Planting Design 2013 Working Group 25 - Case Study A

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Vacaresti Lake ... another world

Name	Vacaresti Lake
Location	Bucharest
Country	Romania
Authors	Diana Culescu
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Rationale: Why is this case interesting?

Vacaresti Lake is actually just a “hole” in the ground. It was born from the megalomaniac wish of a former dictator* to make Bucharest a port city to the Black Sea (over 200 km away). The dictator was overthrown, the project stopped, but Nature just went ahead. Now this so called lake - never filled with water - is hosting an amazing ecosystem that rivals with the Danube Delta [1].

There are but a few of Bucharest’s residents that venture inside “Vacaresti pit” and appreciate its beauty. For the rest of the inhabitants this is just a “bad” … “ugly” … “horrible” place next to the city center.

Recently, an article published in the National Geographic journal (The delta between blocks [2]) drew attention to this space and the political environment rushed to find solutions for this “problem”. The ideas range from wishing to transform this place into a natural reservation to making a picnic / barbecue place for all Bucharest. Whatever the intentions, Vacaresti Lake's future is still up for grabs.

* Nicolae Ceausescu was the President of Romania, between 1974 and 1989, during the communist period. His ambition generated a lot of gigantic projects. One of the most famous was “The House of People” (the Guiness Record-holder for the world's largest civilian building, most expensive administrative building and heaviest building [3]) placed in the “Civic Center” complex which crippled Bucharest. He also wanted to transform Bucharest in a port city for the Black Sea and ordered many interventions in this respect, one of them being Vacaresti Lake.

Author's perspective

My interest in this particular case is three folded ...

First of all this is one of the projects recurrent in my didactic activity as a tutor for a landscape architecture studio. The complexity of the site touches many issues (social values, environmental concerns, space perception, public interest infrastructure, urban space design, etc.) which recommends it as a great exercise for future professionals.

This site is also one of the focal points for my PhD thesis through which I aim to develop an analysis method for the quality of urban green spaces adapted on one hand for landscaped spaces (such as parks, public gardens, etc.) and on the other hand suitable also for urban spaces where nature's laws have been enforced (as it is the case for Vacaresti Lake). This subject is rather new for Romania who is doing doing its first steps toward landscape assessment and is very far from implementing landscape maintenance programs.

Ultimately, Lake Vacaresti is holding an important place in my childhood memories and is a significant part of the environment that I live in day by day and that I am interested of as every other concerned citizen.

Landscape and/or urban context of your case

HISTORY

In the past, Vacaresti area use to be a space shared by woody and agricultural land. Bucharest inhabitants used it also for the thermal springs present here at a certain time. The development of the city erased meanwhile this elements and usage patterns.

This "travel" of the city from green to concrete is also described by Dambovita river. Its once irregular banks (depicted by foreign travelers in writing or in paintings[4] or captured in early photos [5][6]) were tamed at the end of the 19th century. The first regularization of the banks was made by sanitary and safety reasons and left the riversides green within the first modernization interventions (as can be seen here [7] and here [8]). The communist period brought (around '80s) the final change of image for Dambovita river, enclosing its waters in a concrete channel - more suitable for the modernization desires of Nicolae Ceausescu (some images of this intervention can be seen here [9] and [10]). The modernization made in the communist period included two strategic intervention: Mill's Lake and Vacaresti Lake. The first one[11] intended to provide safety for the city in front of the waters' fury. The second one had a more "ambitious" goal providing the city with the statute of a port to the Black Sea. Both interventions wiped out huge chunks of Bucharest and its surrounding areas.

The birth of Lake Vacaresti meant also the disappearance of an entire neighborhood and of Vacaresti Monastery. This renowned architectural ensemble was destroyed[12] as many other worship place in Bucharest in order to make way for a "better future".

The lake was completed before Ceausescu's overthrowing, but the truth was that Dambovita river could not fill it with water and another project was started in order to bring the necessary water from another river placed west of Bucharest.

The fall of the communist regime (December 1989) meant also the end of this gigantic project. The lake remained until recently enclosed by an ungainly fence and stories began to be woven about this place. This enclosure brought a bad image for the area in the collective imagination, but also guarded the incredible ecosystem which came to life here.

