Thematic file

Public architectural competitions organized until the First World War

Thematic File

COMPETITIONS
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS ORGANIZED
UNTIL THE FIRST WORLD WAR

text: Gabriela PETRESCU

After 1848, the cities of Wallachia and Moldavia began to face urban planning problems. The modernization process, which took place as a result of the development of capitalism, forced the Eforia of the cities, which emerged at the beginning of the 19th century, to draw up laws on building, urban planning and architectural regulations. Cities were expanding in size from one day to the next, and buildings for administrative institutions such as courts, town halls, post offices, railway stations, schools, etc. were being built, mainly on the French model. During the reign of Charles I, there was a building and urban development boom, which continued after Romania's declaration of independence in 1877.
Representatives of the École des Beaux-Arts de la Paris, French architects and, after 1880, Romanian architects who had studied in Paris, designed most of the public buildings in Bucharest, Constanța, Pitești and Ploiești. Thus: Cassien Bernard and Albert Galleron designed, between 1883 and 1885, the National Bank; Albert Galleron and Leonida Negrescu, between 1886-1888, the Romanian Athenaeum; the School of Bridges and Roads, designed by Lecomte de Noüy and Cassien Bernard; the Palace of Justice, between 1890-1895, by Albert Ballu; CEC building, designed by Paul Gottereau between 1896-1900; the architect Alexandru Săvulescu designed, in 1900, the Central Post Office; Ștefan Burcuș, in 1910, the Romanian Stock Exchange; Dimitrie Maimarolu designed the Chamber of Deputies building and the Military Circle.
A major concern of our architects, long before they organized themselves into the Society of Romanian Architects, was how to access design work for the major public buildings necessary for the functioning of the Romanian state. International competitions were organized for many of these buildings, thus stimulating the participation of Romanian architects.

One of the first international architectural competitions launched by the Romanian state in 1859 was for the Palace of Justice in Bucharest. The architect Alexandru Orăscu won the competition, but the start of construction was postponed until 1890, when the work was entrusted1 to the French architect Albert Ballu, who had won the competition for the Palace of Justice in Charleroi and had the recommendation of the architect Lecomte Du Noüy. Ion Mincu was in charge of executing the work and completing the project with interior details such as ceilings, floors, balustrades, staircases, staircases and furniture.

"The Palace of Justice, a monumental and severe neo-Renaissance style stone building, designed by the French architect Albert Ballu and completed by the Romanian architect Ion Mincu. The building was begun in 1890 and completed and inaugurated in 1895."²
In 1879 an international competition was launched for the realization of the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies. First prize was not awarded and second prize was won by the architect Alexandru Săvulescu. In 1883 it was decided to take up the matter again, but this time the conditions of the competition were prepared; the necessary money was allocated, the land was decided, a committee was appointed to organize the works, and the theme was drawn up.

In 1886 an international competition was launched for the National Museum, Romanian Academy, State Archives and Library Project. First prize was won by the architects Heino Schmieden, Victor von Weltzien and Robert Speer (Germany^)3. The work was not realized.
Romanian architects working around 1890 had as their source of information the journal "Analele Architecturei și ale Artelor cu care se Leagă", edited by the architect Ion N. Socolescu, who was disappointed by the "lack of a special publication that could deal with all the issues related to architecture and the various arts with which it is connected"^4. I. N. Socolescu together with Gheorghe Sterian, Ștefan Ciocârlan, G. Mandrea and N. Gabrielescu would publish the magazine for four years, in the pages of which many theoretical and practical subjects of importance to the guild of architects were debated, including the competitions that were being launched.

On November 21, 1889, the CFR Directorate launched an international competition for the Romanian Railways Administration Building Project, to be handed over in February 1890. In the very first issue of the magazine, Ion Socolescu introduces the theme of the competition, objecting to some of the conditions set by the organizers, including the fact that the jury did not include specialists from outside the Railways, the winning project remained in the possession of the CFR, which could execute the work without the original author, and the prizes were given in an almost secret manner. "Let peacocks be left with peacocks and crows with crows, that is what is moral and right" are the words with which Socolescu's article ^ends5.

