Radio România Internațional

Tag: building

  • Macca Family and their residence in Bucharest

    Macca Family and their residence in Bucharest

    In the old part of Romania’s capital city,
    near the centre and its main thoroughfares, like Lascăr Catargiu boulevard and Calea
    Victoriei, we find the Romanian Academy’s Archaeology Institute, hosted by the
    Macca House. A building of highly refined architecture and rich ornamentation,
    Macca House is one of the most fascinating buildings in Bucharest. Its history combines
    the cosmopolitism of those times, via the Swiss-born architect John-Elisee Berthet, with the biography of old local
    families, because the building was commissioned by Col. Petru Macca and his
    wife Elena, a well-known philanthropist, who also donated the house to the
    Education Ministry after his death.

     

     

    Since then, the Macca House
    has hosted a number of institutions, including a museum of antiques in the
    interwar period, and it eventually became the permanent home of the Archaeology
    Institute. The art historian Oana Marinache has studied both the history of the
    building, and its architectural plans, and she gave us details about the
    architect John-Elisee Berthet’s masterpiece.

     

     

    Oana Marinache: Basically it was a building commissioned
    privately by a very rich family. All of Mrs Elena Macca’s revenues actually
    came from her estate in Miroși, as the village was called at the time. With the
    help of her second husband, col. Petre Macca, with patience, with a huge
    financial effort and with the help of outstanding entrepreneurs, most of them
    foreigners as most works were commissioned in Paris and Vienna, they managed to
    complete this architectural jewel. The building brings together all the
    Historicist styles of the late 19th Century. The architect Berthet was
    commissioned the project in 1891, and the works were completed around 1894. This
    is when the family moved into the new house. There were good times and bad
    times for the building, for instance the stables and outhouses burnt down
    twice, in 1894 and in 1897. So some changes were bound to take place, but in
    spite of this the original architecture and art is largely preserved to this
    day. And modern restoration works still produce surprises, unknown frescoes and
    other decoration or furniture pieces come to light, which provide new insights
    into the lifestyle of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

     

     

    The building has 4 floors, including the basement and the loft. The
    interior and outdoor decorations include Baroque elements like festoons,
    pilasters and heraldic symbols. Preserved on ceilings and walls are also some
    of the original frescoes, and some stucco fragments are gold plated. At some point, the balconies were
    adjusted to the Art Nouveau style, and turned into beautiful winter greenhouses
    on the first floor.

     

     

    When we talk about the Macca family, we mean,
    first and foremost, Elena Macca, the art historian Oana Marinache says:

     

     

    Oana Marinache: It was her estate, and the house was built using
    her financial resources. I would say she was the epitome of a lifestyle and the
    image of the philanthropist ladies of the late 19th Century. She had
    outstanding role models in her family, especially her mother and her maternal
    grandmother. She followed in the footsteps of these female role models who
    obviously had a certain social and economic position, but who were also taking
    care of their servants, of the peasants on their estates, of the small
    entrepreneurs and tenants on their properties. I would say Elena is a role
    model truly worth being brought back today, over 100 years after her death.

     

     

    After the Macca house was donated to the Romanian state, it hosted the
    National Antiques Museum between 1931 and 1956, and since then it has belonged
    to the Romanian Academy. Because of
    the Macca House’s state of disrepair, a decision was recently made to start
    restoration works on the building, coordinated by the National Heritage
    Institute. (AMP)

  • Modern architecture and newspapers in inter-war Romania

    Modern architecture and newspapers in inter-war Romania


    The link between the most widely-read Romanian daily before World War One and in the inter-war years and the staple Greater Romania architectural style is provided by the Universul Palace, the headquarters of the newspapers office. The Universul daily was inaugurated on August 20, 1884. Its founder was the Italian Luigi Cazzavillan. Universul became the most widespread Romanian newspaper until its printing was discontinued by the communist regime in the early 1950s. In time, Universuls numerous supplements increased the papers number of copies sold, turning Universul into the core of a true journalistic empire. A former volunteer in Garibaldis army, Cazzavillan settled in Bucharest. He taught Italian, being also the representative of the Bianchi bicycle factory. These days, Cazzavillan has precisely been paid tribute to thanks to his essential contribution to the development of Romanian popular journalism through widely-accessible publications, which popularized, without, however, vulgarizing, cultural and scientific pieces of information. Unfortunately, Cazzavillan died an untimely death at the age of 52, in early 1904. As for Universul, around the outbreak of the first World War, it was no longer in print. Its editing was later resumed, under the management of different owners, of whom the most famous and longest-living was journalist Stelian Popescu. For the most part of the inter-war era, until 1943, Stelian Popescu was at the helm of Universul. Also, Stelian Popescu transferred, to the content of the newspaper, his own right-of-centre political leanings. Universul did not maintain its political neutrality, yet it still was the most widespread newspaper of his time. Also, Universul managed to survive for a little while during the communist regime, until 1953. And it is also during Stelian Popescus management that the inter-war headquarters of the editorial office date from. Were speaking about the Universul Palace. Erected following the project of the great architect Paul Smărăndescu, the building is tall and imposing. It is a mix of the neo-Romanian style, so very conspicuous in the countrys architecture after the Great Union of 1918, and the modernist style.



