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

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

Analytical drawings

Vacaresti Lake - urban context (1)
Vacaresti Lake - urban context (2)

Projective drawings

Please add four projective sketches/drawings (or montages/schemes) for your case and take the following aspects into account:
- How would you like this case to change in the near future? (in 1-2 years)
- And how could it look like in 10-15 years?

Projective Drawings
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projective drawing 1
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projective drawing 2
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projective drawing 3
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projective drawing 4

Summary and conclusion

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

Image Gallery

PANORAMIC VIEWS

panoramic view points
(1) panoramic view from the north-west corner (Asmita Gardens Towers) toward the lake - autumn
(2) panoramic view from the north-west corner (Asmita Gardens Towers) toward the lake - winter
(3) panoramic view from the north-west corner toward Dambovita river
(4) panoramic view of the street placed between Vacaresti Lake and Dambovita river
(5) panoramic view within Vacaresti Lake
(6) panoramic view from the east side toward the lake - spring
(7) panoramic view from the north-east corner toward the commercial area
(8) panoramic view from the commercial area in the north-east corner toward the lake
(9) panoramic view of the street bordering the east side of the lake
(10) panoramic view from the south side toward the lake
(11) panoramic view from the west side toward the neighboring area
(12) panoramic view from the west side toward the lake - spring
(13) panoramic view from the west side toward the neighboring area - improvised dwellings