Nicolae G. Socolescu

(born ) was a 19th-century Romanian neoclassical and baroque architect.

Biography

Originally from Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary, and born in the village of Berivoiul Mare in the Făgăraș region, he settled in Wallachia (Romania), in the city of Ploiești, along with his four brothers, all builders, around 1840–1846. He studied architecture in Vienna. In 1846, he began his career as an architect and master builder. He became one of the leading architects and builders in Prahova County in the mid-19th century. He died in 1872 and was buried in the courtyard of the Sfântul Spiridon Church in Ploiești.

Genealogy

The family of , formerly part of Făgăraș or Țara Făgărașului is a branch of the family of Muntenia, which lived in the county of Dâmbovița. A '', great boyar and son-in-law of Mihai Viteazul (1557–1601), had two religious foundations in Dâmbovița county, still existing, Cornești and Răzvadu de Sus. He built their churches and another one in the suburb of Târgoviște. This boyar married Marula, daughter of , also known as , sister of Prince Antonie-Vodă. was recognized by as his illegitimate daughter, following an extra-marital liaison with . is buried in the church of Răzvadu de Sus, where, on a richly carved stone slab, her name can be read.

Nicolae Iorga, the great Romanian historian and friend of Toma T. Socolescu, found ancestors among the founders of the City of in the 12th century. In 1655, the Prince of Transylvania George II Rákóczi ennobled an ancestor of Nicolae G. Socol: ", and through him his wife , his son , and their heirs and descendants of whatever sex, to be treated and regarded as true and undeniable NOBLEMEN.", in gratitude for his services as the Prince's courier in the Carpathians, a function "which he fulfilled faithfully and steadfastly for many years, and especially in these stormy times [...]". Around 1846, five come to Muntenia, from , in the territory of . One of the brothers was architect (??-1872). He settled in around 1840-1845, and named himself . He married , from the suburb. He had a daughter (died in infancy) and four sons, two of whom became major architects: Toma N. Socolescu and . The lineage of architects continues with Toma T. Socolescu, and his son Toma Barbu Socolescu.

The historian, cartographer and geographer evokes, in 1891, the presence of Romanian boyars of the first rank , in Bucharest, descendants of from . Finally, Constantin Stan also refers, in 1928, to the precise origin of Nicolae Gheorghe Socol :

Architectural achievements

The period when settled in Wallachia corresponds to a political and cultural will, widely shared across the country, to move closer to the West and distance itself from Eastern culture. A genuine desire to assimilate Western values permeated Romanian society. Architecture was one of the most visible expressions of this shift. The demand for Neoclassical or Baroque constructions, styles popular in Western Europe, quickly prevailed over others. This was reinforced by the favorable context of a city undergoing rapid economic and commercial growth, with the construction of the first factories and oil refineries. Applying the concepts and style he learned during his architectural studies in Vienna, ’s works are neo-classical and neo-Gothic but also eclectics. He was the first Romanian architect to settle in , practicing architecture in the region for 30 years as early as 1840. Most of the architects working in Romania at the time were foreigners often from Transylvania, and few reached the level of the foreign architects brought in by the princes and rulers of the epoch. The architect responded to a strong demand for Westernization and also for the transformation of traditional inns (han) into more comfortable houses with upper floors, or even high-end hotels. He also built numerous shops and stores for the merchants of Ploiești. He was also one of the founders and builders of the Church, in the suburb near the city center, where he lived.

In Ploiești

The family home, located in suburb called , circa 1846. It was destroyed during the construction of the in the 1930s. hotel, it originally hosted stores on the first floor and residential apartments upstairs, built for the brothers. They played leading political roles at the time: , a politician of national stature who was elected deputy, senator, mayor of , but also minister of industry and commerce and vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies before 1914, ending up Director of the Central Bank during the war, and his brother the . Later renovated, then raised by one storey and attic-roofed by his grandson Toma T. Socolescu before 1914, it was badly damaged by the American bombardments of 1944, poorly rebuilt, and finally destroyed in the 1960s-70s by the communists to make way for the administrative palace. hotel, on the , which for a time remained the property of and .

The or Bujilă's inn , in 1858, at the crossroads of and . The former Tribunal moved there in November 1860, renting its premises. It was bombed in 1944 and destroyed immediately after the war. The inn of or , in 1857, located near the halls. It is in the same style as the inn. The building was still intact in 1938. Damaged by the 1944 American bombings of 1944, it was rebuilt in a completely different style to the original (without decorations and with an additional storey). It was eventually demolished in the 1950s, and replaced by a seven-storey, unstyled Communist housing block. A big boyar house for the commissioner , located . We can thus list the works attributed to by Toma T. Socolescu: The hotel, resulting from the transformation of a post office for family, still standing in 1937. Located at the intersection of and . It was demolished by the communists in the 1980s to make way for the extension of the new telecommunications building, which was in turn abandoned in the 2000s. 's house, church in the suburb of the same name where he lived. A row of stores for , formerly owned by Hagi Jecu, whose facades were later transformed. The first house now located at the corner of and , is still visible, it is the Călugăru inn or . The wing located at is clearly recognizable, with its entrance gate unchanged from the original, although the pediment of the entrance for carts and carriages has been disfigured. This construction would therefore be the only one still existing and recognizable today in Ploiești, built by .

Legacy

Influenced by Austrian classical and baroque styles that he observed in Vienna, remains a neoclassical architect. In Romania, within the architectural world, he is among the first active Romanian architects of the 19th century. He contributed to the country's modernization movement in architecture and civil construction. Like many of his contemporaries, all trained in Western Europe, he introduced to Romania what he had seen and learned during his stay in Vienna. Western styles, culturally distinct—neoclassical, Neoclassical, Baroque, Italian or Neo-Gothic were highly sought after by the merchants of Prahova, his primary clients, who were also eager to Westernize and detach themselves from the oriental influence, particularly that of their former protector, the Ottoman Empire, from which the country was then in the process of liberating itself. left his mark on Ploiești with his style for nearly 100 years (1846 to 1944), and his work, exemplified by the Carol Hotel, remained visible until 1980, before the communist systematization under Ceaușescu.

Unfortunately, nearly all of his works were destroyed or radically altered over time, due to the tragic events that Romania had to endure and the modernizations of the 20th century. The construction of the Central Market Halls (1929-1935) first required the demolition of some of his works. It was the American bombings of 1944 that destroyed a significant portion of his creations, many of which were still standing at the time. Finally, the communist systematization delivered the final blow, erasing almost all visible traces of his architectural work.

However, laid the foundations for the creative and innovative work of his descendants: , and then . His financial stability also provided a stepping stonee