100 YEARS OF ROMANIAN RAILWAY ARCHITECTURE

On August 20, 1854, the Austrian State Railways Company (St.E.G.) inaugurated the Oravita-Bazias line, the first railway on the territory of modern Romania.
The Oravita locomotive depot, cantons and passenger buildings in the Oravita, Racasdia, Iam, Iasenova, Biserica Alba and Bazias stations were built according to Austro-Hungarian railway architecture designs, and were the first models of such architecture in Romania.
In Dobrogea, a province once controlled by the Ottoman Empire, British company J.T.Barkley built the Constanta Port - Cernavoda Port railway line, inaugurated on October 4, 1860. The passenger buildings erected on this line brought major savings to the builder because they were austere, one-storied and with simple, white-painted facades.
Among the few passenger buildings erected between 1854 - 1872, only several remained to this day. Earthquakes, systematization and later development made the remaining ones resemble little of their original designs.
In Transylvania, the more than 50 private railway companies built over 3,000 km of railway track, alongside with passenger buildings, cantons, depots, workshops, service buildings, water towers, all built under their own designs, but with Austro-Hungarian influences.
The monumental buildings of the Cluj, Razboieni, Teius as well as other station contain, in terms of facade aspect, elements inherited from the Budapest or Szolnok stations, curbed by the financial possibilities of the time.
The German concession H.B. Strussberg built in Romania, between 1868 - 1872, more than 600 km of track.
Railway stations between Roman and Galati and between Galati and Bucharest and Pitesti were built under Prussian models and concept, simple and as cheap as possible.
What is left today of the Roman, Marasesti, Tecuci, Galati, Buzau and Ploiesti stations are only photographs. The stations were destroyed in the two world wars (1916 - 1918 and 1941 - 1945), and the rebuilt.
In North Moldova and Bucovina, the Offenheim concession and the Lemberg - Cernauti Iasi Company left behind the most authentic Austrian style in building construction on the Suceava - Roman, Iasi - Pascani and Veresti - Botosani lines.
The monumental style, with a baroque influence is found in the passenger stations Suceava - Burdujeni and Suceava Nord (Itcani), with a special emphasis on the central hall of the Burdujeni station, the former customs hall, a unique instance of railway architecture.
In 1875, the Grigore Heliad concession, which built the Iasi - Ungheni line, erected on this line a number of buildings marked by Russian influences. The most eloquent example is the former Iasi station, destroyed during the numerous bombardments that targeted this important railway node.
On June 10, 1879, the Ploiesti - Predeal railway line is inaugurated on Prahovei Valley, whose construction was initiated by the British concession G.B. Crawley and finished by the French concession Leon Guilloux. Here, too every station except Sinaia were built using elements borrowed from the architecture concessionaires were used to: British.
We can say that all railway buildings erected between 1854 and 1880 on our territory had an architectural concept inspired by British, German, Hungarian, Austrian or Russian influences, and completely lacked Romanian influences.
The inauguration, on May 1, 1881, of the Buzau - Marasesti railway, the first built by Romanian engineers, presented to the public eight passenger buildings in a new, original style, designed and built by Romanian engineers. In 1895, architect Nicola Michaescu built a new passenger station for Ramnicu Sarat, a monumental piece of work, kept to this day in its original form, save for the roofing, added later.
CFR director general, eng. Gheorghe Duca (1888 - 1895), built in 1891 the brick and tile factory at Ciurea - Iasi, owned by the CFR, with an annual production of almost one million bricks. After the factory opened, all passenger buildings, depots and additional buildings were built with Ciurea-made red brick.
After 1892, a new architectural style appears, with strong local, Romanian influences. It is the beginning of Elie Radu's engineering activity, the man who would build numerous stations, both in Muntenia and in Moldova (Calafat, Tg. Ocna, Podul Iloaiei, Harlau, etc.), who joins the history of Romanian Railways as the father of Romanian railway architecture.
Among Elie Radu's achievements are the passenger buildings for the Comanesti, Curtea de Arges, Bailesti, and those in Pitesti and Curtea de Arges, Bascov, Merisani and Baiculesti, a model of Romanian railway architecture.
Finished after the inauguration of the Pitesti - Curtea de Arges line, these buildings have become functional in late fall of 1899 and perfectly integrated into the marvelous scenery of Arges.
As to the svelte, but alluring building of the Curtea de Arges station, we must point out the use of ceramic belts made by famous Italian craftsmen and positioned on facades as decorative elements that delimit the ground floor from the upper floor. Besides the linear decorative elements, the window and door frames are also made of ceramic bricks, both at the ground floor and upper floor.
To cover the towers that mark the street-facing facade, natural stone was used, mounted to the roof with nails. The small size of these stones allowed a good mobility around the shapes of the buildings.
In the central hall, there are the ticket booths and access door to various utilities. Even a hurried traveler, cannot overlook the ceiling, which uses wood elements.
A special part in Romanian railway architecture is played by the work of the exceptional architect Duiliu Marcu, who designed and built the royal stations in Sinaia and Bucharest Baneasa.
Characteristic to the Romanian railway architecture is the sober style, dictated by the construction materials used. The passenger buildings in the CFR network express both the local character and the foreign influences copied over time, regardless of whether builders used natural stone, apparent brickwork or plastered brickwork. The volumetric composition and structure of these stations give them a special stature, which calls for respect.
We must remark that after the war ended in 1945 and after war damages were recovered, railway builders had to comply with a reconstruction and building program both for existing and new lines. As part of this program, works on the Bumbesti - Livezeni and Salva - Viseu lines revealed building constructions with an original, personal, modest style, adapted to operating needs and to existing technologies.
The same thing cannot be said about the reconstruction of the Iasi and Ploiesti Sud stations, which, while keeping the architectural elements of the older buildings, developed solutions that would mark their importance and meet the new traffic demands. Several parameters of the Ploiesti Sud station must be mentioned, built after the designs of architects Titu Elian and N. Georgescu: length 150 m, total surface 3,700 s.m., volume 35,000 cu.m.
Roughly in the second period, until 1960, two more buildings stood out in Bucharest: the Basarab station, built in 1959 to handle a share of the North Station traffic, and the "Railway Department guests house", today the Astoria hotel (1958).
After 1960, the architecture of new and important stations on the network displayed a monumental style, but adapted to their geographical areas. The stations of Constanta and Brasov, designed by architect Teonic Savulescu arouse admiration and satisfaction even today, with the spaces they offer the traveling public.
Over the years after 1965, investments start flowing again and a number of new buildings spring up: Barlad, Baia Mare, Predeal, Medias, Onesti, Craiova, Calnic, Tusnad, Otelu Rosu, etc.
The period coincides with the debut of a young lot of architects and engineers, who invigorate architectural designs, and became noticeable through the Tulcea, Medias, Deva, Targu Jiu, Bacau and Calarasi stations.
Here is our short insight into Romanian railway architecture since its beginning to the present day.

Radu Bellu
Dan Dragos Aldea