Remodeling and extension of the Dimitrie Leonida Technical Museum

The exhibition pavilion that today houses the "Dimitrie Leonida" Technical Museum represents, simultaneously, both one of the few testimonies of the large universal exhibitions organized in the Carol I Park - in 1906 and 1935 - and the final moment of a series of efforts, successive and difficult moves, which the engineer D. Leonida patiently coordinated, with the aim of finding a place where the collections resulting from the activities of the School of Electricians and Mechanics could be preserved and extended.
What is interesting to mention, because it distinguishes this museum from others with the same profile, is the pronounced didactic character that its founder established from the very beginning, in an attempt to link the exhibits closely to the modernization and transformation process of Bucharest at that time. In D. Leonida's vision, the Technical Museum was to be a place where anyone who wanted to could see and operate different mechanisms, understanding the laws of mechanics, electricity and magnetism through direct contact with the new technological conquests present at that time in the daily life of the city, such as the Edison dynamometer used at the National Theatre or the steam engine used at ^Assan's Mill1.
This original vocation, programmatically attributed by D. Leonidas, has been gradually forgotten, almost entirely lost nowadays, despite the fact that the museum holds a number of artifacts, mechanisms and technologies from different periods of exceptional historical and cultural value.
Unfortunately, all this is accessible to the public in a restricted space, insufficient to be able to organize attractive tours or stimulating educational activities for people to understand, learn, experience.
Paradoxically, although it is a repository of valuable documents and objects, the museum seems deserted, disconnected from society, indifferent to people's current behavior and needs and, last but not least, indifferent to its primary role, which is to be constantly in touch with technological developments.
Limited space, unsuitable for exhibition and communication activities, is only one of the many shortcomings of today's museum. Solving them requires a complex approach, involving different strategies: cultural, economic, educational. Understanding all this, the choice for the diploma project started from the belief that architecture, having the potential to materialize aspirations and visions, can support important economic and social strategies.
A first intention of the proposal was to find ways to intervene in such a way that the existing building could be restored as an urban attractor and become an integral part of a genuine "exhibition park" in which older links between the Technical Museum and other sites of similar cultural value in the Carol I Park are naturally re-established.
Thus, the proposed strategy envisioned the construction of a museum whose central figure would be the scientist Eng. Dimitrie Leonida, aiming to focus the visitor's interest on his personality, by exhibiting the library and the permanent collection he bequeathed. The earlier idea of a generic technical museum is thus abandoned and the project proposes a series of complementary public and semi-public functions to give it a clear identity and a stronger link with the park and the city.
To this end, in addition to the extension of the existing building, it is proposed to reorganize the permanent exhibition and to introduce new functions alongside the museum, organized in four main interconnected sections: the technical library - revolving around the archive and the photo library - the main exhibition space - dedicated to both permanent and temporary exhibitions, the conference room - closely linked to the technical library and the café which gradually dissolves into the park.
An important principle of intervention was also the reconsideration of the ground floor - criss-crossed by various passageways and access points to public spaces - together with the façade adjacent to Candiano-Popescu Street. The treatment of the latter supports the intention of obtaining a permeable, interactive boundary, by imagining a deep facade that makes room for multiple spaces - with varying degrees of transparency - connecting the four main functions mentioned above.
This solution also takes into account the architectural characteristics of the existing pavilion: the strong introversion - a characteristic of the spatial typology of the original pavilion that develops linearly and uniformly over a considerable length, between the street G-ral Candiano-Popescu and a secondary alley of the Carol I Park - but also the total absence of a street view.
Another architectural characteristic of the newly proposed space is related to the succession of sequences of activity spaces. These have different intensities and can be approached independently of each other, in a non-linear path at the visitor's disposal (e.g.: documentary viewing, guided scientific experiments, contemplation of artifacts, direct documentation of technology, socializing or relaxing, etc.). The connection between two different sequences is made by a repetitive module, an almost universal piece at the project level, which could allow the spatial logic to be perpetuated indefinitely.
Through the attention paid to the organization of multiple visitor routes and the absence of a pre-established, obligatory itinerary, the visitor is stimulated to explore and return for new experiences for other activities, thus maintaining the vitality of the site.
This way of organizing the exhibition space also aims to add ancillary functions, such as work, research and leisure spaces, which have the capacity to keep the museum active throughout the day.
In terms of the building's structural resistance, the solution proposes to preserve the original metal structure and emphasize the characteristic image given by the repetitive metal beams. The major extension and transformation of the space is linked to the proposal of an exhibition space located in the basement, connected to the ground floor level. This not only satisfies the need for logistical and exhibition space, but more than that, it proposes a visually dynamic space, by modifying the spatial depths, amplifying perspectives and introducing natural light.
NOTE

1. Dimitrie Leonida, "From the history of the formation and development of the Technical Museum". Revista Muzeelor, no. 4, 1964.