In February 1890, 13 projects were submitted, and the jury composed of architects Alexandru Orăscu, Grigore Cerkez, Ion Mincu and engineers M. Capuțineanu and M. Râmniceanu considered that none of the projects complied with the theme and could not be executed, but three prizes were awarded to the participating architects: the First Prize - G. Trelat, from Paris, Prize II - Paul Belan, from Bucharest, and Prize III - Filip Xenopol, from ^Bucharest6.

In 1890 an international competition was launched for the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate Palace. In the Annals of ^{Architecture7} architects recognize it as the best organized architectural competition. It was decided that the best-ranked Romanian architect in the competition would be responsible for the design and supervision. The delivery of the projects was decided on November 1, 1890 for the Romanian participants and November 3 for those from abroad. Many Romanian architects will participate in the competition. Thirty-seven projects were submitted for the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies and 16 for the Senate Palace. The jury was made up of the President of the Council of Ministers, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Deputy Gh. Duca, architects Joly from Paris, Valot from Berlin, Al. Orăscu and Eng. Gh. Cerkez from Bucharest. Eight projects were chosen for the Chamber of Deputies and four for the Senate.

For the Chamber: 1st Prize - Romania project, arch. Dimitrie Maimarolu; Second Prize - the Patrie et Travail project, arch.Giulio Magni from Rome; Third Prize - the Iza project, arch. Ion Mincu and Băicoianu.

For the Senate: First Prize - Salve project, arch. Andre Marcelle, Paris; Second Prize - Prosperabitur project, arch. Albert Ballu, Paris; Prize III - Vitruvius project, arch. Ion N. Socolescu.
The design of the Chamber of Deputies (now the Patriarchal Palace) was built according to the plans of the architect Dimitrie Maimarolu, between 1906-1908 and extended in 1911-1913 and ^1914-19168. The Senate Palace was to be designed by Ion N. Socolescu, but was never realized.

On the occasion of the premiere of the winners of the international competition for the Chamber and Senate, organized in 1890, a fraternal banquet was held, organized by a small group of Romanian architects, with the participation of the members of the jury, Edmond de Joly, architect of the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, and the imperial councillor Paul Wallot, the architect of the Reichstag in Berlin. Paul Wallot suggested that they set up a "society of architects, such as exists in all the world's major cities". Thus "on the evening of February 26, 1891, the first meeting of a small number of architects took place in the technical service of the City Hall of the Capital, which laid the foundations for the establishment of the Romanian architects' society, so often planned and long desired"^9.

In 1890 a competition was launched for the realization of the Theatre Building in ^Iași10. The winners were the Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. The theater was inaugurated in 1896.

In 1890 a competition was launched for the design of the Administrative and Judicial Palace in Brăila. The competition was announced in Analele Architecturei no. 1, year I. The projects submitted were rejected by the Ministry of Public Works because of the poorly drafted basis and the small ^site11.

In 1891 the competition for the Administrative Palace in Tulcea was published.

