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"Communist Project" in Romanian Architecture

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https://doi.org/10.3311/PPar.14771 92|Creative Commons Attribution b Periodica Polytechnica Architecture, 51(1), pp. 92–99, 2020 Socialist Content in National Form: A Guiding Principle of the "Communist Project" in Romanian Architecture Horia Mihai-Coman1* 1 Doctoral School, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Observatorului Street 34-36, Romania * Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] Received: 31 July 2019, Accepted: 24 February 2020, Published online: 30 March 2020 Abstract The article follows the theme of "socialist content in national form" in Romanian architecture during a period stretching from approximately 1944 to 1989 – a time interval that is usually associated with the specific political agenda that dominated society in a decisive and profound way throughout the era, which is usually indicated as "communism". This time interval can also be indicated by using other keywords and concepts, such as "socialism", "state socialism", "totalitarianism" or others, sometimes in association with the keyword "communism". For reasons that will be presented in the introduction, the title of the article will prefer the use of the term "the communist project" for indicating the chronological focus of the article; the word "project" also holds a conceptual meaning – therefore being considered appropriate in the context of a mostly conceptual discussion that the article focusses on – as it tries to examine one of the most powerful and influential key concepts of the era:" socialist content in national form". Keywords aesthetics, style, socialist realism, socialist modernism, national specificity, traditionalism 1 Introduction The "communist period" is one of the most frequent labels The two notions (communist and socialist) partially over- attached to a specific period in Romanian history. It is con- lap and have been used in different contexts throughout sidered to have started at the end of the Second World War, the period. For instance, the formal name of the republic with the rise to power of a group of individuals and activ- was the People's Republic of Romania (Republica Populară ists usually described as communists. They were an initia- Română) from 1947 to 1965, and then the Socialist Republic tive and action group with a communist agenda, organised of Romania (Republica Socialistă România) from 1965 in various entities bearing several names, the most cus- to 1989, whereas the formal name of the political organ- tomary one being "the communist party". isation in charge of the policies of the republic was not Chronologically speaking, the start of the commu- always the Communist Party, but also, from 1954 and 1965, nist period in Romania is not a precise date in history, the Workers' Party (Partidul Muncitoresc Român). as "the communists" (as to use the most eloquent denom- Therefore, because of the arguably imprecise and prob- ination of this group) took power gradually, over a mat- lematic nature of the labelling – and of the time intervals ter of years, from around 1944 to 1947. The exact begin- that can be associated with the various labels – the article ning of the period is debatable (1944, 1947 and 1948 being will use "communist project" to indicate the target context the most frequent candidate years for a formal begin- of the research: the timeframe between approximate dates ning of the period). The end of it is arguably more pre- of 1947 and 1989. This period was when communism cise, with the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, (considered as a doctrine, first and foremost) was proba- following which the communist regime dramatically col- bly the most representative and powerful modelling force lapsed both factually and formally, with the execution of in Romanian society – thus ultimately defining an era the communist leader of the country, dictator Ceaușescu. (not necessarily in a formal and precise way but, rather, Otherwise, alongside "communist", "socialist" is another in a conceptual one). Otherwise, in regards to this article, term that is frequently used for indicating the target period. the use of the keyword "communist" will be favoured and Cite this article as: Mihai-Coman, H. (2020) "Socialist Content in National Form: A Guiding Principle of the "Communist Project" in Romanian Architecture", Periodica Polytechnica Architecture, 51(1), pp. 92–99. