Graduation projects
The regeneration of the Uivar Sluice on the Bega Canal
Author Name
Lazarovici AndreeaProfession
ArchitectCollaborators (team members)
arh. Bogdan DemetrescuLocation
Uivar, Timis, Romania
Project description
Being part of the complex system of Bega Canal hydrotechnical nodes, which was put in place by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Uivar Sluice is distinct through its diverse context. Fragments of the past that exist here, numerous landscape typologies, a very rich biodiversity, as well as a very rich archeological site, with marks since the Bronze Era, make this node atypical, in which the industrial landscape and the natural one form a unique amalgam. Along the years, The Bega Canal has suffered a major decline. What was once the main economical axis of the Banat region, has now become a closed canal, frequented only by fishermen and bikers. Today, prospects of reopening the canal for navigation and leisure, linking the region with Serbia, the Danube, Western Europe bring the opportunity to revive some heritage sites along the canal. In respect to this, activating the Uivar node may lead to it being an important point on the cultural thematic route of the historical Banat area, built around the two watercourses, The Bega Canal and Timis River. Firstly, The project proposes activating the 4 existing buildings, using a series of microinterventions in landscape. Settling a physical link between the node, the village of Uivar and the archeological site is vital in order to put the base of an adaptive regeneration, a complex environment in which the three strategic points mentioned can work together. The approach is different for each shore of the sluice, addressing the existing characters of the place. While the island shore operates with instruments like platforms along the smooth slopes, immersion platforms in deep vegetation, fully opened platforms with a view over the whole canal, proposing different degrees of approachment towards the water, the sluice shore is deeply transformed. On this opposite shore, a long term intervention is proposed, with functions such as: monitoring station, research centre, due to the nearby archeological site, biological research using experimental floodable gardens to tackle the environment issue of the region and the extensive use of agriculture land, but also to offer a lecture of the landscape metamorphosis, from a sea, to a swamp, to the place we know today (the Gardens of the past, the present, the future).
Author's presentation text
The author, born in Timisoara, graduated from the politehnica University of Timisoara, the Architecture Faculty in 2021. Currently working as a trainee architect in the office FOR Timisoara, and also pursuing research for the presented project of Uivar. This project was also presented during the first leisure boat trip to Uivar, in a project in June 2022 called “Ecluze pe Bega”, which aimed to bring awareness of the immense opportunities that exist on the canal, and the heritage of the region, involving a pluridisciplinar study.
