“Southern European” type Art Deco house

There is not a general rule, but the Art Deco architecture in the countries from southern Europe has a higher propensity to adopt rich, densely packed ornamental themes when compared with places located on more northern latitutudes. It reminds of the baroque and rococo styles that originated in this region, a fact which I found excellently documented in the blog Madrid Art Deco that presents examples from Spain’s capital. Bellow is a Bucharest Art Deco house example, which in my opinion displays that southern European propensity for high density ornamentation, in this case consisting of prominent chestnut leaves and nuts splashed on panels decorating its frieze, bay window, veranda and top balcony. I encountered this motif in many other examples of Bucharest buildings from that era, some of them in the Neo-Romanian architectural style. Even this house has a small Neo-Romanian element in that of wooden poles from the top floor veranda, which are carved with Romanian ethnographic motifs.

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I endeavour through this daily series of 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 or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.