    Oana Marinache is an art historian. She will now be speaking about Paul Smarandescu, a prolific architect born on June 16, 1881. His roots are in one of Bucharests historical areas, which has remained almost unspoiled to this day.



    Oana Marinache:



    “He was born in the Mântuleasa neighborhood. The young man was born into a well-do-do family. On his mothers, but also on his fathers side, he hailed from a family of merchants from across the Danube, a province which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire. Were speaking about the Solacolu family. So the young Paul Smărăndescu, together with his junior sisters, was born into a family which was part of the thriving bourgeoisie. In late 19th century he attended the Mantuleasa boys primary school, lying nearby. Then he furthered his education with the Matei Basarab high-school and, in late 19th century, he sat for the entrance exam with our school of architecture which had been founded already. So he went domestic for his junior student years. Later, enjoying the support of his family, he went to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, where he made contact with the pavilions and the elite of world architecture. And then a U-turn occurred in his career path, a complete change, that is. He would of course prepare to sit in for the architecture School entrance exam in France, where his trail was much faster. He earned his French diploma and returned to the country in 1906. And in 1907 he was already on the job, being employed in Bucharest. “



    Upon his return to the country, Paul Smărăndescu gradually became one of the promoters of the neo-Romanian style which he nonetheless improved significantly with modernist contributions.



    Oana Marinache:



    “His activity can be broken down into two directions or two professional paths. One, where he is on his own, he has his own office. Concurrently, however, he also held a public position, since he had a job with the public administration. In his early years he pursued the career of head architect with the Religions Affairs and Public Instruction Ministry, and for the most part of his career he would work with the Interior Ministrys technical service, and he retired from there around the Second World War. Towards the final part of his career, he started work for the Interior Ministry Palace, the former headquarters of the Romanian Communist Partys Central Committee and of the Romanian Senate, after December 1989. Being one year away from his retirement and also taking into account certain political changes – we are in the final years of Carol the 2nd s reign – the building as we can see it today is the outcome of the work of another architect, his colleague who actually took over from the Interior Ministry, Emil Nădejde. His versatility enabled him to approach the whole range of styles, from the French eclectic style to the neo-Romanian style, he was one of the noted promoters of that style, yet in the 1930s he approached and adapted to the commissions of his time. Which means he also had tenement buildings, or modernist buildings, buildings that were simpler, decoration-wise, but which at that time were in fashion. For instance, the modernist buildings on the Magheru Boulevard, which are multi-storey buildings.”



    Also a multi-storey building, a seven-storey building, actually, is the Universul Palace, inaugurated in 1930. Located nearby the University of Bucharest and the Victoria Boulevard, in the vicinity of the headquarters of other leading publications of that time, the Universul Palace was home to the editorial office. Yet apart from that, it was also home to the printing press, the managements offices and the accounting department. In 1948 it was nationalized, yet it retained its status of headquarters for editorial offices. Over 2015 and 2016, the building went through a thorough refurbishment process. However, the shape that was initially designed by Paul Smarandescu was, for its most part, preserved.


