Juliana Maxim The Socialist Life of Modern Architecture Bucharest, 1949-1964The Socialist Life of Modern Architecture The Socialist Life of Modern Architecture is the first systematic architectural history of Romania under socialism written in English. It examines the mechanisms through which modern architecture was invested with political meaning and, in reverse, how specific architectural solutions came to define the socialist experience Each of the book's three parts traces the historical development of one key aspect of Romania's architectural culture between the years 1949-1964: = the planning and construction of housing districts in Bucharest; m the role of typification of design and standardization of construction in a project of cultural transformation; m= the production and management of a folk architectural tradition Going beyond buildings and architects to consider the use of photography, painting, and novels, as well as narrations of history and the formation of an ethnographic architectural heritage, the author explores how buildings came to participate in the cultural imagination of socialism—and became, in fact, a privi- leged medium of socialism Part of the growing interest in the significance of Soviet Bloc architecture, this is an important contribution to the fields of architectural history, cultural his- tory, and visual culture Juliana Maxim is Associate Professor of Architectural History at the University of San Diego, USA.THE ARCHITEXT SERIES Edited by Thomas A. Markus and Anthony D. King Architectural discourse has traditionally represented buildings as art objects or technical objects. Yet buildings are also social objects in that they are invested with social meaning and shape social relations. Recognizing these assumptions, the Architext series aims to bring together recent debates in social and cultural theory and the study and practice of architecture and urban design. Critical, comparative, and interdisciplinary, the books in the series, by theorizing architecture, bring the space of the built environment centrally into the social sciences and humanities, as well as bringing the theoretical insights of the latter into the discourses of archi- tecture and urban design. Particular attention is paid to issues of gender, race, sexuality, and the body, to questions of identity and place, to the cultural politics of representation and language, and to the global and postcolonial contexts in which these are addressed, City Halls and Civic Materialism Towards a Global History of Urban Public Space Edited by Swati Chattopadhyay and Jeremy White Ethno-Architecture and the Pol Edited by Mirjana Lozanovska s of Migration Writing the Global City Globalisation, Postcolonialism and the Urban Anthony D. King A Genealogy of Tropical Architecture Colonial Networks, Nature and Technoscience Jiat-Hwee Chang New Islamist Architecture and Urbanism Negotiating Nation and islam through Built Environment in Turkey Bulent Batuman The Optimum Imperative Czech Architecture for the Socialist Lifestyle, 1938-1968 Ana Miljacki Urban Latin America Images, Words, Flows and the Built Environment Ealted by Bianca Freire-Medeiros and Julia O‘Donnell Bucharest, 1949-1964 Juliana MaximJuliana Maxim The Socialist Life of Modern Architecture Bucharest, 1949-1964 Francis Grou » LONDON AND NEW YORKFirst published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 71 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Juliana Maxim The right of Juiana Maxim to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or Feproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including Photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or Fetrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks OF registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Date A.catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Maxim, Juliana, 1970- author. Title: The socials life of modern architecture: Bucharest, 1949-1964 / Juliana Maxim. Description: New York: Routledge, 2019. | Series: The architext series | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: CCN 2018023134] ISBN 9781138820340 (hb: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138820357 (pb: alk, paper) | ISBN 9781315743936 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Architecture and society—Romania--History— 20th century. | Architecture—Political aspects—Romania— History — 20th century | Socialism and culture— Romania, Classification: LCC NA2543.56 M385 2019 | DDC 720.1/03—de23, UC record available at https:/icen loc.gow/2018029134 ISBN: 978-1-138-82034-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-82035-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-74393-6 (ebk) Typeset in Frutiger