The relationship between Petre Antonescu’s work and the surrounding green spaces

The personality of Petre Antonescu (1873-1965) dominated Romanian architectural activity during the first half of the twentieth century.
Petre Antonescu was a professor at the Superior School of Architecture in Bucharest (1900-1938), President of the Romanian Society of Architects (1912, 1919-1921, 1946-1949), and an honorary member of the Romanian Academy (1936, promoted to titular status in 1945). Many of the buildings designed by Petre Antonescu have become architectural and urban landmarks – in Bucharest: the Arch of Triumph, the Bucharest City Hall (formerly the Ministry of Public Works), the former Marmorosch-Blank Bank, the Palace of the Faculty of Law, the Palace of the Politehnica Society, the Ion I. C. Brătianu House, the Dimitrie Oprea Soare House, the “Nicolae Iorga” Institute of History, and in the country: the former Administrative Palace in Craiova, the Orthodox Cathedral in Galați (together with architect Ștefan Burcuș), the Casino and the “Palace” Hotel in Sinaia etc.
Besides being a talented architect, he was also an urban planner for projects such as the University of Bucharest’s Citadel.
He is also the author of three of the villas designed in the Ioanid allotment – the Constantin Geblescu Villa, the Ciru Iliescu Villa, and the Vintilă Brătianu Villa.
The houses in the Ioanid subdivision form an enclosure built for the Ioanid Park, turning it into an interior garden.
The Kretzulescu Palace has a double exposure; its southern facade opens toward Cișmigiu Park, and the design of the palace capitalizes on the wide orientation toward the garden.
The Bucharest City Hall has a frontal perspective of great depth from the main lawn of the Cișmigiu Garden.

EHC2024: International Symposium on the History of Horticulture in Europe

S. Teodorescu

Petre Antonescu, green spaces, Cișmigiu Garden, Ioanid Park, architecture, urban planning

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1438.59