Space for Solidarity addresses precarious housing situations associated with homeless people in Bucharest and will take place at the intersection of Bulevardul Carol, Strada Paleologu and Calea Moșilor, an abandoned public space with intense traffic, which resulted from a breakthrough in the historical plot, with the demolition of some buildings in the 80s to be able to connect Armand Călinescu and Paleologu streets.

The project proposes the recovery of the space for the community and its arrangement so that it can be used by as many people as possible, together with the creation of a material framework that brings together and strengthens social assistance networks from the public and the non-governmental sector, the place will become a fixed point for the Sector 2 Social Ambulance and the Carusel mobile team, which will monitor the homeless people.

The concentration of social infrastructure on the outskirts of the city also meant a marginalization of the problems faced by the homeless. In the absence of a personal space, they end up developing an invididual network that includes spaces, situations and resources that ensure temporary survival, most often in central locations.

The project is an exercise that tests the possibilities of creating collaborative approaches involving the public administration, civil society and architects, developing alternative forms of city development that recover public spaces for underrepresented social categories, a test-site for this type of service that it can later be multiplied and developed in different areas of the city.

Year: 2022

Phase: Completed

Funding: The ‘Space for Solidarity – pilot project’ project is run by Atelier Ad Hoc Comunitate and financed by the program In Stare de Bine, supported by Kaufland Romania and implemented by the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society.

Partners: General Directorate of Social Assistance District 2, Carusel Association, Parada Foundation, The Salvation Army, Samusocial Romania

Location: Paleologu street / Carol Boulevard, Bucharest, Romania