    (EN)




  • Filantropia hospital in Bucharest, past and present

    Filantropia hospital in Bucharest, past and present


    The first medical institution in Bucharest was established by boyar Mihai Cantacuzino in 1704. Its name was the Coltea hospital. A hundred years later, another hospital was established in Bucharest, a modern institution for its times, the Filantropia/Philanthropy hospital. It was mainly tailored for the needy, hence its name, Filantropia. Today, the medical establishment is one of the capital citys landmarks in terms of medical standards. The hospital boasts the oldest maternity and one of the leading obstetrics and gynecology centers. It is also a period, listed edifice. It all started with a physician schooled in the West, who was keen on contributing to the building of a new country. With details on that, here is historian Adrian Majuru:



    “His name was Constantin Caracas, he was of Aromanian origin and was fresh from his studies abroad, returning to a very complicated country, back then known as Wallachia, and which was under Ottoman suzerainty. It al happened somewhere around 1800. And Caracas returned to an almost exclusively oriental city, Bucharest, that is, where the word sosea, road didnt even exist in the urban vocabulary, not to mention medical or healing terms. Nevertheless, for that time we can say a reforming class of boyars existed, and they oftentimes used their fortune as a guarantee, so that a new country project could be implemented, which included a reformed of the healthcare system, in an incipient form. And this minority, through its small-scale projects, fought for a greater final project, namely the modernisation of Romania, they helped Constantin Caracas establish a hospital he named Filantropia, Philanthropy, that is the love of people. He got promoted and was appointed the towns physician in 1804 and initiated the building of the hospital somewhere around 1811 and 1815, it was subsequently restored a little bit since 1816, following the model of the hospitals in Vienna. So from the very beginning it was a pavilion-style hospital with its buildings placed in the midst of a garden, just as it can still be seen today. It was also Caracas who set up a regulations system, a modern one, for the organization and functioning of a hospital, in 1817. As for the building proper of the hospital, it was possible through public subscription beginning 1810, with the project having the support, financially and logistically, of boyar Grigore Baleanu who donated the plot of land but who also offered money and provided construction materials. But he was also helped by Russian general Kutuzov who at that time was administering the Romanian principalities during the Russian-Turkish war.”



    The chosen area for the new hospital lay outside the city as it then was, very close to the citys northern barrier. Subsequently, behind the hospital, on the greenfield there, even a peripheral neighborhood came into being, a slum/mahala, as it was known back then, a place of dubious reputation and with a lowly social status. However, the slum/mahala had its charm, and in time it got developed, yet very few things today speak of its distant past. Save for the Filantropia hospital, obviously. Historian Adrian Majuru:



    “It was basically an uninhabited area at the time when Dumitru Caracas initiated his project. Only a fountain could be found there, built by ruling prince Mavrogheni some two years prior to the building of the hospital, and where, in time, a church was built, also named Mavrogheni. After the hospital was completed, somewhere around 1833, the first leg was built, of the road known as Kiseleff today. Back then it lay on the outskirts of the city, and was designed as an area for promenade or relaxation. The inhabited slum/mahala lay a little bit farther and was known as the Devils Slum/Mahalaua Dracului, revolving around an inn. It was a halting place placed ahead of the entrance to Bucharest where all sorts of merchants put up, who were travelling from the nearby villages to sell their merchandise. They spent the night there, before they entered Bucharest, since in the past, in todays Victory Circus, one of the barriers of the city could be found. There people were checked for their ID, were asked about their time why spent in Bucharest and were handed a stamped certificate so they could sell their stuff in the closest marketplace. That happened before World War One, in a bid to control peoples transit through Bucharest, somehow.”



    When Constatin Caracass project took off, Bucharest had two other hospitals, Coltea and Saint Panteilimon. Here is historian Adrian Majuru once again, this time telling us how the three hospitals operated. Adrian Majuru:



    “The Filantropia hospital is part of the early generation of modern hospital establishments in Bucharest. Since 1832, the hospital was under the administration of the Board of Civil Hospitals/Eforia Spitalelor Civile, a groundbreaking entity at that time, some sort of privately-managed NGO which was functional prior to the Healthcare Ministry in line, which came into being after World War One. Three medical establishments operated under the administration of the Board: the Coltea and Panteleimon hospitals, as well las the Filantropia/Philanthropy hospital, which means the love of men. As for the establishments, they did not include the hospital alone, they also had other kinds of property and plots of land that were donated such as farmland, oilfields and forests. So they had all sorts of property, even in Bucharest, which were capitalized on as they were rented out. So those areas generated hefty revenues, apart from the income generated by the administration of the medical services on offer.”



    The Filantropia Hospital became a maternity hospital in late 19th century. The new building was erected between 1881 and 1883. The architecture of the central pavilion as it is still seen today dates from that time. Additions or changes that were made in time resulted in todays architecture, which is pleasant and easy to recognize by most of Bucharest city dwellers. In 1891, related to the maternity hospital, a school was founded, for specialized nurses. In the 1920s, Filantropia also became a University Clinic. The hospital was deprived of its properties since they were nationalized during the communist regime. Notwithstanding, the hospital continued its medical performance at a high standard to this day.




