\nAfter
\nthe domination of the Neo-Romanian style at the end of the 19th
\ncentury and the beginning of the 20th,
\nespecially in the capital Bucharest, the beginning of the 1930s was
\nmarked by greater stylistic diversity. The architecture of private
\nhomes began to adopt modernist, cubist and Art Deco influences. A
\ntrend initially called Moorish-Florentine-Br\u00e2ncovenesc was
\npopular from 1930 until around 1947 in the big cities, mainly
\nBucharest and Constan\u0163a. Although many private residences were built
\nin this style and many architects embraced it, it was rejected in the
\nbeginning by the community of architects, before being completely
\nforgotten after 1950.<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The
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A talk with architect M\u0103d\u0103lin Ghigeanu about Mediterranean influences in Romanian inter-war architecture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":170155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[42746,28915],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-170154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-architecture","tag-bucharest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe
\narchitect M\u0103d\u0103lin Ghigeanu recently published a study of this style
\ncalled The Mediterranean trend in Romanian inter-war architecture
\n(Curentul
\nmediteranean \u00een arhitectura interbelic\u0103 rom\u00e2neasc\u0103)<\/em>.
\nHe discovered that this style, which can more adequately be described
\nas Mediterranean, arrived in Romania from America, more
\nprecisely from California and Florida, via magazines and cinema. In
\nAmerica, the style was itself a form of Spanish colonial
\narchitecture, which drew on Iberian architecture infused with Moorish
\nelements. Architect M\u0103d\u0103lin Ghigeanu explains how this style was
\nexpressed in Romania:<\/p>\n
\nmain characteristics of the style are well-known. The most important
\nand best-known is the stucco finish, which served not only an
\naesthetic role, but was also practical, because this finish coat is
\nmore resistant to changes in temperature. The earliest version of the
\nstyle also featured a low pitch roof and Gothic elements, as well as
\nAndalusian influences in the form
\nof Mud\u00e9jar
\nelements, a term referring to the Arab builders who remained in Spain
\nafter the Reconquista. These Iberian elements are characteristic to
\nthe earlier versions of the style. A more simplified version appeared
\nlater, that incorporated Italian influences from Tuscany and elements
\nfrom the Italian Renaissance, with a raised ground floor and a
\nsimpler treatment of the upper floors. The final and more
\nsophisticated stage of the Mediterranean style features Venetian
\nGothic decorative elements. So, it starts with traditional Spanish
\nhouses from America and ends with the Venetian Gothic. It must be
\nnoted that this style arrived in Romania in the 1930s, having already
\nbeen exhausted in America.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nDuring
\nthe reign of Carol II, the members of the royal family built several
\nresidences for themselves in this style, with the architect Alexandru
\nZaharia, a friend of the king, being the flag bearer for the
\nMediterranean style. The list of residences built in this style
\nincludes the Elisabeta Palace in the north of Bucharest, near
\nHer\u0103str\u0103u Park and the Village Museum, and built for princess
\nElizabeth, a former queen of Greece and one of the sisters of king
\nCarol II. M\u0103d\u0103lin Ghigeanu tells us more about this structure:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nfirst surprise was that this palace was built in the Mediterranean
\nstyle, with elements similar to American houses, namely the circular
\ntower at the entrance. This was a typical feature and something art
\ncritic Petru Comarnescu also mentioned in his book about his trips to
\nAmerica, where he noticed this circular tower which served no
\nfunctional purpose, but only an aesthetic one. The other decorative
\nelements have no connection with the Br\u00e2ncovenesc or Neo-Romanian
\nstyle. It was a style imposed by princess Elizabeth, a type of
\narchitecture that her mother, Queen Marie, disliked. Queen Marie only
\nonce came to visit, together with her other daughter, princess
\nIleana, but she only saw the ground floor, she didn’t go upstairs.
\nShe could not believe it and she didn’t understand the mishmash of
\nheraldic symbols. For this is one of the characteristics of the
\nMediterranean style, the fact that the Californians who had built
\nthose homes assumed all kinds of titles and coats of arms. So, the
\npalace was built after instructions from princess Elizabeth and the
\ndesigns of architect Constantin Ionescu. It was finished very
\nquickly, with works beginning in the autumn of 1936 and ending in
\nDecember 1937.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nAnother
\nbuilding in the Mediterranean style is located right in the centre of
\nBucharest but concealed by the communist-era apartment blocks built
\nbehind the former royal palace. M\u0103d\u0103lin Ghigeanu calls this
\nbuilding the Florentine tower block. He says finding out the
\nname of its architect and first owners involved a lot of painstaking
\nresearch. He tells us what he discovered:
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nsurprise was finding that the same architect had also designed other
\nstructures in the Mediterranean style. The building itself is one of
\nthe most interesting in Bucharest. Its most interesting feature is
\nthe beautiful and elaborate corner balcony overlooking two
\ndirections, with an arch and a column. This type of corner and this
\ntype of architectural structure can only be found today in the
\nFlorentine building, because normally corners are made stronger for
\nstructural reasons. Another surprise is the name of the original
\nowner: the son of the Bulgarian foreign minister Hagianoff, who is
\nalso the owner of the Manasia estate.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nBucharest’s
\nMediterranean architecture is indicative of the stylistic diversity
\nof this city in the inter-war period. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"