Recently, with the 2012 local elections firmly in his sights, the Mayor of Bucharest has given new impetus to one of Ceausescu’s unfinished projects: the Uranus Boulevard. The road will link the House of the People, Ceausescu’s testament to dictatorship, to the historical centre of Bucharest. Seemingly oblivious to the fact that Uranus is the name of the neighbourhood demolished by Ceausescu in the early 1980’s to make way for his Balkan version of Pyongyang, Mr. Oprescu praises his project as a symbol of Bucharest modernization.Io would propose to send the Mayor of Bucharest to Uranus. Maybe there the ideology of Communism is still alive 
| S.O.S. Bucharest: Mayor Demolishes City Heritage |
| Scritto da Roxana Wring * |
| Mercoledì 15 Giugno 2011 22:29 |
|
In order to build the North-South Axis, the City Hall will demolish thirteen listed buildings and a further seventy-three historic houses. The demolitions will tear through the urban fabric of eight conservation areas and will change forever the character of one of Bucharest’s oldest neighbourhoods. Three listed buildings have already been demolished: Hotel Marna, the Constantin Radulescu House and the Mihai Eminescu memorial house. However, because the City Hall started the demolition works without the required legal permits, the Court temporarily stopped them at the request of non-governmental organisations fighting for the protection of built heritage. Among the ten historic monuments still standing there are iconic buildings that define Bucharest’s history: Hala Matache, George Cosbuc House (no. 40, Plevnei street), the neo-moorish building on Haralambie Botescu square. The Mayor of Bucharest is, nevertheless, undeterred: Bucharest architectural heritage is no match for the new expressway, which, he promises, will facilitate the car traffic into the historical heart of the city. The City Hall has not followed any of the legal procedures for the implementation of a project of this magnitude. There has been no feasibility study, no social impact study, no environmental study and no public consultation. The historical study, which advises against demolitions, has been ignored. The project is going ahead despite the fact that it goes against European and international agreements to which Romania is a signatory: the Toledo Declaration on urban development, the Leipzig Charter for sustainable European cities, the Granada Convention for the protection of architectural heritage. Alarmingly, the City Hall under Mayor Oprescu’s leadership has no strategy for the preservation and conservation of Bucharest built heritage. Since 2008, when Mr. Oprescu was first elected Mayor, scores of historic buildings have been demolished, many of them examples of Bucharest’s unique architectural heritage: Kiseleff 39, Eremia Grigorescu 1, Gutenberg 3, Povernei 2, Povernei 1-3, etc. Furthermore, the City Hall planning committee has approved new projects which threaten the integrity of listed monuments. Thus, the Stirbey Palace, the Marmorosch Blank Bank, no. 16 and no. 18 on Calea Dorobanti, all of them listed monuments, are threatened with partial demolition to make way for the new buildings. Parking lots are being built on the site of listed buildings and of public monuments. The 19th century statues on Universitatii Square and the sculpture by world renowned sculptor Paul Neagu, which commemorates the 1989 Romanian revolution and was designed for the Charles de Gaulle Square, were removed to unknown locations. While other European cities proudly promote their architectural and cultural heritage, Bucharest City Hall is busy demolishing its own. The Mayor’s infrastructure projects belong to another time and a different country: Ceausescu’s Romania. * President of the Association for the Protection and Documentation of Monuments and Heritage of Romania (Pro-Do-Mo) 
|