Buildings of Bucharest, Bucharest

A bit off the Revolution Square, on the corner of Dem Dobrescu Street, lies one of the weirdest looking buildings in Bucharest. It’s the former Directia V Securitate building (Securitate was the secret police of communist Romania, the equivalent of KGB in Russia or Stasi in East Germany) and the current headquarters of the Romanian Architects’ Association. The lower part of the building are the remnant walls of the house (cca. 1890) which housed the secret police and was destroyed during the Romanian anti-communist Revolution of 1989. In 2003 the Romanian Architects’ Association built a modern building inside and on top of these ruins, the project being designed by architects Zeno Bogdanescu and Dan Marin. The building, like any solution of this type, created controversy and searching the web I found many forums where it was called “hideos”, “ugly” etc and people were saying that no wonder Bucharest is the arhitectural hodgepodge that it is, since its architects have chosen to have their headquarters in a buidling like this. But I think this attitude is a bit unfair. I mean, what was the alternative? The building was severely damaged and at the price of real estate in downtown Bucharest, the building shell would have been demolished and replaced with a glass structure like the upper part of this building. But in this way the history was preserved and it makes people wonder about the building’s past. Even though I can’t bring myself to say that I absolutely like it, I would have to admit that it’s an innovative solution.

Bucharest City Hall is housed in a beautiful building lying across from Cismigiu Park on Regina Elisabeta boulevard. This is where the good and bad decisions regarding Bucharest are taken. The edifice was built during the years 1906 to 1910 after a design by architect Petre Antonescu and used to house the Ministry of Public Works. The city hall was installed here after WWII when the building, severely damaged by the bombings, was reconstructed and enlarged by Petre Antonescu. This is a fine example of the Neo-Romanian style of architecture, which was very popular in Bucharest at the beginning of the 20th century. The Neo-Romanian was the answer to the attempts of creating a national style in Romanian architecture. It blends together elements from the local peasant architectural tradition with Byzantine and Ottoman elements and late Italian Renaissance themes.

Not very much a touristic attraction but a landmark and/or meeting point, the Government building is located in Piata Victoriei (Victoriei Square), a big square clogged by a lot of traffic during rush hours, also an important hub for transport as the Piata Victoriei Metro station is below this square.

Vis-a-vis of the Government building there is the more interesting Museum of Natural History "Grigore Antipa".

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Ligia and Pompiliu Macovei bought this house in 1952 from a Jewish merchant that had a hat store on the same street. The house was probably raised at the end of the 19th century or just before WW1. The couple restored the house and started collecting art objects, especially from France and Italy, where Pompiliu Macovei acted as UNESCO Ambassador. All pieces of furniture and items were put together in order to make a prolific environment for Ligia Macovei, a painter. Some pieces of furniture were designed by Pompiliu. The house hosts, among others, English furniture, French Art Deco tables, paintings by Ciucurencu, Pallady, Ghiata, Grigorescu. In 1988 the couple donated the collection to the Village Museum, so as to save it from immediate demolition which had overwhelmed a wide part of the city.
The house was closed the last time I passed by, but even so, it is well worth seeing it from the outside at least, on the way to Carol Park.

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The institute was founded by Doctor Victor Babes in 1887, and it is the oldest medical scientific institute in the country. Its organization followed the example of Pasteur Institute in Paris. Initially, it was hosted by the old Brancoveanu Palace on Calea Victoriei, but it was endowed with the actual building in 1899. Apart from laboratories, it hosts a museum, a library and three workshops.

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Petre Antonescu designed this building in 1935. The architecture of the building is severe, conceived in 90 degree angles. The central wing is endowed with an ample set of stairs. There are tall pilasters along the facade. Above the entrances, between the pilasters, there are statues depicting the great jurists of the ancient times: Licurg, Solon, Cicerone, Papinian, Justinian. The statues were carved by Ion Jalea and Costin Georgescu. The reliefs on the side walls were done by Mac Constantinescu. The building is surrounded by a green area.

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Alexandru Ioan Cuza signed the founding deed for Gheorghe Lazar Gymnasium in 1859. It opened in 1860; it had 4 classes, a dorm and 60 students. The actual building dates from 1890, it was designed by Architect Montaureau. The building has an interesting blue stripe facade, as well as a fine clock tower on the Eastern wing.

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This building was raised (accomplished in 1892) after the plans drawn by Architect Mandrea. It was meant as a water reservoir which would help regulate the water flow in the city network. It has on the upper part a 750 c.m. water tank. However it was never used for this purpose, as only after the works were accomplished, they realized the water pumps in Grozavesti Quarter did not have enough power to lift the water all the way to the high tank. After the City Plant (Uzinele Comunale Bucuresti) was inaugurated in 1924, there was enough power to do that, but it was no longer needed, as the water network in the city had already been developed and was self-sufficient. Therefore, the structure was used from its completion in 1892 to 1936 by the fire brigade of the city, as it was taller than any other building in the city at the time (1892), with its 42 m. belfry. In 1963 it was turned into the Fire Brigade Museum, mostly interesting for fire brigade buffs. However the view from the top is interesting. If you go there, take your time to walk along the streets around this square. There is a cluster of early 20th century villas which are quite interesting.