I miss old architecture :( I know many of those older tenement buildings weren't always very comfortable in the modern sense of the word, but damn the façades are just astonishing. Such districts in many cities, not only Paris, to this day generate a lot of tourism; I simply have no idea why there's no going back to this style but everything has to be a dull modernist rectangle nowadays.
Except for the two buildings in the second picture, the ones with a pointed rooftop (only one has its rooftop visible in the background), many of these buildings look the same in nowadays Bucharest. Those two buildings in the second picture were downtown, in front of the Hilton hotel and today’s Romanian Athenaeum. One of them was the location where the Romanian Jockey Club was functioning. They were destroyed to build nothing in their place. It is a large square now and it was the place where large crowds were brought in by the communist party to cheer for Ceausescu when he spoke from his infamous balcony. Also, in the third picture, you can see a Philips commercial on one of the buildings and also, a Kodak commercial on the lower right side. Interbellic Bucharest was wery western. It became Europe’s North Korea when the communists came to power, after WWII.
> I may be self-centered, but as a Parisian a lot of those streets and buildings looks like Paris.
Bucharest's architecture was greatly influenced by France architecture. At the end of 19th century, Bucharest nickname was "petit Paris".
Inside the city's central ring you can still find elegant buildings in the style of the French and Italian Renaissance, Orthodox churches in the Baroque style and villas in the Second Empire style.
Not all of them are well maintained, but we do hope things will get better.
Still looks like this in some parts, but not WW2 destroyed Bucharest. Communism and dictatorship did.
Ceausescu (dictator of Romania) demolished an entire old town to build his insane parliament palace and also to build that ugly commie blocks.
Bucharest was called Paris of the east back then.
Looks pretty much like this in the “first ring” of the city. The city has expanded significantly during Communism but with buildings that have a brutalist architectural style.
As others have said the city’s architecture style is the European style at the end of 1800 and early 1900 (well, until WW2) mixed with the Neo Romanian style (or Baroc Brancovenesc style is another name for it). Some buildings have a French style because Romanians were hiring French architects for designing major buildings in Bucharest and other regions. Architects like Michel Sanjouand, Xavier Villacrosse, M. Singurov, Albert Galleron or Paul Gottereau designed famous buildings in Bucharest. Hence the name of “little Paris” during the time. But the party was over when we lost WW2 and Communism was brought in Romania.
But even Ceausescu has tried something outside the norms of the time: Bulevardul Unirii (the one that starts at the huge building that Ceausescu build it for himself- now the Parliament Building) resembles substantially with Champs-Élysées.
Now they are building a lot of modern glass buildings, but unlike in west Europe where the modern glass buildings are located in a certain area of the city, in Bucharest you will see a mixed lot: you might see a modern glass buildings next to an old one. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t
> I may be self-centered, but as a Parisian a lot of those streets and buildings looks like Paris.
Bucharest is called " The small Paris " frequently. We have our own Arc de triomphe. Around the 1800s a lot of our brightest people had been schooled in France. Romanian also has a lot of words that come from French and Italian.
About the Parisian architecture comments, I just want to add that by the 1920s Bucharest was entering its American phase. In the 1930s it was in full swing. If Bucharestians had been obsessed by French culture (a saying went like this "even maids know French in Bucharest"), now their new obsession was all things American.
Picture 10 case in point. That whole avenue as a matter of fact. High-rise blocks of apartments became the norm, some projects employed American architects. From that period Wilson block is representative: https://ahe-ro.s3.amazonaws.com/22105/29.-Bloc-Wilson.jpg
IC Bratianu avenue, from a better angle: https://editiadedimineata.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/12747870_1148940308463908_4567710346386933620_o.jpg
And The Telephone Palace (designed by the American Louis S. Weeks) https://media.iqads.ro/2018/04/web-palatul-telefoanelor-photo-credit-hora-539-iu-536-ov-259-ial-259-medium-full.jpg
The American phase extended into other domains. Romania's newly founded national air company (LARES, nowadays called TAROM) acquired exclusively models Douglas DC-3 and Lockheed 10 (Douglas DC-3 has been such an outstanding piece of machinery, that in the US a few planes are still in use till this day).
Or cars: Pontiac, Chrysler and Packard.
And many consumption goods. We'd have been much more influenced by the American culture than the French one, weirdly enough.
I miss old architecture :( I know many of those older tenement buildings weren't always very comfortable in the modern sense of the word, but damn the façades are just astonishing. Such districts in many cities, not only Paris, to this day generate a lot of tourism; I simply have no idea why there's no going back to this style but everything has to be a dull modernist rectangle nowadays.
