Tag: Cotroceni

Tour in east Cotroceni

Tour in east Cotroceni

Valentin Mandache
Cotroceni East-13-3
Costache Negri fountain, east Cotroceni

Dear Readers,

I would like to invite you to an architecture history walk in one of the prestigious quarters of Bucharest, Cotroceni, its eastern, older, part, centred on the area between Dr. Nicolae Staicovici Street and Dr. Joseph Lister Street. This cultural excursion is open to all of you who would like to accompany me, the author of Historic Houses of Romania blog, for two hours, between 12.00h – 14.00h, on Sunday 9 April 2023.

I will be your guide through one of the best quality historic architecture areas of Romania’s capital, constituted from an array of exquisite Little Paris, Neoromanian, and Art Deco and Modernist style houses, intercalated with some alluring examples of Art Nouveau and Mediterranean. The eastern part of Cotroceni is also its oldest, containing one of the best preserved laid out property developments from the Fin de Siècle years. These edifices were built mainly by people belonging to the professional classes of Romania, especially medical doctors and army high echelon officers, of the La Belle Époque and interwar periods. They constructed their residences close by the former Royal Palace of Cotroceni, where the crown couple lived, today used as the Presidential Palace, and the Medical Sciences University, the most Read more →

Tour in west Cotroceni

Tour in west Cotroceni

Valentin Mandache
Cotroceni west-004
Medical Sciences University, west Cotroceni

Dear readers,

I would like to propose you an architectural history tour, in the western part of the picturesque Cotroceni quarter, which contains the grandiose edifices of the Medical Sciences University and the Palace of the President of Romania. The tour completes my series of distinct walks (east, central and west) covering this architecturally valuable area of Bucharest.

The event is scheduled to take place this Sunday 17 July 2022, between 10.30h – 12.30h. This cultural excursion could be of interest to any of you visiting Romania’s capital as a tourist or on business, looking to understand the character of this metropolis through discovering its peculiar and fascinating old architecture.

The most beautiful baroque revival style palace of Bucharest is the Medical Sciences University, the best such school in southeast Europe, designed by the Swiss architect Louis Blanc, and built in 1902, which is at the centre of west Cotroceni. Its aesthetics is auspiciously put into light by the the surrounding elegant built environment, one of the finest in the capital. You are thus going to sample, under my guidance, many of those examples, displaying a dazzling array of symbolism and messages, typical of the Neoromanian, the national architecture of this country, or the international Art Deco, Modernist and Mediterranean styles. The creators of many of those buildings were part of the golden generations of Romanian architects, people active mostly in the interwar period, when this part of Cotroceni was endowed with the Read more →

Photographs from the Sunday 8 April ’12 architectural tour in Cotroceni quarter

Valentin Mandache
Historic Houses of Romania architectural history tour in Cotroceni quarter, Bucharest, 8 April '12 (©Valentin Mandache)

Details about Cotroceni walking tour here- https://historo.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/sunday-8-april-architectural-tour-in-cotroceni-quarter-of-bucharest/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtxLIWcUGt4&context=C4f7076eADvjVQa1PpcFO8fgAf_V80gfiKsPYx7l4J4mBqvrmUME4=

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Video-invitation to Historic Houses of Romania week end architectural tours: 7 & 8 April ’12

Valentin Mandache

Book by emailing v.mandache@gmail.com or using the comments section of this post. You will be informed of meeting place on booking.

I look forward to seeing you at the tour,

Valentin Mandache, expert in Romania’s historic houses (tel: 0040 (0)728323272)

Images from today’s architectural walking tour in Cotroceni quarter of Bucharest

Valentin Mandache
Historic Houses of Romania: images from today's (Sunday 15 Jan. 2012) architectural walking tour in Cotroceni quarter of Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Wrought iron gate with cubist pattern

Valentin Mandache

Bellow is a fascinating cubist-like design embellishing a wrought iron gate structure, which I encountered in Cotroceni quarter of Bucharest and have also shown to the participants at my architectural history tour, which took place in June past. It is another testimonial of the effervescent creative years of Bucharest that span the inter-war period, considered as a golden age for this city. The gate is in a run down state and needs urgent caring attention, but I doubt that it would ever receive any attention from the contemporary Bucharest people, having in fact a much higher chance to reach the scrapyard and be replaced by a new and “beautiful”, in their uncouth eyes, production line gate from a DIY shop.

