Romania Commies

silviubad · 2011-02-27

^^:cheers: The collection Iasi: Pascani: Roman: Pitesti: Botosani: Piatra Neamt: Old from Oradea (about 30-40 years ago): Brasov: Source: rospotters.ro I hope you like these views!

D

domtoren

· #2 · Aug 21, 2012

Baia Mare

I found this picture in Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad today.
It actually looks like a war zone...
What caused these black spots which look like firebomb traces?

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PaulFCB

· #3 · Aug 22, 2012

I think that's how a neighborhood that is populated by gypsies is destined to become like ^^.

It also has a Belin-like Wall around it for the safety and protection of the citizens of Baia Mare managed by the city hall.

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Rodeo

· #4 · Aug 23, 2012

The black spots are traces of smoke from wood-burning stoves used for heating. Maybe some for cooking too. Reasons: that type of housing was the cheapest one built in the cities (in rural areas were some even more basic). The plumbing was done with metal parts which were not rust-inhibited. So after 20 years of service the loses in the centralised heating system were huge. Companies which provided centralised distribution of heating went bankrupt and in desperation ceased services towards those who were in debt and who (with no surprise) were those underprivileged who lived in those cheap housing projects. Lacking money to use natural gas for heating they resolved to the wood burning stoves installed directly in the rooms and with metallic chimneys taken directly outside.

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AGJ

· #5 · Sep 4, 2012

Massive Commieblock

What about these commieblocks? They look like walls at the boulevards.
Does anyone know their type (model, number), floor plans or any other information regarding them?

I saw quite a few of them in Moldova region.

Thanks,
AGJ

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NeMiroff

· #6 · Oct 7, 2012

domtoren said:
I found this picture in Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad today.
It actually looks like a war zone...
What caused these black spots which look like firebomb traces?

What a objective information for Dutch people about Romania. Picture of ruined commieblock inhabited with Gypsies with title: Romania will be eurozone. I wonder why always media from Western Europe trying to associate Eastern European countries with Gypsies and purposely distort the real picture of these countries.

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alexandru.mircea

· #7 · Sep 21, 2021 (Edited)

Didn't notice that this thread existed. I've made quite a few posts in the Old Photos thread but I keep finding more photos of communist Romanian blocks so I'm going to move my activity here, to not take over the general thread.

Here are some lovely pics from the civic centre of Câmpia Turzii, one of the towns of Cluj County, Transylvania. No date but looks like the mid or late '70s.

I love the detail in the pic above, of three different persons leaning out of the window to have a look.

I wonder who was the author of fountain sculpted decoration, usually these were commissions given to contemporary artists.

source

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alexandru.mircea

· #8 · Sep 21, 2021

Previous posts I have made on

BUCHAREST

alexandru.mircea said:
Titan district, Bucharest

https://m.facebook.com/BucurestiulSecret/photos/a.177578735711546.43084.176990235770396/766429840159763/?type=3&source=48&refid=28&_ft_=qid.6265922627033569508:mf_story_key.-8902841824574073310&__tn__=E

alexandru.mircea said:
Back in 1990 blocks could still look in relatively good condition in Bucharest:

I lived on this avenue for about a year:

Profil Norihiro Haruta - Bucurestiul meu drag

alexandru.mircea said:
Some more:

PIATRA-NEAMȚ

alexandru.mircea said:
Piatra Neamț, Romania

The tall one is a hotel.

Ansamblul central – vedere de ansamblu

SLATINA

alexandru.mircea said:
This one bellow I like. In particular I appreciate the care towards the green space. Like it can be seen in the second pic in this post, many of these pictures documented the new ensembles right after people could move in, and the works for the public realm around the blocks were not finished. However, sadly, I can tell you that in a lot of cases the public spaces were never properly finished, they were abandoned in that state right after the people moved in. Lawns remained open mud instead of becoming well maintained green surfaces, flowers and other planned embelishments remained on paper, the walking paths remained improvised, public space furniture was not installed or was not cared for after installation... The second pic is the norm and the first was the exception. The spaces quickly degraded and the inhabitants never really got a feeling of "home" in the areas around the blocks, which then contributed to the further degradation through neglect and vandalism, creating a vicious circle.

Slatina, Romania, 1965

Ansamblu de locuințe – fragment

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alexandru.mircea

· #9 · Sep 21, 2021

Oneşti (a refinery town in Moldavia), and a bit of Brașov (Transylvania)

alexandru.mircea said:
Oneşti, Romania, 1959-64

Centrul comercial al orașului – Magazinul general Victoria, blocuri de locuit

alexandru.mircea said:
Continued:

alexandru.mircea said:
View from above:

Ansamblu urban, centrul comercial al orașului – Blocuri de locuit, vedere de ansamblu

Brașov, Romania, 1964

Cartierul Tractorul – fragment

alexandru.mircea said:
Brașov, Romania

Ansamblu de locuințe colective – vedere de ansamblu

One of my favourites:

Oneşti, Romania

Blocuri de locuit – Blocuri de locuit, fragment

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alexandru.mircea

· #10 · Sep 21, 2021 (Edited)

GILĂU, small mountain town in Cluj County

alexandru.mircea said:
Gilău, Romania

Town under construction around 1983-84! The architecture is the typical, post-modern tinged architecture of the 1980s, along with regular (cheap) blocks as well. Browsing the archive suggests that after finishing the buildings, they never got to taking care of the public spaces which remained a bit of a dump, typically.

c1r3 · minerva photoarchive

AGHIREȘU, small mining town in Cluj County

alexandru.mircea said:
Aghireş (Romania)

Browse Items · minerva photoarchive

Bonus:

The quarry:

Mining:

"Patriotic work" (which is a sort of forced labor with children, students, women etc):

CLUJ-NAPOCA

alexandru.mircea said:
Cluj-Napoca, Romania:

ABOUT THE PROJECT · minerva photoarchive

alexandru.mircea said:
Pics from one of the most impressive commieblock districts of Romania: Mănăştur, Cluj-Napoca

Under construction in 1965-72:

alexandru.mircea said:
More:

"Patriotic work":

alexandru.mircea said:
This is fascinating. More!

Aerials:

alexandru.mircea said:
More. Please tell me if this is excessive.

The district was served by tram, bus and trolley.

All these Cluj County photo reports come from a local press archive now online, and therefore contain alongside pics of buildings all other sorts of photos like everyday scenes, portraits and people at work which I find absolutely fascinating. I recommend clicking on the sources I link and going through all the pics, not just those of the buildings (that I show here). It's a really strong experience, especially if you've lived it for a bit like I did. But some of it is also like a kind of retrofuturism for us Eastern Europeans.

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alexandru.mircea

· #11 · Sep 21, 2021

Studiourile Buftea, which were the state cinema production studios during communism, have a Facebook account where they've recently started dumping extensive archive material from either shooting of their movies (since the '50s) or from location scouting trips for the movies they were looking to produce. Either kind of material is absolutely fascinating, highly recommended.

This batch, shot in Bucharest, come from a 1972 action film starring the era's most popular actor: Florin Piersic, a kind of Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon and Gérard Dépardieu merged into one and with more of a leaning into comedy.

The blocks in the foreground here are stalinist blocks from the '50s, while the taller ones in the background are classic '60s blocks.

source

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alexandru.mircea

· #12 · Sep 21, 2021

This next batch is from a 1966 movie titled "A film with a charming young woman" and gives really interesting insight into filming in a newly built district in central Bucharest