Somes River Park Regeneration / PRCTICASave this picture! Imagen SubliminalArchitects: PRCTICAAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:332 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Imagen SubliminalManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: iGuzzini, KRIN KG, Urbidemis, Woodcore Lead Architects: Jaime Daroca, Jos Mayoral, Jos Ramn Sierra More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The Spanish architectural firm PRCTICA has developed a project for the regeneration and renaturation of the banks of the Somes River as it crosses through the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The 15 km intervention passes through diverse urban conditions, including the historic center, industrial areas, and residential neighborhoods of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The regeneration and citizen activation of the banks of the Somes stems from an open international competition, organized by the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca in 2017. It has been implemented with funding from the European Union.Save this picture!The competition was won by the Spanish architectural firm PRCTICA, composed of Jaime Daroca, Jos Mayoral and Jos Ramn Sierra. PRCTICA coordinated an extensive group of interdisciplinary and international collaborators with whom they have implemented the architecture, landscaping, engineering, and urbanization along the river's course.Save this picture!The project understands the Somes River as a green corridor capable of connecting other nearby public spaces thanks to the incorporation of a network of paths, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian bridges. The course of the river acquires thickness, giving rise to a set of new public spaces: parking lots converted into squares overlooking the river and riverbanks with integrated beaches and bleachers. Thus, the riverbanks are activated as collective spaces for accessing the river and engaging with its fauna and flora.Save this picture!The project recovers the natural character of the river banks, expanding and modifying the pre-existing narrow and hard edge into a softer and more natural environment. Thus, the intervention promotes biodiversity, microclimate formation, CO2 absorption, and invasive species control. The project redesigns the river as a new social space that functions at different scales and with different programs, a new green infrastructure, and a meeting and exchange space between the various communities that inhabit the city of Cluj-Napoca, with over 300,000 inhabitants.Save this picture!Save this picture!The Somes River crosses the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for 15 kilometers, encountering diverse urban conditions: the historic center, industrial areas, and housing neighborhoods. During the second half of the 20th century, its banks were modified with concrete walls, which established a drastic difference in height and limited the visual and physical connection between the city and the river.Save this picture!Save this picture!This project stems from an open international competition in 2017. It is an example of urban regeneration and renaturalization, which revalues the role of the Somes for the city, as well as the link between the two. The river is conceived as a green corridor that, through a network of sustainable mobility paths, connects multiple public spaces and green areas. In turn, a system of natural terraces is designed to renaturalize the environment, transforming the hard boundary between the city and the river into a wider and more permeable riverbank that allows for biodiversity.Save this picture!Save this picture!The river as a green connector and a dignified public space. The project understands the Somes as a green corridor capable even of connecting with other nearby green spaces, which were functioning in isolation such as the Simion Brnuiur Central Park or the Cetuia Park, thanks to the incorporation of a network of pedestrian paths and bike lanes. Its course acquires thickness due to the activation of a set of new public spaces: parking lots converted into squares overlooking the river and banks incorporating beaches and bleachers. The riverbanks are, thus, activated as collective spaces to contemplate, enjoy, and access the course of the river, its fauna, and its flora.Save this picture!Save this picture!Renaturalization. While it was important to transform the Somes into a connecting spine of public spaces, it was also essential to enhance its context and ecological values. The project recovers the natural character of the river banks, expanding and modifying the pre-existing thin and hard edge into a softer and more natural environment. This is achieved by widening the river section, which supports a system of terraces. It allows the banks to become a more diverse ecosystem that hosts different species of local vegetation, rocks, sand, and biorolls. Biodiversity, microclimate formation, CO2 absorption, and invasive species control are promoted.Save this picture!Pole of community attraction and interdisciplinary collaboration. The project redesigns the river as a new social space that functions at different scales and programs, a space of encounter and exchange between the diverse communities that inhabit the city. The recovery of the riverbanks has multiple benefits, beyond social strata and physical boundaries. It acts as a new participatory infrastructure that addresses both local and global contexts. It proposes a new framework for dialogue and coexistence through architecture and brings together the efforts of a broad multidisciplinary team, Spanish and local, made up of professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, as well as government agencies and everyday users of the site.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Cluj-Napoca, RumaniaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePRCTICAOfficePublished on February 28, 2025Cite: "Somes River Park Regeneration / PRCTICA" 28 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027331/somes-river-park-regeneration-practica&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream