Architectural Symbols of Bucharest

In mid-19th Century, the capital city Bucharest, much like the rest of the country, was replacing its Oriental ways with new, Western ones, starting from clothing and ending with its architecture.

România Internațional, 01.08.2015, 19:25

Fast forward 100 years, and the country capital was already offering foreign visitors an original blend of contrasts, of old and new features, of East and West. The French diplomat and writer Paul Morand, in his monograph of Bucharest released in 1935, was delighted by these contrasts: “Even though Bucharest is not Romania, as the Romanians keep saying, who search and find in peasant life and arts the unique source of the Moldavian-Wallachian brilliance, the city is still a wonderful mixture of peoples, faces, customs and adventures. Top hats and Scythian sheepskin hats, American cars and Ostrogoth carts joyfully parade everywhere around here.

Two years later, the British writer Sir Sacheverell Sitwell was also visiting Romania, and in 1938 he was publishing his “Romanian Journey, where he denied any resemblance between Bucharest and Paris, writing that ones first impression of Bucharest has to do with its huge area. That is because there are so many houses that have their own gardens. (…) Some say Bucharest is merely a poor replica of Paris. In fact, Sir Sitwell argues, Bucharest has nothing to do with Paris, except for a few fashionable stores.

To some extent, the appeal of the modern city and the contrasts so highly appreciated by the two travellers were generated by the impressive buildings erected in the late 19th Century and based on the architecture principles of the time, highly popular in Belle Epoque France. To modernise their city, the officials of Bucharest even resorted to French architects. We find out who they were and what buildings they designed from architect Sidonia Teodorescu:

“In the last decades of the 19th Century, many eclectic-style buildings wereerected in Bucharest, designed by foreign architects or by Romanian architects who had studied abroad, particularly at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Some of the most important are Albert Galleron and Leonida Negrescu, who designed the Romanian Athenaeum building, Louis Pierre Blanc with the Agriculture Ministry building, Paul Gottereau, author of the blueprints for the CEC Palace, Cassien Bernard and Albert Galleron with the National Bank Palace, and Alexandru Savulescu, who designed the Post Palace. The new ideas of the time started to be reflected in architecture, so public and private buildings in the Second Empire style were being set up in the big cities. The Carol I University Square, today the Revolution Square, is home to the former Carol I University Foundation, now the Central University Library, erected between 1891-1895 by architect Paul Gottereau, who is also the architect of the first royal palace, located just across the street. The second wing of the building was completed in 1914, having architect Roger Bolomey as its entrepreneur. The building was damaged in 1989 and underwent restoration works between 1990 and 2000.

A Romanian architectural style developed in time, with influences from the folk architecture and the Brancovenesc style. Sidonia Teodorescu:

“Another important palace is the Public Works Ministry building, which now hosts the Bucharest Town Hall, located on the Elisabeta Boulevard. It was set up by Petre Antonescu between 1904 and 1911 and then rebuilt, in the 1940s. Between 1916-1918 it served as headquarters for the German General Command. The buildings style is neo-Romanian, extended at monumental scale.

Later, the modernist spirit of the inter-war period left its mark on central Bucharest, bringing the capital city even closer to the Western style. Sidonia Teodorescu again:

“The Lido Hotel, now located on the Magheru Boulevard, that was built in the early 1930s after a project by architect Ernest Doneaud, had a special place in the Bucharesters heart, due to its beauty and to its importance in the social life of the city. The Lido Palace marked the second period of Doneauds activity and is part of the modernist current, with the building also including Art Deco elements.

Today, after communist demolitions and constructions, and also after a long transition period, Bucharest is not only searching for its identity, but also for ways to bring its architectural heritage back to light.