“There are no losers or winners in urban development”
It is ten o’ clock in the evening and a Romanian taxi driver is speeding through Bucharest’s streets and neighbourhoods to get my Romanian colleague and me to ‘The Ark’ . We have an appointment there with Teodor Frolu; an architect, communication expert, urban professional and entrepreneur. He is hosting a party tonight and thought we would like to come have a look as well. Close to a local flower market the taxi driver stops the car and informs us we have reached our destination. Outside, ‘The Ark’ – the recently renovated commodity stock exchange building built in 1896 – has become visible. Inside, the party hasn’t really started yet. Girls who are going to sell cigarettes are putting on their special costumes while the barmen check their stocks of beer. Teodor Frolu hasn’t arrived yet either. He’ll be there in about one hour. “Just enjoy a beer in the meantime!” he says cheerfully. When he arrives we meet a highly energetic and enthusiastic man, who is eager to tell us about his projects at ‘The Ark’ and his vision for the future of the city of Bucharest.
A lot of things seem to be going on here at ‘The Ark’ .
Can you tell a bit more about the activities in this
building?
“This building is a creative hub with 3 levels of offices and 2
levels of public space. I would call it a platform for experience,
experimentation and entertainment. At the end of the 19th century,
the neighbourhood this building is situated in (Antrepozite Rahova,
Bragadiru Breweries) was the avant-garde of Romania’s new economy.
When we bought this monument, my idea was to go back to the roots
of the area, and turn this building into a creative stock exchange,
so that it could become part of the avant-garde of the Romanian
economy once again. The building really is a platform for my
multidisciplinary way of doing things, hosting for example a
contemporary art foundation, designer studios and communication
companies. Downstairs in the courtyard we organise farmer’s markets
and we have an Indian restaurant in a converted container”
What were the reactions from the neighbourhood when you
decided to renovate this building and turn it into a creative
hub?
“This area used to be part of the city centre of Bucharest, but
during the Ceauşescu period it was destroyed. For a long time,
nobody thought about reopening this part of the city. I felt very
lucky to find this building and invest in the area. Until we
refurbished this building, not many people came to this part of the
city. Now this building has become an important hotspot, both for
people from outside the area and local residents. In order to
involve the local community we support a community centre manage by
a group of enthusiast artists but we are also supporting the local
flower market to structure their associative system.”
Are you not afraid that your activities might result in a
traditional gentrification pattern, with the original community
being forced to leave the area in the end?
“I don’t believe you have losers and winners in urban development.
I think there are just lose-lose and win-win scenarios. In general
I think we mainly see lose-lose projects at the moment in
Bucharest, because many urban development projects focus too much
on short term real estate speculation. This area has a lot of young
residents because the prices of houses have been very low. It has a
relatively bad reputation, but at the same time it has a very young
population. Therefore, we are trying to be a gate between these
young residents and the centre as well as bringing the connection
to the centre back to this area. We are not trying to turn this
neighbourhood into a posh place. That’s why I am not a big fan of
what is happening in the historical centre, which is becoming a
restaurant and bar-area only. This is a very unsustainable model I
think. We are trying to give this area new sustainable functions,
mixed with arts and culture.”
How do you see the future of Bucharest?
“I think the economic crisis is a big chance for Bucharest, because
it diminishes this excessive real estate development and give more
time for planning. I see that the little steps that we take are
moving Bucharest into the right direction. The city is starting to
understand our kinds of projects and they support us. We have been
able to become an example for sustainable development, which I
believe, is the big win of our effort!"
© EUKN, Simone Pekelsma