Alexandru Săvulescu

Alexandru Săvulescu (1847–1902) was a Romanian architect, one of his country's first prominent practitioners of modern architecture. He combined elements of traditional Byzantine architecture and Romanian architecture with French Art Nouveau in an eclectic style. He served as the chief architect for the Ministry of Public Education and Religious Affairs and the president of the Romanian Society of Architects. He helped found both the latter organization and the Romanian National School of Architecture. Some of his most renowned buildings are the Communal Palace of Buzău, the Noblesse Palace and the Post and Telegraph Palace, which now houses the National Museum of Romanian History.

Biography Săvulescu was born in 1847 in Cerneți, Mehedinți County, in what was then Wallachia. He studied in Bucharest and then went to Paris, where he graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts, in the studio of Léon Ginain. He left the post in June 1899, succeeded by Ion D. Berindey.

His style was a unique blend of traditional Byzantine architecture and Romanian architecture mixed with French Art Nouveau, which is generically called eclectic. This was followed by a contract signing in March 1890 for construction of the Traian High School in Turnu Severin using Săvulescu's plans. Construction was completed in August 1890.

After Dimitrie Maimarolu won an international architecture competition for the Synodal Palace, a group of 24 prominent architects gathered in February 1891 and formed the Romanian Society of Architects (SAR). Maimarolu and Săvulescu, , Ion Mincu, Alexandru Orăscu, and , among others, founded the organization and elected Alexandru Orăscu as its first president. In October 1892, the group set up a private school of architecture. Between 1895 and 1902, Săvulescu served as president of the SAR Since 1972, the building has housed the National Museum of Romanian History,

In 1892, he designed and built Casa II in Bucharest and in 1897, the Ștefan cel Mare School in Alexandria moved from its former location to 310 Libertății Street. A local entrepreneur, M. Frangulea, obtained the plot and hired Săvulescu to build the new boys' primary school for the city. The following year, work began on the Amzei Church of Bucharest, completed in 1901. Săvulescu designed the church, and his project team included his friend and fellow architect Ziegfried Kofszynski, engineer Dimitrie Dobrescu and the painter Umberto Marchetti, who supervised the interior decorations.

Săvulescu's last creation was the Communal Palace of Buzău, the landmark building of Buzău. Construction lasted from 1899 to 1903 on the Italian Renaissance style town hall, which features towers and loggia-style balconies. Săvulescu would not live to see its inauguration in 1903 by King Carol I and Crown Prince Ferdinand, as he died in 1902. Kofszynski completed the project.

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