Founded at the end of the 19th century by
\narchitect Ion Mincu, the neo-Romanian architectural style intertwines elements
\nof the peasant and Br\u00e2ncovenesc styles in a new mix that was swiftly adopted
\nand adapted by architects in the early 20th century. Bucharest in
\nparticular, but many other cities from the former Principality of Wallachia,
\nare living evidence of how fast the neo-Romanian style expanded. One of the
\niconic representatives of this style was architect Cristofi Cerchez, whose life
\nhas been documented by art historian Oana Marinache.<\/p>\n
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Cristofi Cerchez was born Cristofi Hristea in July 1872
\ninto a very numerous family. It seems there were 18 siblings in total, but
\nunfortunately, due to the hardships and illnesses of the 19th
\ncentury, the life of many family members was cut short, and only three boys and
\nthree girls made it to adulthood. Still, it was a family of certain financial
\nmeans. Their father administered large estates for important noblemen, which
\nmeant they moved around a lot. Ever since his teens, Cristofi was given the
\nopportunity of familiarizing himself with vernacular architecture during his
\nnumerous journeys abroad. He originally enrolled in the School for roads and
\nbridges, at the time the only form of technical higher education. Later he was
\nthe beneficiary of a private scholarship, granted by the widow of a famous
\nlocal surgeon, Turnescu, and so went to Milan. There, he had the opportunity of
\nenrolling in the Polytechnics school, taking up a major in civilian
\narchitecture. He also started developing his artistic skills, since Milan
\nprovided every opportunity to help further his later training and activity. His
\nacademic path differed extensively from that of his peers. Most young Romanians
\nwould go to Paris to study at the Fine Arts school, but Cerchez was from the
\nvery start influenced by architect Ion Mincu, the forefather of the
\nneo-Romanian style. Although they were set 20 years apart, Cristofi Cerchez
\nstudied the building of the Central School for Girls in Bucharest and Mincu’s
\nfirst works, whereas his first own creations observed the neo-Romanian style in
\na fashion much similar to Mincu’s. <\/p>\n
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\n
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Today, Cristofi Cerchez is considered one of the most
\nillustrious exponents of the neo-Romanian style in towns across the country,
\nsetting the tone for architectural elements specific to 19th century
\nmarket towns, dominated by a middle class made up of traders and merchants.
\nSome of these were actually Cerchez’s patrons, and their homes have endured to
\nthis day, as Oana Marinache told us. <\/p>\n
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\n
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From a professional point of view, Cristofi Cerchez
\ninitially distinguished himself in the towns where he had studied or worked:
\nC\u00e2mpulung Muscel, Alexandria and Constan\u021ba,
\nwhere for a brief period of time he worked at the Constan\u021ba City Hall technical
\nservice. It was only at the end of 1905 that he came to Bucharest to work on
\none the most important commissions of his career, one of the best-known villas
\nin Bucharest, owned by doctor Nicolae Minovici, also known as the Roadside
\nBells Villa. It’s a commission that actually opened up vistas for further
\nparticipation in the authorities’ hospital architecture program. Cerchez built
\nthe Ambulance Society, a building which was unfortunately leveled during the
\nWorld War II bombing. Additionally, he designed buildings for the laboratories
\nof the Institute for Forensic Medicine, where the Minovici brothers were very
\nactive as directors. He also designed other important buildings, of which I
\nwould only mention the Polizu Maternity Hospital in Bucharest, which was very
\nknown to the local population and which was also part of the authorities’
\nhospital architecture program. <\/p>\n
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\n
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In the southern Carpathians, architect Cerchez also left his
\nmark on numerous buildings.<\/p>\n
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\n
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In V\u0103lenii de Munte mountain resort,
\nCristofi Cerchez designed numerous buildings towards the end of his career.
\nShortly after the great earthquake of 1940, Cerchez got involved in the
\nrestoration of religious buildings affected by the quake. He was also appointed
\nto build a headquarters for the Trade Bank in V\u0103leni, as well as a home for its
\ndirector. He finished the projects over 1941-1942. Basically, his activity
\nspans from the end of the 19th century and up to 1945. The last ten
\nyears of his life are very quiet. The artist did very little work and had a lot
\nof financial troubles, as his properties were seized by the authorities. Still,
\nhe leaves behind an impressive career spanning over 45 years. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Architect Cristofi Cerchez died on January 15, 1955, aged
\n67. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the iconic representatives of the neo-Romanian artistic style<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":123226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[45216,45681,45680,42747],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-169969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-cristofi-cerchez","tag-hospital-architecture","tag-life-and-works","tag-neo-romanian-style"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n