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPar.14771 Mihai-Coman Period. Polytech. Arch., 51(1), pp. 92–99, 2020|93 prioritised instead of other arguably adequate formulas for the reformation of cultures as "national in form, social- such as "socialist", "state socialist" or "totalitarian", while ist in content" (Shelestyuk, 2019:p.3). Alternatively, using assuming the limitations and the partial imprecision of Zahariade's words, socialist realism is the "principle of its uses, in the different contexts that will occur. artistic creation of socialist content in national form" Two arguments can be presented to support the choice (Zahariade, 2011:p.32). for the use of the expression "the communist project", Therefore, being the official aesthetic construct of as follows. One would be the use by Prof. Dr. arch. Ana most of the Stalinist era, socialist realism ended up being Maria Zahariade, a leading Romanian researcher in the adopted by Romania, gradually and with Soviet "guid- field, a witness of the communist period both as stu- ance" (a term of the era), in the years following the end of dent architect and then as practicing architect. Zahariade the war (from around 1947 onwards). By 1952, the formula has used the same term in the title of one of her books "socialist in content, national in form" had even entered about the architecture of the target period (otherwise Romania's constitution (The Constitution of the People's one of the most critically acclaimed books of her career): Republic of Romania, Art. 17). As a method of artistic Architecture in the Communist Project. Romania creation, an aesthetic abstraction with ideological basis, 1944-1989 (Zahariade, 2011). Another reason would or even a specific style, among other possible labels or be that the research topic of the article ("socialist con- interpretations that it can accommodate, socialist real- tent in national form") is arguably a concept typical of ism mixes elements of architectural style with elements of the period, and the expression "the communist project" political ideology. In visual terms, it is recognised mainly has an embedded conceptual meaning when it is formu- by the use of stylistic quotations of arguably prestigious lated in this way (mainly because of the use of the word historical styles, such as Italian Renaissance or Greek "project", in relation with "communism"). Thus, the two Classicism: columns, porticos, pilasters, ornate capitals, key phrases of the article ("socialist content in national decorative pediments and gables, shapes and volumes form" and "the communist project") can be fruitfully asso- resembling temples (see Fig. 1). The decorative elements ciated, by using the conceptual common ground. can be simplified and essentialised, monumentalised and scaled. They can also retrieve decorative motifs from more 2 The origins: The Stalinist period local or regional styles or sub-styles, alongside the usual Succeeding in obtaining a "socialist content in national classical ones. Perhaps surprisingly, the historical decora- form" was one of the most frequent and sought-after objec- tive motifs are combined with communist symbols, such tives of the discourse on architecture at the beginning of as the sickle and the hammer, or the 5-point star. the communist period (or "project") in Romania. Following In terms of building layouts, socialist realism pro- the end of the Second World War, the first years of com- moted the "cvartal", which is a Soviet term used for unity munism in Romania witnessed a widespread colonisation of vicinity. The term indicates an arguably small group of Romania by the Soviet Union, which considered vari- ous aspects of life and fields of activity such as economic, ideological and cultural. "Colonisation", in this sense, is a term used and supported by an important number of acclaimed researchers in the field. It was not surprising that the aesthetic discourse of the USSR was also adopted or colonised in Romania. In terms of ideology, aesthet- ics and culture, the Soviet model of that time was "social- ist realism" – sometimes referred to (mostly post-factum) even as frankly as "Stalinism". Socialist realism is mostly remembered and perceived as the Stalin-era stylistic response or solution to the aesthetic goal of "socialist con- tent in national form" – a very popular idiom of the Soviet political discourse since 1918 when the Declaration of Fig. 1 "Socialist content in national form", 1950s, Stalin era: urban Rights of the Working and Exploited People, issued by the ensemble in Bucureștii Noi quarter of Bucharest, composed of housing Third All-Russian Congress of the Soviets, advocated blocks and a cinema, using the formula of the "cvartal". (Dőri, 1959) Mihai-Coman 94|Period. Polytech. Arch., 51(1), pp. 92–99, 2020 of buildings (usually blocks of flats) that encircle a court- cinemas for the working class). On the other hand, the goal yard. Making use of cvartals and applied decoration in the of the "national form" can be considered satisfied by the design of ensembles, Soviet urbanism of the Stalin era can use of the historicist stylistic quotations, while the styles be recognised
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