In 1892, the CFR launched an international competition for the design of a Central Railway Station in ^Bucharest12 with delivery in May 1893, the theme being prepared by engineer M. Râmniceanu. Ion N. Socolescu criticizes again in Analele Architecturei the theme and the fact that "architects were systematically excluded from the organizing committees and the jury" and the non-publication of the projects for the public to be known. "No one runs from the light but he who fears it, knowing himself guilty," Socolescu writes in the pages of ^Analelor13.
Thirty-eight projects were handed in and a sub-committee was appointed, including G. Duca, general director of the CFR, Ion Mincu and Lecomte Du Noüy, architects, and M. Râmniceanu and A. Cotescu, engineers. On the basis of the sub-committee's report, the 17-member jury awarded first prize to architects Louis Blanc and Alexandre Marcel, second prize to architect Laurent Farge from Paris, and third prize to architect Giuglio Magni from Rome. The 38 projects were exhibited at the Athenaeum.
After viewing the designs, Ion Socolescu realized that the winning design had been plagiarized, being a faithful copy of the design by French architect Henri ^Eustache14. A campaign was launched in the Lupta newspaper and in the Analele Architecturei, debates took place and two of the jury members, Ion Mincu and Gr. Cerkez, found the prize-winning project to be plagiarized and called for the prize to be withdrawn. However, the minister and the other members of the jury maintain the award proposal. Following Ion N. Socolescu's frequent statements on plagiarism, there were "three challenges to duels between Marcelle, Blanc, Ghe. Duca and I. N. Socolescu", which ended in the abandonment of the North Station ^project15.

Project First Prize Central Station in Bucharest

In 1896, during the premiership of Nicolae Filipescu, the first competition for the Bucharest City Hall was launched, in which eight architects were invited to participate. The first prize was won by arch. Giulio Magni, Louis Blanc and George Sterian also took part in the competition. In 1899 the contract was signed with Ion Mincu, but the City Hall refused to give him "the complete program for the final plan and contracted the architect Antonescu to carry out the works, passing on to him all the tasks and advantages of the work". Ion Mincu sued the city hall, and the court awarded both material and moral damages to the heirs of Ion Mincu (deceased in 1912), "because the elaboration of the plan of the municipal palace [...] like any work of art, was intended to bring not only a material benefit, but could also contribute to the consecration of his name, which can be evaluated in monetary compensation"^16. After Mincu's death, Petre Antonescu drew up a project, also unrealized. The issue of the seat of the City Hall was taken up again after the First World War.

In 1898 a competition was launched for the Military Circle Palace in Bucharest.
Five designs were submitted and exhibited at the Romanian Athenaeum in early 1899 for public viewing.
First prize - "luxury" was won by the architect Dimitrie Maimarolu. The project was realized by Maimarolu in collaboration with Ernest Doneaud, who was in charge of the interior decoration.
In 1911 Dimitrie Maimarolu with his main collaborators, the architects Victor Ștephănescu and Ernest Doneaud, eng. Anghel and Paul Saligny, and Elie and Mircea Radu, made changes to the project. The construction took place between 1911-1923.

In 1900 the Metropolitan of Transylvania organized a competition for the Orthodox Cathedral of Sibiu. Thirty-one projects were submitted, most of them by architects from Hungary and Austria and only four by architects from Transylvania, Bucovina and the Kingdom of Romania. First prize went to the Hungarian architects Joseph Kammer and Virgil Nagy from Budapest. The cathedral was built between 1902-1904.

In 1904 the competition for the Orthodox Cathedral of Galati was launched. The jury included architects Grigore Cerkez, George Sterian, Nicolae Gabrielescu and Ion Mincu. First prize was awarded to Petre Antonescu, Ștefan Burcuș and Scarlat Petculescu. The cathedral was built between 1906 and 1917. It was Petre Antonescu's only work of religious architecture.

In 1906, on the occasion of the Romanian General Exhibition, the architectural competition for the Orthodox Cathedral of Bucharest was ^launched17.

In 1906 the competition for the Administrative Palace in Craiova was launched. It was won by Petre Antonescu. Toma Dobrescu and the architect Ștefan Burcuș participated in the competition.
In 1906, the first ^{competition18} was held to draw up the Capital's Systematization Plan. The published theme had three directions for the participants: the systematization of streets, the configuration of squares and the alignment of buildings. Seven projects were submitted, and the jury, dissatisfied with their poor quality, awarded only third prize to the Lucidus Ordo project by engineer M. I. ^Stroescu19.

