REFURBISHING INNOVATIVE STRUCTURES: THE CASE OF ROMANIAN SPORTS HALLS

Abstract

This paper brings an in-depth look on 20th-century built heritage by researching refurbishment opportunities for Romanian sports halls built during the communist regime. In those times, sports played a significant role for the controlling party's general propaganda machine. Being a leisure activity it infiltrated every aspect of society, from the worker’s everyday schedule to the newly constructed collective buildings.
Sports halls were part of a larger and thoroughly controlled by the state urban equipment network spanning the entire country. After the fall of the communist regime, these buildings were left untouched and unused, as the sports phenomenon diminished in importance without the state’s constant implication. Even so, these buildings continue to impress evincing some innovative  features for that period, from braided steel cables to post- or pre-stressed concrete beams and prefabricated systems for the whole construction. The synergy between the structure and the architecture casts the unique monumental image of these buildings onto their surroundings.
The research investigates the opportunity for refurbishment and reuse of these buildings as opposed to the demolition alternative. We will look in their future by comparing several case studies. Besides its historical approach, the study aims at bringing forward the communist recent built heritage issue.