• Biogeography, cultural features, overall character, history and dynamics
• Illustration: Map; sketches; short descriptive analyses

Analytical drawings

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  Vacaresti Lake - urban context (1)

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  Vacaresti Lake - urban context (2)

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  Vacaresti Lake - in and out

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  Splaiul Unirii Street: vegetation structure

Projective drawings

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  Stage 1: minimal interventions (1-5 years) There are several interventions that can be done in the immediate future in order to harness the beauty of this place. The steps envisaged for the first 5 years intend, on one hand, to reinsert this place within Bucharest life and, on the other hand, to properly assess Lake Vacaresti value.

• 

  Stage 1: Projective Image Among these minimal interventions there is foreseen the development of an urban promenade on top of the dam. This 5.5 kilometers walk path aims to attract users by offering different views (over the lake and the city) and the possibility to stop and rest or contemplate the surroundings.

• 

  Stage 2: urban refurbishment (10-15 years) In a more distant future, the development provides Lake Vacaresti with the possibility to establish a protection program and is reconsidering the relation of this site with Dambovita River.

• 

  Stage 2: Projective Image The final goal of the intervention is to rise awareness among Bucharest's inhabitants about the true value of Lake Vacaresti. An appropriated space will properly run by itself even if the social pressure and the protection program will overlap on the same site. (in this image: visitors are only using the paths marked within the lake)

• 

  Final stage: Projective Image In the end, Lake Vacaresti will become one of Bucharest's green lungs and in the same time will constitute one of its main attractions, providing also the users with extensive knowledge about Nature.

Summary and conclusion

Please summarize your case and give arguments for your projective design (approx 150 words).

Image Gallery

PANORAMIC VIEWS

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  panoramic view points

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  (1) panoramic view from the north-west corner (Asmita Gardens Towers) toward the lake - autumn

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  (2) panoramic view from the north-west corner (Asmita Gardens Towers) toward the lake - winter

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  (3) panoramic view from the north-west corner toward Dambovita river

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  (4) panoramic view of the street placed between Vacaresti Lake and Dambovita river

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  (5) panoramic view within Vacaresti Lake

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  (6) panoramic view from the east side toward the lake - spring

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  (7) panoramic view from the north-east corner toward the commercial area

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  (8) panoramic view from the commercial area in the north-east corner toward the lake

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  (9) panoramic view of the street bordering the east side of the lake

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  (10) panoramic view from the south side toward the lake

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  (11) panoramic view from the west side toward the neighboring area

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  (12) panoramic view from the west side toward the lake - spring

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  (13) panoramic view from the west side toward the neighboring area - improvised dwellings

THE LAKE ...

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  border between the city and the "delta"

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  lake edge (west side)

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  external green slope

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  lake usage - fishing

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  lake usage - improvised dwelling

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  lake usage - organized visit

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  fisher-man and fisher-women

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  the lake within the lake

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  withdrawn waters

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  concrete edge

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  concrete edge

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  former dock

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  paths and improvised dwellings

References

External links

[1] Danube Delta ..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube_Delta

[2] National Geographic article ..... http://www.natgeo.ro/natura/habitat-conservare/9690-delta-dintre-blocuri

[3] Palace of Parliament (Bucharest - Romania) ..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament

[4] Dambovita river before modernization ..... http://www.hetel.ro/index.php/2012/03/5645/

[5] Dambovita river before modernization ..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/61481364@N07/7832476950/in/photostream/

[6] Dambovita river before modernization ..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/61481364@N07/7830471352/

[7] Dambovita river - the first modernization stage ..... http://www.bucurestiivechisinoi.ro/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Raul-Dambovita.jpg

[8] Dambovita river - the first modernization stage ..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/61481364@N07/7831928476/in/photostream/

[9] Dambovita river - final modernization stage ..... http://www.panoramio.com/user/26604/tags/Dambovita%20River

[10] Dambovita river - final modernization stage ..... http://arhivafoto.ro/files/product/dambovita_001_podul_izvor.JPG

[11] Mill's Lake ..... http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacul_Morii

[12] Vacaresti Monastery's destruction ..... http://a1.ro/news/inedit/filmul-distrugerii-istoriei-manastirea-vacaresti-victima-regimului-comunist-din-romania-id159998.html

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