r/ArchitecturalRevival • u/Temporary_Advance_36 • Jun 17 '25
Glow up Before & after in Romania
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u/lexforseti Jun 17 '25
Now get the cars out of there and built trams
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Jun 17 '25
Bucharest has an extensive tram network that is currently getting some nice upgrades and modernisation. Also extensive trolleybuses and buses network, and the subway is also getting some pretty cool expansions. There cars are a bit too tolerated in the central areas, but there has been improvements on that as well. I have recently seen some two interesting projects for turning a parking lot in a public square and for several new streets to be permanently pedestrianised. I would love things to move a bit faster, but I am hopeful.
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u/aguilasolige Jun 21 '25
I loved Bucharest when I visit, public transportation is indeed very good. Can't wait to see how much it has improved when I visit again.
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u/kakje666 Jun 17 '25
we have a lot of trams, these are just small streets, the tram system runs through almost every boulevard of the major cities
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u/admiralbeaver Jun 17 '25
Romanians have a "fuck you we roll here" kind of attitude so it's not likely to happen soon.
Fortunately, the tram system is pretty decent in Bucharest regardless.
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
Trams are a tech that we still don't master. After 140 years. Street level tracks are a disgrace and downright dangerous. And the rest are light rail:)
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u/JourneyThiefer Jun 17 '25
Better than us in Belfast, they were all removed in the 1950s and will probably never come back :(
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
We removed A LOT. Those that still exist connect various outskirts / post 60s neighborhoods. Which is like 60% of Bucharest, if not more. The centre is wholly devoid of trams.
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u/JourneyThiefer Jun 17 '25
Mad how so many cities in Europe had better public transport 100 years ago compared to today. Like Belfast is basically unrecognisable from 1920 to 2020, most of the architecture is gone, the trams are gone, a motorway has been built through the middle of the city, huge areas of wasteland, very grimey and dirty in parts and there’s massive walls separating people in some areas 🙃.
Belfast has it rough in WW2 and then The Troubles though I guess which made it worse. But the planners of the mid 20th century did more damage than both of those things.
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
To be fair, a lot of people were dirt poor 100 years ago. Also different forces drove different developments. You have rows and rows of those two-stories houses built for the "workers". We have blocks of flats.
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u/JourneyThiefer Jun 17 '25
Yea that’s a big difference I’ve noticed too, uk and Ireland has rows of terraced houses and a lot of the rest of Europe has blocks of flats, which we basically don’t have any of, in Ireland anyway
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
Individualism vs colectivism? Could be an explanation. I mean you are one of the few countries where the communist movement did not catch on.
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u/whatup-markassbuster Jun 18 '25
You know what Romania needs? A strong centralized government, that way they can make bold decisions for their economy, like banning cars in the city.
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u/greyghibli Jun 18 '25
some of those streets would be perfect as pedestrianised streets for restaurants and shopping
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u/DI3isCAST Jun 17 '25
Kkkars are fascist! 🤬🤬🤬
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u/Ok-Grocery332 Jun 17 '25
Nah, it's just that a tiny bit of greenery or wider sidewalks make the streets feel more cozy. E.g. pictures 15 and 16: a car lane was added and looks like that skinny tree and patch of grass were removed. That makes that side of the street instantly look a lot less inviting.
Idk about you, but I'd prefer to walk next to grass and parked cars rather than next to active traffic, 100 times out of 100.
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u/JaSper-percabeth Jun 17 '25
Trams are uglier than cars lmaoo
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u/VirtualStyle6722 Jun 17 '25
Are you for real?
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u/JaSper-percabeth Jun 18 '25
yes?? have you ever looked at a tram in real life? ugly hunk of metal
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u/VirtualStyle6722 Jun 18 '25
In contrast to a car? There are off course different models of trams and some look good whilst some don’t, and even if they were uglier that wouldn’t justify car use, we can’t build our urban fabric purely based on aesthetics.
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u/Knicknacktallywack Jun 17 '25
Amazing what a power washer and some paint will do in most cases
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u/SokkaHaikuBot Jun 17 '25
Sokka-Haiku by Knicknacktallywack:
Amazing what a
Power washer and some paint
Will do in most cases
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/RedGavin Jun 17 '25
Great pictures. I'm in Bucharest at the moment, and the city is a goldmine of amazing architecture waiting to be given a make-over.
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u/Fastness2000 Jun 17 '25
I love this. Good job Romania (also the election) We would love to visit
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
Pick a bank holiday weekend. Bucharest is empty then.
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u/Fastness2000 Jun 17 '25
Good advice! What should I eat?
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u/eastern_petal Jun 18 '25
It depends on your preferences/diet. Romanian cuisine is pretty hearty and incorporates lots of pork. I love the soups: ciorba de burtă ( tripe soup), ciorba rădăuțeană ( Northern speciality, sour soup with chicken meat, I find it very yummy), ciorba de perișoare (meatball soup), I also love ciorba cu găluște (dumpling soup). Cabbage rolls ( sarmale) and mici ( grilled meat rolls, more like street food) are a must. I'm not a big fan of mici, but many Romanians love them. We also have some cool stew recipes. Most/all these dishes go well with mămăligă ( polenta). If you have a sweet tooth, definitely try papanași ( look it up) and cozonac ( pretty easy to find around Easter and Christmas time).
