Modernist Art Deco style apartment building

The well designed building from the above photograph features an Art Deco style with modernist features, popular in the late 1930s. The modernist features are represented by the stern rectangular outlines of the building and the use of concrete and iron as main construction materials. The Art Deco is embodied by structural elements such as the staircase tower or the usage of the “rule of three” in the number of floor levels and or that of the street fence beams, etc. Bucharest contains a fair number of such fascinating borderline design buildings, such as in an example that I documented at this link. In the particular case of this apartment house, the typology of the design is probably Italian, a product of an Italian architectural bureau or of a Romanian architect influenced by the Italian school of architecture of that time. Italy had a strong cultural influence in Romania during the inter-war period and many Italian building firms and architectural bureaus were active in the country throughout that era. I have documented that fascinating connection in some previous articles, such as here or there (click the links for access).

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I endeavor through this series of daily articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and 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 sourcing 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.