UNStudio has been announced as the winner of the international competition "Un Iași pentru Viitor" to design a new residential district in the historical center of Iași, Romania. For this competition, organized by Iulius company, four offices have been invited to participate, Foster + Partners, MVRDV, UNStudio, and Zaha Hadid Architects. The main challenge of the competition brief was designing a building well integrated into a complex urban environment marked by historic monuments of different ages, new archeological discoveries, and open public spaces and gardens. The winning proposal, titled „Bridging Time, Bridging Communities,” aims to offer a coherent response to the particularities of the site.
The complex will offer residential spaces as well as public amenities. The volumetric solution considers the city’s skyline and hopes to represent a subtle insertion. The lower levels are designed to allow pedestrian circulation through the development and to encourage connections from Sf. Andrei neighborhood to the Palace Square, one of the most representative public spaces in the city. The complex topography of the site was also a determining factor, as the different terraces help create a green oasis in the center of the complex.
The design of the new building is adapted to frame valuable perspectives toward the surrounding monuments. The axes defined by these perspectives also break the body of the building into six volumes, further enhancing the permeability of the development. The base levels are dedicated to public facilities. This and the landscaped terraces help create an active public space for future residents and local communities.
This is the fourth time I’m visiting the city of Iași, and I discover something new every time I come here. We studied the urban context intensely to design a project that is respectful of the historical monuments in the city. We developed a sustainable project for the city and future generations and are honored to be part of this process. - Arjan Dingsté, director and senior architect at UNStudio
The jury is composed of architects Șerban Țigănaș, Augustin Ioan, Dragoș Ciolacu, Mihai Corneliu Drișcu, Matei Bogoescu and historian Cătălin Turliuc, specialized in patrimonial conservation. The competition results will be presented during a public exhibition in Iași, open from 30th of June to 14th of July 2022.
