During my recent trip to Campina, an oil town 90km north of Bucharest, on the Prahova Valley, I encountered a recurrent Art Nouveau style lilac leaf motif in the window design of a number of local houses. What made it more interesting, was its popularity well beyond the Art Nouveau era, being also displayed by houses from the inter-war and WWII period. The lilac leaf motif was popular in Art Nouveau representations, being a pattern borrowed from Oriental visual arts, originating in Persian representations and also adopted throughout the Ottoman realm, of which the Romanians were an integral part for several centuries. That could explain the unusual preference for this design in a provincial town like Campina. In the photographs bellow I tried to convey a bit from the enduring favour of lilac leaf shaped windows in this corner of Romania, with meritorious examples dating from the 1900s, the Art Nouveau age, to the 1920s and the early 1940s.
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I endeavor through this daily 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 Contactpage of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 