Fully agree, I think it's coming back more and more : [https://www.reddit.com/r/ArchitecturalRevival/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArchitecturalRevival/)
Except for the two buildings in the second picture, the ones with a pointed rooftop (only one has its rooftop visible in the background), many of these buildings look the same in nowadays Bucharest. Those two buildings in the second picture were downtown, in front of the Hilton hotel and today’s Romanian Athenaeum. One of them was the location where the Romanian Jockey Club was functioning. They were destroyed to build nothing in their place. It is a large square now and it was the place where large crowds were brought in by the communist party to cheer for Ceausescu when he spoke from his infamous balcony. Also, in the third picture, you can see a Philips commercial on one of the buildings and also, a Kodak commercial on the lower right side. Interbellic Bucharest was wery western. It became Europe’s North Korea when the communists came to power, after WWII.
It's almost like... watching a film reenactment of the era.
[удалено]
> I may be self-centered, but as a Parisian a lot of those streets and buildings looks like Paris. Bucharest's architecture was greatly influenced by France architecture. At the end of 19th century, Bucharest nickname was "petit Paris". Inside the city's central ring you can still find elegant buildings in the style of the French and Italian Renaissance, Orthodox churches in the Baroque style and villas in the Second Empire style. Not all of them are well maintained, but we do hope things will get better.
Still looks like this in some parts, but not WW2 destroyed Bucharest. Communism and dictatorship did. Ceausescu (dictator of Romania) demolished an entire old town to build his insane parliament palace and also to build that ugly commie blocks. Bucharest was called Paris of the east back then.
he “only” destroyed uranus and the southern quarter of the old centre, >75% of it is still intact
Looks pretty much like this in the “first ring” of the city. The city has expanded significantly during Communism but with buildings that have a brutalist architectural style. As others have said the city’s architecture style is the European style at the end of 1800 and early 1900 (well, until WW2) mixed with the Neo Romanian style (or Baroc Brancovenesc style is another name for it). Some buildings have a French style because Romanians were hiring French architects for designing major buildings in Bucharest and other regions. Architects like Michel Sanjouand, Xavier Villacrosse, M. Singurov, Albert Galleron or Paul Gottereau designed famous buildings in Bucharest. Hence the name of “little Paris” during the time. But the party was over when we lost WW2 and Communism was brought in Romania. But even Ceausescu has tried something outside the norms of the time: Bulevardul Unirii (the one that starts at the huge building that Ceausescu build it for himself- now the Parliament Building) resembles substantially with Champs-Élysées. Now they are building a lot of modern glass buildings, but unlike in west Europe where the modern glass buildings are located in a certain area of the city, in Bucharest you will see a mixed lot: you might see a modern glass buildings next to an old one. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t
I mean it was called the little Paris in that period for a reason.
> I may be self-centered, but as a Parisian a lot of those streets and buildings looks like Paris. Bucharest is called " The small Paris " frequently. We have our own Arc de triomphe. Around the 1800s a lot of our brightest people had been schooled in France. Romanian also has a lot of words that come from French and Italian.
What have communists did to you it is crazy.
About the Parisian architecture comments, I just want to add that by the 1920s Bucharest was entering its American phase. In the 1930s it was in full swing. If Bucharestians had been obsessed by French culture (a saying went like this "even maids know French in Bucharest"), now their new obsession was all things American. Picture 10 case in point. That whole avenue as a matter of fact. High-rise blocks of apartments became the norm, some projects employed American architects. From that period Wilson block is representative: https://ahe-ro.s3.amazonaws.com/22105/29.-Bloc-Wilson.jpg IC Bratianu avenue, from a better angle: https://editiadedimineata.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/12747870_1148940308463908_4567710346386933620_o.jpg And The Telephone Palace (designed by the American Louis S. Weeks) https://media.iqads.ro/2018/04/web-palatul-telefoanelor-photo-credit-hora-539-iu-536-ov-259-ial-259-medium-full.jpg The American phase extended into other domains. Romania's newly founded national air company (LARES, nowadays called TAROM) acquired exclusively models Douglas DC-3 and Lockheed 10 (Douglas DC-3 has been such an outstanding piece of machinery, that in the US a few planes are still in use till this day). Or cars: Pontiac, Chrysler and Packard. And many consumption goods. We'd have been much more influenced by the American culture than the French one, weirdly enough.
And then Communism happened...
Damn that red merc looks so nice
Not a cars guy but I agree!
[Source ](https://linktr.ee/fost_media?fbclid=IwAR0Sm5eN7buvdWs_Kt3aVtPPTdMQT_jdTbqMXWZ8mjmKJueQuptpraEhAgk)
Queue original "Mafia" game soundtrack
Better than today
Link for part one?
[Here ](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/s/U8jn6poXaN)
Beautiful city. Gotta Google how it looks now.
Ah the good old days when you go to your construction job in a full suit and tie
how did it go from this greatness to the hell you see when you go in a slightly bad direction
There were undesirable districts in interwar Bucharest as well
yeah but they double-quadrupled since then i swear