What was, is and, above all, what will be. 50 years of Architecture in Lași

What was

Architecture is, in itself, a narrative constructed from many layers of stories, a painstakingly woven scenario constitutes the essential substance of architecture worthy of the name and only the visible materialization, in what we may consider to be the tip of the iceberg, appears to our contemplation.

In all the periods of modernity up to the present, our city has had a plethora of very good and professional architects; unfortunately, as little known as the other artists of the city or perhaps even less; to what extent the architecture of the city represents the culture of the city is an open subject and does not require a specific answer, but rather a profitable debate. What is certain is that this involvement of the architectural phenomenon in the culture of Iasi is closely linked to the role of the Iasi school of architecture, to the performance of architects as a guild and especially to the level of civilization of all of us.

The first form of architectural education in Romania was established on the basis of the decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza of October 1, 1864. This first architectural section of the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest soon disappeared. Approved in August 1892 and supervised by Alexandru Orăscu, the School of Architecture of the Society of Romanian Architects functioned regularly until it was formalized as the National School of Architecture, a section of the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, through the education reform initiated by Spiru Haret in December 1897. In 2012, 120 years of architectural education in Romania were celebrated.