I am enthralled by the play of essential lines and volumes displayed in this small Art Deco style house, which I photographed in a now dilapidated area of the once leafy old Bucharest. The curved road that borders the plot on which the house is placed imposed a difficult task on the architect. He wonderfully solved that through an intelligent play of vertical and horizontal lines and volumes that articulate imperceptibly along the curvature of the street. I quite detect there a Golden Rule proportion between some of its more prominent elements. The architect even managed to implement, in the limited available space, some of the hallmark decorations from the Art Deco panoply: the flag post and circular window emulating the ocean liners of the period. The house is a living proof of the resourcefulness and talent of Romania’s inter-war architects who had to fit their buildings among a warren of streets and odd shape plots inherited from the times when the city was an Ottoman market town with a chaotic urban development.
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I endeavor through this daily image series to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural heritage.
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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in locating the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 