The origins of this style are to be found in
\nthe second half of the 19th century. Its founder is Ion Mincu, an
\noriginal architect who combined in his projects traditional architecture,
\nBrancoveanu-style elements and but also elements of Western architecture,
\ncreating an unique style. This style was mainly developed after WW1 by a number
\nof architects who changed and improved it as they designed a series of
\nbuildings that in time became iconic for Bucharest, such as the present
\nheadquarters of the Bucharest Town Hall. Paul Smarandescu is another renowned
\nRomanian architect whose career was entirely dedicated to the neo-Romanian
\nstyle. <\/p>\n
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Born on June 26, 1881 in Bucharest, Paul
\nSmarandescu designed public buildings and also private residences. With details
\non that, here is art historian Oana Marinache. <\/p>\n
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Oana
\nMarinache: He worked as an
\narchitect for the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Instruction
\nfor several years, then for the Ministry of the Interior. Concurrently, he
\nactivated in the private sector, building hundreds of residences, most of them
\nin the neo-Romanian style. Benefitting from private orders coming from
\npersonalities in the army, the medical sector or from representatives of the
\nboyar families, Paul Smarandescu succeeded in erecting sumptuous residences, to
\npropagate and open even more the taste for the neo-Romanian style, especially
\nin Bucharest. Paul Smarandescu is a member of the second generation of Romanian
\narchitects. He began his studies at the end of the 19th century and
\nearly into the 20th century. He initially studied with the Romanian
\nSchool of Architecture, founded by Ion Mincu and others. Then he felt the need
\nto go and further his education in Paris for three more years. He returned with
\na French architect’s diploma in 1906, then he was employed by the ministries I
\njust mentioned. So he is among the first who implemented the principles of the
\nRomanian school of architecture, principles advocating for the return to
\nvernacular architecture, to the regional, specific architecture, which also
\nmeant renouncing the French academic style and no longer bringing in eclectic
\nelements, which were also French.<\/p>\n
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Paul Smarandescu designed sumptuous villas,
\nbut also more modest residences, in keeping with the commissioner’s income.
\nGenerally, they were one or two-storied buildings, with beautiful stone-carved
\ndecorative elements, tailored especially for those who wanted their houses to
\nbe built in the Neo-Romanian style, which, after the Great Union, was
\nconsidered the representative Romanian style. <\/p>\n
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As architect of several public institutions,
\nSmarandescu also designed lodgings for various public sector employees, such as
\nthe buildings around Gara de Nord, tailored for employees and top managers with
\nthe Romanian Railway Company. Among the private residences designed by
\nSmarandescu are a couple of mountain villas, especially in Sinaia, but also one
\ndesigned for his daughter, on the Black Sea Coast, in Balchik, at present a
\nlocality on Bulgaria’s territory. <\/p>\n
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Of the imposing buildings created by the
\narchitect there is the Agricola Insurance Company Palace, lying on Victoria
\nBoulevard, but also the Universul Palace near the Cismigiu gardens, which
\nduring the interwar period used to house some famous publications of the time.
\nWith details on that, here is art historian Oana Marinache once again. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oana
\nMarinache: In the public
\nspace, I should like to mention two restored buildings. The so-called oldest
\nhouse of Bucharest: the Melik house. What we see now, in fact, is the version
\nrestored by Paul Smarandescu, completed around 1928. Also, he restored a little
\nchurch, the Church consecrated to Saint Sophia, in Floreasca district. It is an
\nexample of small scale religious edifice. As regards the Universul Palace, it
\nis a mix of utilitarianism and the need to erect a tall building, capable of
\nhousing a number of newspaper offices. Perhaps the plot of land there required
\na vertical construction, dominated by an imposing tower which reminds us of
\nAmerica’s sky-scrapers. As regards the decorative elements, there are also
\nitems of the Neo-Romanian style. Many of Paul Smarandescu’s projects have this
\nwatch-tower which had a practical function as well, that of offering a
\nbeautiful bird’s eye view of the entire area, since many of the buildings were
\nlocated in green areas. Also, Smarandescu’s Neo-Romanian style includes many
\nwooden elements, such as wood inwrought with decorative elements inspired from
\ntraditional architecture.<\/p>\n
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Paul Smarandescu died in 1945 and did not
\nsee how his buildings were nationalized and neglected by the communist regime. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Neo-Romanian style is today described as being representative for the architecture of Greater Romania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":130317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[35279,45471,45470],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-168992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-floreasca","tag-neo-romanian","tag-paul-smarandescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n