  • Architect Horia Creanga

    Architect Horia Creanga

    Two names stand out among Romania’s modernist architects: Marcel Iancu, an avant-garde fine artist who rose to fame in Israel after having designed several gorgeous villas in Bucharest, and Horia Creanga, who designed some of the best known landmarks in the Romanian capital city. A descendant of the great Romanian prose writer Ion Creanga, Horia Creanga managed in a brief, but intensive period to modernise a major boulevard in Bucharest and the interwar industrial outskirts. Ana-Maria Zahariade, a professor with the Bucharest Architecture University and co-author of a book entitled “Horia Creanga: A monograph,” gave us a few details about the architect’s life:



    “He was born in 1892 and was the grandson of writer Ion Creanga. His family was not wealthy, they were lower middle class living in Bucharest. At the end of WW1, in which he took part, Horia put together an exhibition of his watercolour works, at the Romanian Athenaeum, and sold them in order to pay for his studies at the Fine Arts School in Paris, where a lot of Romanian architects at that time used to go. Although the first Romanian school of architecture was founded in 1892, many young Romanians would further their education in Paris. After he graduated, he worked in the workshop of his university professor for a while. In Paris, he was living with his wife, Lucia Dumbraveanu-Creanga, one of the first Romanian women architects, together with whom back in Romania Horia opened their first architecture office, joined by his brother Ion Creanga as well. The office became quite successful. In the meantime Horia was also working for the City Hall, with the New Building Directorate, which was an opportunity for him to meet a lot of people who would later be his clients.”



    Not many details are known today about Horia Creanga’s personal life. But his works are well known, and many are still standing today. One of his first designs was the home of politician Petru Groza, who became a prime minister in 1945 and later a high-level member of the communist government. In the early 1920s, Horia Creanga built an avant-garde, Cubist-style mansion for Groza’s family. Then he started working with major private companies and industrialists for whom he designed most of his projects in Bucharest.



    “His first major project, a huge one in terms of importance and magnificence, was the ARO building. It was well known abroad as well, after its coverage in the Paris-based magazine L’Architecture. Horia Creanga won a competition organised by the members of the ARO Society. This building, which was known as the Patria building in the communist years and which is now in a terrible condition, was the first modernist building on the boulevard known today as Magheru, and previously as Bratianu, which was under construction at that time. This building was the talk of the town in those years, it was seen as a skyscraper, kind of shocking. It remained shocking for a while, but the people of Bucharest were also very fond of it. It had a gorgeous cinema hall, a bar and a restaurant. In the interwar years, it hosted outstanding performances, such as one by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin or the singer Maria Tanase. It was a representative place for the modern, progressive Romanian society after the Great War. Later on, Horia Creanga designed another building on the same boulevard, the Malaxa-Burileanu building, also presented in a major foreign magazine. At present we know of 78 projects by Horia Creanga, most of which have actually been built.”



    These projects include the Giulesti Theatre, currently the Children’s Comic Opera building, the Malaxa industrial works, later renamed “23 August,” in the eastern part of the city, and the Obor Halls. All these buildings were regarded as innovative not only in Romania, but in Europe as well. What drew Horia Creanga towards modernism was the simplicity and elegance of the lines. His ideal was to find the essence that gave a building its refinement and beauty. Ana-Maria Zahariade told us more about the last part of his life and about his legacy:



    “He gained recognition quite quickly, although it is hard for us today to find documents to prove this. The main architecture magazine at the time in Romania, published by the Architecture Society, did not promote modernism and hardly ever featured modernist projects. But Horia Creanga was highly appreciated, and we know this because he was commissioned works and his office expanded. A lot of talented young architects worked for him, such as Haralamb Georgescu, who later rose to fame in the US. Horia Creanga’s popularity came exclusively from his works. He never taught at the Architecture University, which focused mainly on the traditional or neo-Romanian style, and his office essentially created a parallel school of architecture. Horia Creanga worked primarily for private clients, such as the ARO Society, but he was also appreciated by the authorities, and some of his works were commissioned by the municipality. He was appointed as head of the Exhibition Department and worked for national exhibitions since the end of the 1930s. And his publicly-funded works confirm the official recognition gained over the years by the modernist style.”



    Today, the best-known work by Horia Creanga, the ARO-Patria building, in downtown Bucharest, is abandoned and in desperate need for immediate consolidation and repair.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)