Neo-Romanian – Art Deco syncretism style doorway

A magnificent Neo-Romanian - Art Deco syncretism style doorway, early 1930s house, Domenii area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

I found the doorway in the image above as marvellously expressing in a flamboyant manner the syncretism between the Neo-Romanian and Art Deco styles that characterised the Romanian architectural scene of the 1930s. The Islamic motif ornaments originating in the Ottoman and Persian art from which the Neo-Romanian style draws a great deal of inspiration, with their angular geometry, represent the background on which the Art Deco outlines can develop in a natural manner. That can can be seen here in the mihrab like outlines of the small courtyard gate, the doorway windows ironwork or the resplendent group of three plaster ogee arches of the door pediment.

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I endeavour 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 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 Contact page of this weblog.

Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style syncretism

The 1930s Bucharest architectural scene has been the witness of an interesting syncretism between the Art Deco and Neo-Romanian styles, with a number of beautiful buildings dotted around the city.

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

The apartment house in the photograph above is one of the better preserved examples of that unusual architectural syncretism from those intensely creative years. From afar the house looks like an Art Deco building with abundant ornamentation, but at a closer look, the Neo-Romanian details and motifs become apparent.

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

The tower depicted in the image above should have been a staircase tower in a “standard” Art Deco house, but in this case is a fortified tower personification typical of the cula yeoman house the from Oltenia region in south west Romania, from which the Neo-Romanian style draws a great deal of inspiration. The ornaments are joyous mixture of Art Deco (ie the upper window sills) and Neo-Romanian ones (the intricate grape vine ornaments, etc.)

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

The tower’s ground floor windows of the tower are of pure Neo-Romanian type, inspired from late medieval Wallachian church architecture.

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

The side of the house, where the drawing room is placed on the ground floor and the master bedroom above contains a large and elaborate Neo-Romanian style panel, where the Art Deco tinge of the design is clearly noticeable .

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Even the garden fence contains echoes from both styles in its design that also reflects the contortions of a grape vine, seen also in the large wall panel described above. The spikes on top of the fence were an addition of the last two decades most probably, to deter the intruders.

Mid-1930s Art Deco and Neo-Romanian style house, Piata Victoriei area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

I like the name of the house, “Vila Jeni” prominently displayed on the wall, who has probably been the wife of the first owner of the house, probably an attractive and temperamental inter-war beauty. I can see those features clearly reflected in the design of the house composed from a capricious play of volumes typical of the internationalist Art Deco style, embellished with flamboyant native Neo-Romanian ornamentation.

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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 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.

Mock Half-Timbered Neo-Romanian Style House

Mock half-timbered Neo-Romanian style house, dating from mid-1930s, Sinaia, the Transylvanian Alps. (©Valentin Mandache)

The architecture of the mountain resort of Sinaia in the Transylvanian Alps, 120km north of Bucharest, is a colourful and interesting gathering of period styles ranging from the historicist orders of the late c19th to the Neo-Romanian, Art Deco and modernism of the inter-war period. Some of the imposing chalets of Sinaia display unusual combinations of architectural orders, such as is the case shown in the photograph above, which I managed to shoot during a downpour on one of many mountain slopes criss-crossing the town. The main features of this house are in the vein of the Neo-Romanian style from the arches of the corner tower veranda, flanked by Byzantine type columns, to the finial crowning its spire or the aspect of the chimney stack, etc. The odd presence here is the mock half timber façade decoration and the steep angle of the tower spire, elements inspired from German historicist architectural models. Responsible for that interesting juxtaposition is the fierce local competition, if I can put it that way, between the architectural models fashionable in Sinaia during the inter-war period. There was much prestige attached to the patriotic Neo-Romanian style, which was also exercised by the Bavarian renaissance style of the Royal Pelesh Castle, one of the country’s most prestigious edifices, hosted within the town’s confines. The architect in the case of this particular chalet seems to have solved the conundrum faced by the owner in that regard, by combining elements of the two architectural orders. The results are quite attractive in my opinion and constitute another proof of the effervescent creative atmosphere of that era in Romania.

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

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.