Tag: Neoromanian Style

Neo-Romanian Style Rainwater Heads

Valentin Mandache
Neo-Romanian style rainwater heads (©Valentin Mandache)

The rainwater head is usually a prosaic detail among the water draining fittings of a building that has the role to convey the rainwater collected from the roof troughs to the drain pipes. However, the high visibility of a rainwater head at the edge of the roof eave or on the top of the façade, also renders it as an excellent decorative element within the architectural design of a house. The Neo-Romanian architectural style gives a prominent role to the rainwater head within its customarily elaborate decorative panoply. The photomontage above and the slide show bellow the text show a few such exquisite Neo-Romanian style rainwater heads, which I photographed during my fieldwork in Bucharest.

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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 Contactpage 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).

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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 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.

Neoromanian Style Peacock Motif Photomontage

Valentin Mandache
A photomontage with a sample from the myriad of peacock motif ornaments that adorn the inter-war Neo- Romanian style houses of Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The Neo-Romanian style has the peacock motif, inspired from the late-medieval Wallachian church architecture, as one of its key decorative elements, adorning many houses built in this style in the inter-war period. The photomontage above shows a sample from the multitude of patterns depicting this motif, that have as a common theme the representation of this bird as a symbol of beauty and peace, often shown feeding from grapefruit among grape leaves and vines that signify the biblical Garden of Eden, and its modern correspondent in the abundance of that plant and wine industry in the prosperous peace times from 1920s to late 1930s Romania.

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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 Contact page of this weblog.