The reinforced concrete began to be used on a large scale in the building industry in the inter-war period, being the ‘natural’ material for the Art Deco and International Modernist styles. The Neo-Romanian style, with its heavy structure and intricate decorative register derived from Romanian and South East European historical architecture had obvious difficulties in adopting the new technology. The example above shows a particularly interesting creative use of the reinforced concrete as structural and decorative material for a Neo-Romanian house dating from the early 1930s. I especially like how the veranda poles and their decoration, inspired from the veranda wooden poles of traditional Ottoman Balkan houses, are rendered in this more unusual, for this style, building material.
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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 