Prof. univ. dr. Augustin Ioan: The centenary we celebrate has a severely fractured history

The Great Union was, from an urbanistic and architectural point of view, a multiple challenge. First, an increase in the number and quality of urban models. The rural-urban dichotomy breaks down after 1918 into several types of rural and urban patterns. The scale of the cities is increased by the addition of secular (administrative) and sacred buildings, especially Orthodox cathedrals. During King Ferdinand’s reign, these innovative programs lead to the emergence of a second-generation neo-Romanian monumental style, and then to the dichotomy between a stylized classicism of Latin inspiration and a neo-Byzantine reference, increasingly elongated and less autochthonously medieval, during the reign of King Carol II. The centenary we celebrate has a severely fractured history, which left a strong mark in the cities and villages of Romania. We are still recovering from these traumas, slower than we should have, gazing nostalgically at the interwar period.