Economy is still in a bad shape, and so is architecture. If that weren’t enough, two recent events leave us with a bitter taste regarding the situation and the perspectives of the Romanian urban realm. First, we have a new and sinister law for urbanism. Taking the problems in the recent law as an argument (well, there certainly were things to improve there), we have now get an official comeback of derrogative planning and speculation cherished by law, as well as a weakened protection of the natural and built heritage. The argument that this will attract investitors is laughable: even more in times of crisis, a serious investor will think twice before committing on the long term in a place where the rules continually change.
Besides that, we have the authorities finally gave their blessing to the removal (actually, the destruction) of the protected Matache Market hall. The demolition of the monument in favour of the new axis slicing through the inner city of Bucharest had been put on hold, thanks to the actions of civil soceiety and the beginning of a dialogue with te authorities regarding a decent compromise. This has proven to be a false hope and gives a very bad sign, indeed.
Text: Stefan Ghenciulescu
Foto: Stefan Tuchila
* This article was published in Zeppelin no. 112 / March 2013
