A generous and well-intentioned effort, ignored and consigned to oblivion

But “the rupture between the old and the new brought about by Ceaușescu”—through the boulevard and the palace that bear his mark—has not been remedied: over an area of 6 square kilometers, the demolitions led to the eviction of 40,000 people. The 1995 competition, organized by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects to rectify this imbalance, offered a chance that came to nothing—nothing more has been heard about the winning project.

Andrei Pippidi, Bucharest 2000 (Dilema Veche No. 443, August 9–15, 2012)

In fact, the Bucharest 2000 competition was removed from the public administration’s agenda, and the capital still lacks its main central complex today. The entire area has been left to its own devices, both in terms of clarifying property status and making any necessary urban planning adjustments, as well as in terms of an organized effort to address the issue.

Peter Derer, “Bucharest 2000: 20 Years Later” (Revista 22—Year