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.
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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.
I had just joy in discovering this small jewel of Bucharest Art Deco architecture. It is another proof of the level of skills achieved by the local inter-war era architects and the sophistication of their clients, a situation rarely encountered nowadays in the rough and ready post-communist Romania. The rooftop terrace is delightful, modelling the top deck of an ocean cruise liner, affording sweeping panoramic views of central Bucharest and also an excellent place to spend the pleasant summer and early autumn evenings peculiar to this part of South East Europe.
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I endeavor through this daily series of images and small 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.
The assorted mix of architectural styles of inter-war Bucharest contains, apart from its main components, the Neo-Romanian, Art Deco and Modernist orders, a series of interesting architectural trends and creations of a more peculiar expression, such as what I call the “inter-war Venetian style”. It became popular in the 1930s at a time of intense cultural links with Italy (Romania even maintained a research institute in Venice, set up in 1930) and evolved from the Venetian Renaissance component of the stylistic background on which the Neo-Romanian architecture was initially based. A good example is the house in the photograph above, that displays crisp, well balanced Venetian style details such as thin columns, Venetian type capitals, balcony’s latticework decoration, etc. I especially like the way how the slender column of the balcony, supporting an airy pergola, breaks the monotony of the façade and smoothens the contrast between the group of tall columns in the background and the short height of the balcony fence, an excellent visual solution that highlights the talent of the local inter-war architects.
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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.
***********************************************
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 Contactpage of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 