamina Lolev

Architecture office

Wolfhouse Productions

Collaborators (team members)

Arh. Iris Popescu (Asociația Metodelor Alternative de Integrare Socială - AMAis)

External collaborators

Mobilier: Nod Makerspace; Pardoseli: Lindec România; Compartimentări: Saint Gobain; Iluminat: Dienergy

Project year

2016

Location

Splaiul Unirii 160, București, România

Client

Proiect auto-generat de Wolfhouse Productions.

Budget

35.000 €

Build surface area

210mp

Project description

The project offers access to a fully equiped public space to all people living in Bucharest, which aims to ..... the interaction between all stakeholders involved in developing the city. La Firul Ierbii (Grassroots) is a pilot project which works as a civic/community center at the scale of the neighbourhood Timpuri Noi and the whole city. As a self-generated project, its mid-term goal is to develop the project into a civic forum and a model for the coagulation, activation and mobilizing local communities. The principles that guided the architectural solution are: 1. Making the best of the generous size and height of the former industrial space which it occupies. For making the best of the ground-floor space, the very high window parapets were modified from 2.5m to 0.9m (0.3m outside). This simple but powerful gesture made the activities inside the center visible and transparent towards the street, the neighbours and the community. 2. As much as possible, the original usable elements already in the space, such as cast iron radiators, ceiling structure and some doors were kept. The new elements such as furniture, new partitions, lighting fixtures, acoustic ceiling and floor treatments are designed in the same ultra-functionalist/industrial spirit. 4. Inclusivity is a prerogative for the functioning of a community center, and the project has made a goal in satisfying this need. Accessibility of the space was achieved for all age-groups, social class and phisical ability, through building an access ramp, fully equipped handicap bathroom, large and tactile signaling and even small physical models of the spaces that compose the center. La Firul Ierbii (Grassroots) is part of a larger strategy of developing the an ex Industrial Cotton Mill in the Timpuri Noi neighbourhood, Bucharest. In the projects vision for the year 2025, the area will be transformed through bottom-up initiatives into a cluster for creative industries, culture and performative arts. Other projects that have been already developed inside the Cotton Mill are a makerspace and many workshops, a material library and a coworking hub, a rooftop bar and artist studios with exhibition spaces.

Text description of the author

Wolfhouse Productions is a design office founded in 2011 as a architects and urbanists collective with a focus on participating in international competitions. This exercise has yielded a sum of prizes and constitutes the base for the current architecture office interested in projects that bring responsible development to areas, neighborhoods, communities, cities. Formed and led by Urb. Iulian Canov, Arch. Tamina Lolev and Arch. Vlad Stoica, the office, has since 2013, has been in charge of projects such as: Nod Makerspace, Deschis Gastrobar, La Firul Ierbii - Community Center (Grassroots) and Mater - The Material Librar, and many more. The office is currently designing and building another community center and a inclusive public space, both in Bucharest.

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