9 The Academy is a neoclasical building, one of the first major public buildings to be
constructed in the 19th century in Bucharest. It was built between 1856-1869 by the archi-
tects Alexandru Orăscu, Johann Schlatter and Carol Benisch.
10 The “grande croisée” in Paris referrs to the intersection between rue de Rivoli and the
boulevards Saint Michel and Sevastopol. The two axes keep the former structure of the
roman city of Lutetia, with the cardo maximus and decumanus maximus (Pinon apud
Lascu 2011, 176).
11 Some relevant examples were: The Palace of Deputies, the old Royal Palace, the National
Bank (arch. Albert Galleron, arch. Cassien Bernard), The House of Economies (arch. Paul
Gottereau), The Palace of Justice (arch. Albert Ballu), The Posts’s Palace (arch. Alexandru
Săvulescu), The National Military Circle (arch. D. Maimarolu, V. Ştephănescu, E. Doneaud),
The Stock Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce, The Atheneum (arch. Albert Gal-
leron), The University Foundation Carol I (arch. Paul Gottereau).
12 Due to the lack of architectural education institutions, in the first half of the 19th century
most architects working in the principalities were foreigners, who came mainly from
the German speaking countries. By the end of the 19th century, mostly French architects
worked in Romania, and more and more Romanian architects who had studied abroad
built across the country, until the School of Architecture was founded in Bucharest (in
1892).
13 To name just a few: The School of Architecture (arch. Grigore Cerchez), The Ministry of
Public Works (today, Bucharest’s city hall, by arch. Petre Antonescu), etc.
14 Hobsbawm, Eric “Inventing Traditions” in: Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger (ed.), The
Invention of Tradition, Cambridge University Press 1983, 13.
15 Cincinat Sfințescu was the first Romanian specialist in urban planning, who introduced
this discipline in Romania and played a key role in its development.
16 “estetica nu este un lux pentru popor, ci un drept şi o necesitate tot astfel ca şi higiena”
(Memoriu justificativ, 1935, p. 65).
17 “Oraşul mai trebuie să fie frumos. Este un lucru esențial. Dar frumusețea aceea nu se
obține prin podoabe şi ornamente care să aibă numai rolul de înfrumusețare, ci prin
amenajarea judicioasă, rațională, utilitară a tuturor elementelor care formează oraşul”
(Memoriu...1935, p. 11).
18 See Sebestyen, Monica: “Monumentul de for public şi spaţiul public. Bucureşti 1831-
1948”, doctoral thesis, Bucureşti 2012.
19 The notion of “civic centre” is used for the first time in Romanian in 1927, being most
likely brought from the United States, where it had its origins in the City Beautiful move-
ment. The one who promoted this idea in Romania was Cincinat Sfințescu, who in the
1930s associated the term with “the idea of an intervention of stately prestige, meant
to embody the idea of authority through an ensemble of administrative, cultural and
community institutions” (Răuț ă, Radu-Alexandru: “ ‘Centrul civic’: origini şi receptarea în
cercurile profesionale româneşti înainte de al doilea război mondial”, in ACUM. Spațiul
public şi reinserția socială a proiectului artistic şi arhitectural, vol 3, ed. Universitară Ion
Mincu, Bucureşti 2010, 92).
20 Monitorul Comunal al Primăriei Bucureşti, nr.12, 18 june 1895, pp. 152-154.
21 These squares were similar to the “places royales” as their model was established by
Place des Vosges (at the beginning of the 17th century) together with Plaza Mayor in Ma-
drid (around 1600) (Hall, Thomas: Planning Europe’s Capital cities. Aspects of Nineteenth
Century Urban Development, E&FN Spon, London [1997] 2010, 21-22).
They are defined by their clear geometrical form, delimited by buildings with a unitarian
architecture, monumental, having the ruler’s statue in the centre, as an expression of
the absolute monarchy. The originality of these spaces resides in the combination of two
elements that were also used before, in Italy, in order to form a unitary ensemble – the
square with a “programme” and the statue.
22 We could not identify a direct influence of the Italian fascist architecture, but the Roma-
nian and the Italian architecture of the period were rather independent approaches that
lead to similar results.
23 The 8th of June 1930 was a significant one, being the day Carol II was crowned king.
24 Popescu, Carmen: Le style national roumain. Construire une Nation à travers l’architecture
1881-1945, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, ed. Simetria, 2004, 338.
25 “cea mai mare din țara noastră şi va întrece în proporții toate piețele din centrele europe-
ne” (Viitorul, year XXIX, nr.8793, 2 april 1937, p. IX).
26 See Bucur, Maria: Heroes and victims: remembering war in twentieth-century Romania,
Indiana University Press 2009.
Monica Sebestyen