Wrought iron gate with cubist pattern, Art Deco style house dating from the mid-1930s, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)
Wrought iron gate with cubist pattern, Art Deco style house dating from the mid-1930s, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)
Wrought iron gate with cubist pattern, Art Deco style house dating from the mid-1930s, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)
Inversed colour filter: wrought iron gate with cubist pattern, Art Deco style house dating from the mid-1930s, Cotroceni area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

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I endeavour through this series of periodic 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 Contactpage of this weblog.

From yesterday’s architectural photography tour of Cotroceni historic quarter, Bucharest

Valentin Mandache
Architectural details, images from yesterday's photo-tour of Cotroceni historic quarter, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Yesterday I organised the first from my planed series of architectural photography tours in Bucharest and nearby towns. The area scheduled for exploration was Cotroceni historic quarter in west-central Bucharest. The participants were very keen to find out all matters of architectural and social history peculiar to this area of Romania’s capital and how to perfect their architectural photography skills using point and shoot cameras. I have been pleased to be their guide and trust that my explanations, pointing out particular details, advising about basic architectural photography techniques and making sense of a complex and apparently chaotic historic architectural landscape were well received by the participants. A sample of the exquisite architectural images shot yesterday in Cotroceni is presented in the above collage. The quarter boasts mainly Neo-Romanian and Art Deco style residential architecture and is one of the best preserved built heritage areas of Bucharest.

The next Sunday (12 June ’11, 9am-12.00) architectural photography tour will take place in Mantuleasa historic quarter, east central Bucharest; meeting point: University subway passage, in front of Bucharest Tourist Information booth. I look forward to seeing you there and go exploring this more than fascinating city corner!

Valentin Mandache (author of Historic Houses of Romania blog)

With participants at the architectural photography tour in Cotroceni on 5 June 2011 (photo:Romulus Andrei Bena)

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

***********************************************

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 Contactpage of this weblog.

Classical echoes in an Art Deco design doorway

Valentin Mandache
Art Deco style doorway, embellishing an early 1930s house in the Cotroceni area of Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

There is a classical theme discernible in the design of the doorway assembly presented above, namely that of the Ionic order. That can be seen in the fluting (vertical grooves) of the door’s two side columns, feature also suggested by the vertical bars forming the gridiron of the door window, which is poignantly crowned by Ionic order capital motifs (the ram’s horn). I like the way how the 1930s architect adapted with great ease these classical elements to the Art Deco design scheme, without even a hint of dissonance between the ancient and modern patterns. Even the “S” shaped door handle participates to that wonderful play of proportions and contours.

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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.

***********************************************

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.

Art Nouveau Outlines in A Neo-Romanian Style Doorway Assembly

Valentin Mandache
Art Nouveau echoes in a late 1920s Neo-Romanian style doorway assembly, Cotroceni area, Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The Neo-Romanian architectural style emerged at the end of c19th together with other European national romantic movements in visual arts that saw the emergence of national architectural styles in countries spanning from Scandinavia to the Balkans. These styles were initially an expression of the internationalist Art Nouveau experiments of the time, taking inspiration from the local national traditions. Particular for Romania was that this Art Nouveau ambiance and character was still in use in many instances in the local architecture until the late 1920s and even in some cases in the 1930s, long after the twilight of the Art Nouveau and other national romantic styles elsewhere in Europe. The image above shows one such telling example of powerful Art Nouveau echoes in a late 1920s Neo-Romanian style doorway assembly that still preserves very prominent Fin de Siècle national-romantic forms (short Byzantine type columns, oversized decorations inspired from medieval Wallachian church architecture, the red paint as an allusion to the Pompeian Red colour and through that to the ancient Roman/ Latin origins of the Romanian people, etc).

***********************************************

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 heritage.

***********************************************

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.