by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, indiaContents List of figures Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1 The rise of the socialist city Part 2 Type and typification Part 3 Peasant houses and workers’ apartments Bibliography Index vi xi 1B 67 7 77 185 voFigures 14 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1.10 «We build more, better, cheaper.” Model of housing tower in Pata Palatului and construction workers on May Day parade Gheorghe Botan (1929-2016), "Worksite," ltograph, 1959 New housing in Piafa Palatului, in the historic center of Bucharest. Postcard, before 1963 4 Cover page of Luminita, the magazine of the ‘Communist Youth Union. In the background, the housing tower in Piata Palatului 5 Marius Bunescu (1881-1971), “Bucharest under Reconstruction,” oil on canvas, 1960. © National Museum of Art of Romania 5 “Poor Household on Bucharest's Outskirts.” Postcard, 1930s 14 “Gipsy Household Near the Garbage Sump in the North of Bucharest.” Postcard, 19305 16 Model of the Floreasca housing project, Bucharest, 1957 {architects Corneliu Ridulescu, Alfred Tanenzapf, Virgil Nitulescu, Felix Ziegel, and Hans Gross) 25 Floreasca movie theater and park. Postcard, before 1960 26 Landscape plan, Floreasca housing project, Bucharest. The Spaces between buildings were designed as shared green spaces, playgrounds, and pedestrian circulation 27 Pian of the Vatra Luminoasé housing project n Bucharest, superimposed on the pre-existing fabric Only the hatched cluster was builtin its entirety, in 1953-1954 (architects N Sburcu, Z. Grundl, R. Cosma, and B Soicescu) 28 Plan of a green courtyard (enclosure) of the Vatra Luminoass housing project, Bucharest 28 Street facade, Vatra Luminoass housing Project, Bucharest The green courtyard is visible through the arched passageway. Photo by author, 2011 29 Apartment building in Floreasca, 1957 36 Apartment building in Floreasca, 1958 36 viown 112 113 14 115 1.16 117 118 119 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 127 1.28 1.29 1.30 Figures a Aerial view of the Floreasca housing district. Postcard, before 1960 Housing towers in Floreasca, Bucharest, 1963 (architects Rodica Macry and Margareta Dumitru.) Plan of a housing tower, Floreasca, Bucharest, 1963 Housing tower, Floreasca, Bucharest, 1963 Housing tower under construction, Floreasca, Bucharest, 1963, Diagram of functions within a microraion. Legend reads: “Housing zone; educational facilities; commercial facilities; the microraion’s garden” Diagram of maximum distances within a microraion. Distance to schools and childcare facilities: 350m; to commercial center and garden, 400m; to public transportation and parking, 500m; to cinema, club, meeting hall library, or restaurant, 700m Floreasca towers as seen from across the Floreasca Lake. Postcard, before 1964 View of the Balta Alb’ housing district, Bucharest, in 1965 {architects N. Porumbescu, N. Kepes, A. Caciula, S. Bercovici, Margareta Dimboianu, V. Gilca, A. Keszeg) Plan of the Balta Alba housing district, Bucharest. Dotted lines show the microraions (although the legend refers to them as “neighborhoods,” they are discussed in the text as, “microraions"). Each microraion is provided with a daycare center and a school (symbolized with triangles) and a commercial center (symbolized with a circle.) A lake and a large park mark the center of the district lleana Micodin (1929-2005), “Floreasca Towers,” linocut, 1963 Aerial view of the Floreasca towers, Bucharest, 1967 Skating ring in the Floreasca park with housing towers in the background, Bucharest, 1966 (architect Victor Agent) Floreasca towers with statue of young athlete. Detail of a postcard, before 1964 Floreasca towers with "Two girl,” sculpture by artist Geta Caragiu (1929-2018). Postcard, before 1966 Floreasca housing development and housing towers as seen from the south. Postcard, before 1964 Floreasca towers seen from the center of Bucharest (Piata Palatului). Postcard, before 1964 Floreasca housing development with the Casa Scinteli (House of the Press) in the background. Postcard, before 1960 Floreasca towers as seen from the balcony of the Casa Scinteli (House of the Press) Floreasca towers and housing development with the Casa Scinteii (House of the Press) in the background 37 38 39 39 40 42 43 44 44 45 47 a7 50 52 53 56 57 57 58 58 viiuC 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2.10 an 212 213 2.14 215 2.16 217 218 219 Figures w Plans of “block elements” used in Soviet practice. The plans vary according to a K2 factor, which is “the simplest technical and economic indicator and represents the volume for one square meter” 71 Pages from the journal Arhitectura RPR illustrating clusters of » type-apartments designed between 