Sala Polivalentă

The hall at Calea Piscului 10 sits behind a row of trees in the Parcul Tineretului, a gap in the city where the concrete stands back from the pavement. The structure is heavy and low, held up by angled columns that disappear into the roofline. Sala Polivalentă opened on August 10, 1974, under the name Palatul Sporturilor și Culturii din București, a title that lasted until the building was renamed for its modern use. It is owned by the Ministry of Youth and Sport, which has sanctioned renovations in 2008 and 2011 to bring the facility up to scratch for the Liga Națională handball teams from CSM București.

The interior, glimpsed through the glass in the evening light, is a grid of blue beams and white tables, a quiet space when the games are over. It is not the sort of place that draws crowds for the sport alone; it draws them for the music. The hall has hosted Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, and on October 2, 2011, it welcomed Armin van Buuren shortly after the renovation work finished. The capacity sits at 5,300, a number that allows the venue to host events without the congestion of the larger arenas in the capital.

It also staged the final of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest on December 2, 2006, a match that ended with a win for Russia’s The Tolmachevy Twins. The architecture is plain, a slab of concrete and glass that does not try to impress. It is a hall that has seen concerts and handball, and has stood in the park for fifty years.