My jaw just dropped when I discovered the fascinating mid 1930s Art Deco style panel in the image above! I was enthralled by its expressivity and beyond the grave like message. It adorns a small run down house located on a cramped street from Bucharest’s Jewish quarter. The panel is very abstract, just like a cubist painting and depicts a travel theme (or rather longing to travel) by ocean going vessels to a large modern bustling city full of lights and high rise buildings bathed by glitzy reflector light-beams, symbols usually associated with US cities like New York and Chicago where many Romanian Jews were emigrating at that period in search of fortune and to escape from the perennial poverty and racial prosecutions suffered in their home country. The architectural decoration in this panel expresses a state of spirit and premonition among this community as in less than a decade, after the panel was put in place, it suffered the burnt of the Holocaust in wartime Romania.
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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 
Yes, this is absolutely gorgeous! It goes to show the truly international character of Art Deco, which can surprise all the more when a fantastic example like this turns up in a most unexpected place. I actually thought the old Jewish area of Bucharest was destroyed either during World War II or in the 1980s by Ceausescu’s building schemes. I’m glad it was not entirely swept away after all.
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