1952 and 1954 Cluster of type-apartments from 1950 with small bathroom windows on the rear facade 79 Type-clusters composed of three or four apartments designed by IPC 81 Building composed of three-apartment clusters, designed by IPC. Front and rear elevations and plan 82 Drawing illustrating the links between the minimal spaces of the partment and collective facilities. Caption reads: “In the case of small dwellings, it is necessary to complement interior functions 84 with collective facilities” Two types for small towns “where everyday life, including cooking, occurs in a common room that is furnished with a simple bed, We designed here a living room-kitchen that connects all other rooms. .. This type-plan fits a certain kind of everyday life” 85 TyPe designed for “a more evolved mode of fe in big cities, where the provision of food is easier and where stores offer Prepared meals, which allows the kitchen to be reduced to animum dimensions determined by furniture and appliances (laboratory for food preparation).” 85 "Schemas" separating the apartment into “day” and “night” areas 87 Type-clusters (tronson-tp) in Floreasca, Bucharest Design A (top) Was ult with masonry, while design B (bottom) was intended for construction with prefabricated wall components 1 Assembly system for prefabricated wall components in Floreasca, Bucharest 92 Plan of a type-cluster (tronson-tip) with four apartments Gesigned for load-bearing masonry construction 96 {ble showing five types of clusters and their aggregations 96 Flan of two clusters of four apartments, Pieptanari project, Bucharest, 1960 , 97 Large panel construction under way, Pi y: Pleptanari proj Bucharest, 1960 Protect 98 Type-cluster n. 1253 intended for lar ¢ wall pane from five to six bays Panels, expendable 98 second stage, 1958 Apartment building on Balcescy Boulevard, Bucharest, 19602.20 221 2.22 2.23 2.24 225 2.26 2.27 2.28 229 34 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 3.10 3.1 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Type-cluster for an apartment building on Balcescu Boulevard, Bucharest, 1960 Facade panel assembly, apartment building on Balcescu Boulevard, Bucharest, 1960 Apartment building on Gabroveni Street, Bucharest, 1958. Plan and street facade Elevations along Grivita Road, Bucharest Plan of a type-cluster for one of the apartment buildings on Grivita Road, Bucharest Apartment building in Piata 30 Decembrie, Bucharest Detail, apartment building in Piata Palatului, Bucharest, 1959 (architects L. Garcia and T. Niga) Apartment buildings on Stefan cel Mare Road, Bucharest Apartment buildings in the Balta Albi housing district, Bucharest "View of the great demonstration of the workers of the capital, on the occasion of the day of August 23, 1977." Photograph, Fototeca online a comunismului romanesc “Typical houses” from the region of Valea Vilsanului “The typology of peasant houses.” “Typological table” of wood churches Front and back of “type 1" house in Diosti village Half-buried house from the village of Castranova Half-buried house from the village of Castranova in the Village Museum, Bucharest. Postcard, before 1970 House from the village of Rapciuni in the Village Museum, Bucharest. Postcard, before 1970 Church from the village of Rapciuni in the Village Museum, Bucharest. (In the foreground, chicken coop from the village of Curteni,) Postcard, before 1970 The cherhana from the village of Jurilovca in the Village Museum, as seen from the Colentina river. Postcard, before 1970 Elevation and plan of the house from the village of Répciuni before its reconstruction in the Village Museum House from the village of Zapodeni in the Village Museum. Postcard, before 1970 Reconstruction of the house from the village of Ostrov in the Village Museum in 1960 Construction workers preparing the steel for the foundations of the Galati Steel Works. Photograph, 1968. Collection of the Galati Municipal Library Houses from the villages of Straja and Fundu Moldovei, showing two different types of wood construction in the Village Museum. Photo by author, 2012 Reconstruction of the Straja house in the Village Museum in 1961 Figures a 101 102 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 108 122 126 128 137 140 140 142 142 147 150 152 155 155 157 1573.16 3.17 3.18 3.19) 3.20 3.21 Figures m Albu house from the village of Fierbintii de Jos. 158 Experimental construction with light concrete cast in aluminum forms 159 Peasant house from the region of Baia Mare 161 Interior of the house from the village of Rapciuni in the Village Museum. Postcard, before 1970 162 “Building new blast furnaces for the metallurgical plant Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej in Hunedoara.” 163 “Working the thread.” 163