In 1907, the international competition for the architectural plans of the Bucharest Stock Exchange Palace was announced in Arhitectura, No 1. There were 14 projects submitted by French, German, Dutch, Dutch, Belgian and Romanian architects, of which 6 remained in the competition.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange project

The jury made up of George Assan, then president of the Chamber of Commerce, Maurițiu Blanck, Sigmund Prager and Nicolae Dane decided to award the first prize to the project of the architect Ștefan Burcuș, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The foundation stone was laid by Prince Ferdinand and Princess Maria on May 11, 1908, and it was inaugurated three years later, on May 27, 1911, in a solemn ceremony in the presence of King Carol I.

In 1907, a competition was launched for the Prefect's Palace (former Town Hall) in Târgu Mureș. First prize was awarded to architects Márcell Komor and Dezsö Jakob, and second prize to architects Károly Kós, Wigand Torocz Kai. The construction took place between 1907-1908.

In 1908 the competition for the Slănic-Moldova Spa Pavilion was launched. The first prize was won by Paul Smărăndescu and Ernest Doneaud.

In 1910 the competition for the Palace of the Agricultural Insurance Company on Calea Victoriei was launched. First prize was won by Paul Smărăndescu.

In 1910 the competition for the Senate Palace is launched. The first prize went to Ernest Doneaud's design in collaboration with the French architect Jacques Louis René Carlu.

In 1911, the competition for the Senate Palace was repeated. The winning design was by Ernest Doneaud and Dimitrie Maimarolu. The work was never realized.

In 1911 the competition is launched for the Casa Casa Corpului Didactic in Bucharest. First prize - Constatin Iotzu.

In 1913 the competition was launched for the Palatul Creditului Funciar Rural, on Bd. I. C. Brătianu, Bucharest. First Prize - Paul Smărăndescu.

In 1913 a competition is launched for the Madona Dudu Cathedral in Craiova. First prize is won by Duiliu Marcu. Due to high costs, the construction was postponed. The current construction was realized according to the plans of the architects Ion D. Trajanescu and Sterie Becu, between 1928-1942. They were chosen after a second competition in 1927.

NOTES

1 Toma T. Socolescu - Fresca of architects who worked in Romania in the modern era, Bucharest, Caligraf, 2004.
2 Grigore Ionescu, History of Romanian Architecture.
3 Ioana Petrescu, in Arhitectura no. 4/2012.
4 "Un cuvént înainte", in Analele Architecturei, an I, nr. 1.
5 Ion N. Socolescu, International Competition, in Analele Architecturei, year I, no. 1.
6 Toader Popescu, The Romanian Railway Project, 1842-1916, p. 224, 225.
7 Annals of Architecture, year I, no. 7.
8 Oana Marinache, in http://www.e-architecture.ro/.
9 Gabriela Tabacu, Fapte și întreprinderi fondatoare pentru breasla arhitecților, București, Editura Universitară Ion Mincu, 2005, p. 11.
10 Analele Architecturei, an I, nr.8.
11 Idem.
12 Analele Architecturei, year III, no. 1.
13 Idem, year IV, no. 5, p. 58.
14 Toma T. Socolescu - Fresca of the architects who worked in Romania in the modern era, Bucharest, Caligraf, 2004.
15 Idem p. 81.
16 Toma T. Socolescu, Amintiri, Bucharest, Caligraf, 2010, p. 72.
17 Arhitectura magazine, no. 1-2, 1906.
18 The competition program is published in Monitorul Comunal, 1906.
19 Toader Popescu, The Romanian Railway Project, 1842-1916, p. 116.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annals of Architecture and Related Arts, Bucharest, 1890-1893
Revista Arhitectura, 1906-1920
Paul Constantin, Art 1900 in Romania, Bucharest, Meridiane,1972
Paul Constantin, Dicționar universal al arhitecților, Bucharest, Editura științifică și enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1986
Nicolae Lascu, Bulevardele bucureștene până la Primul Război Mondial, Bucharest, Ed. Simetria, 2011
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