Art Deco “ocean liner” façade

The Art Deco style house presented bellow dates from the early 1930s and is an interesting rendering of the ocean liner theme within its generous street façade. The ocean liner allusions are  seen in the upper row of three porthole windows or the semicircular round profile, boat stern like, of the stairs tower on the left hand side of the building, crowned by an upper deck like veranda, next to a prominent chimney stack in the fashion of a ship funnel. The small balcony reminds me of the emergency boats hanging on the side of seagoing ships. I like the triangular profile bay windows on the right hand side of the house, which very intelligently suggest the bow of the boat. The short columns delineating the first floor windows are also a stylistic delight, being endowed with rich leaf motif capitals, suggesting the luxuriant vegetation of the southern seas, where the inter-war Bucharest people were longing to escape, if not for real, then in an imaginary way, transporting themselves there in their magnificent Art Deco ocean liner-like houses…

Art Deco façade, early 1930s house, Aviatorilor Square area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Art Deco house dating from the early 1930s, Aviatorilor Square area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

Art Deco column with leaf motif capital, early 1903s house, Aviatorilor Square area, Bucharest (©Valentin Mandache)

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I endeavour through this series of periodic 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 or selling a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing and transacting the property, specialist research, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contactpage of this weblog.

A rare ceramic tile Art Deco façade in Bucharest

Ceramic tile Art Deco ground level façade, late 1930s apartment block, Gara de Nord area, Bucharest. (©Valentin Mandache)

The Art Deco style ceramic façades are a very rare occurrence among the built landscape of Bucharest. Here I managed to find one such elusive example, dating from the late 1930s in the environs of Gara de Nord train station, which has endured a lot of abuse and neglect in the intervening decades, but nevertheless is still managing to convey the spirit of the time. I like how the contrasting black and white parallel strips theme brings to my mind the the cutaway tuxedo suite worn with black tie, white shirt and flashy two tone colour spectator shoes that are the hallmark of the Jazz/ Art Deco era fashion.

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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.

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

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.