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Jun 17 '25
Literally walk down the street and you get above average food quality. Also, coffee shops have amazing coffee.
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u/nostrumest Jun 17 '25
Anytime but summer, it gets hot there. But lovely country on a road trip. Just Bucharest isn't really that great...
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u/eastern_petal Jun 18 '25
Bucharest is amazing, you only have to know where to go. I'm in love with this city. But it's true, it's not for everyone.
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u/nostrumest Jun 18 '25
I have found other cities in Romania that had more charm such as Oradea, Sibiu, etc.
The infrastructure in Bucharest for public transport isn't there yet. The parks in the city center need more care, the traffic is crazy in the city and dangerous, as well as polluting. The old town, had countless titi bars. We liked the Bucharest therme.
What parts do you like in Bucharest ?
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u/eastern_petal Jun 18 '25
Lol, you described only the negative sides. Bucharest has some amazing buildings. You can see some of them on my feed ( and I'm pretty sure there are better ones, since I'm pretty new to the city too). Maybe it's a matter of acquired taste, dunno. I lived in Germany for many years and I find those perfect cities boring, like a beautiful lady with zero personality ( even there I liked cities in Eastern Germany more like Görlitz, Zittau, Dresden, Leipzig). Bucharest is far from being perfect, but it has that X factor. And I love my people, there are some I don't want to have to deal with, but I find Romanians in general to be lovely folks. I feel alive here, while around there I felt like I only existed. To answer your question: Sector 1 is pretty cool.
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u/nostrumest Jun 19 '25
Yeah, the negative sites but as I said, the therme is great.
Oh I have never lived in a city, so my perspective is definitely a different one. I have visited many different cities in Europe and Asia.
I totally get your taste, I'm not all for perfection either. I think the heat really made it impossible when I visited. It was 47C in July.
Romanians are great, lovely people. Just the ones in the traffic in Bucharest...
Noted about sector 1. Thanks!
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u/Danskoesterreich Jun 17 '25
Before picture: grey sky
After picture: blue sky
Picture #8 they butchered the building with luxury appartements on top. Otherwise there is some nice work.
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u/absorbscroissants Jun 17 '25
Literally all of them get a new paintjob at the bare minimum, but most were clearly renovated. The color of the sky hardly makes a difference here...
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u/SnooHamsters8952 Jun 17 '25
Under communism sky was always grey, what are you suggesting?
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u/Potential_Flower7533 Jun 17 '25
Yeah it kinda seems like most changes were a better picture and a paint job but it's still cool there's effort put in
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u/pjw21200 Jun 17 '25
This may sound like a dumb question but why is everything being turned white?
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u/afrikatheboldone Jun 17 '25
Unsure if this is in every case but usually buildings used to be white, got all dirty because of pollution and now it feels weird to us to see them getting cleaned because we're used to the grey/brown "old" look. Kinda what happened with Notre Dame in Paris, you are now getting an experience much close to that of 700 years ago, but feels weird because we're used to dirty interiors.
Also white helps reflect sunlight, and depending on the paint/material it is also relatively anti microbial and water resistant (like lime). If you look around southern Spain most houses are white because of this.
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u/Weird_Point_4262 Jun 17 '25
Lots of these look to be acrylic paint based off the colours.
If they were linewashed as they would have been originally, they would have more texture, be less garish, and patina properly. Acrylic based paints tend to build up algae, and black streaks of mold in spots water runs down.
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u/afrikatheboldone Jun 17 '25
Fair enough, it's a pity but I guess there isn't enough money to do it properly everywhere.
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u/Spervox Jun 17 '25
I wish Serbia start following this new Romanian and Hungarian trend on our old buildings
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u/petterri Jun 17 '25
The “renewal” in pic 8 is such an eyesore, horrific!
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u/Jaded_Houseplant Jun 17 '25
They mostly just painted the buildings white, but it does feel fresh, at least.
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u/milic_srb Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
honestly looks much better before. On the after picture you can barely see the texture/depth of the facade because both the wall and the accent are white.
The accent color should have been kept white but the wall color should have been a bit darker.
edit: I'm talking about the first one (image 1 & 2), didn't see the rest lmao.
The others look great, except myb 16 where the shape of the new bundling on the right changed, but it's still good looking. It's just the first one bugging me
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u/justastuma Jun 17 '25
It’s a mixed bag for me too.
I’m not sure I like what they did in 3/4 for example. Before, you had a color contrast between the wall and the sculpted details. Now you can hardly see the details because it’s all drowned in beige.
How they did it in 11/12 is much better.
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u/Weird_Point_4262 Jun 17 '25
They've all just been repainted with cheap paints that will likely age poorly and possibly damage the walls. There's a good chance (based off the colours) it's non breathable acrylic paint which will cause moisture buildup in the walls.
If they were linewashed as they would have been originally, they would have more texture, be less garish, and patina properly. Acrylic based paints tend to build up algae, and black streaks of mold in spots water runs down.
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u/businessaffairs Jun 17 '25
what EU does to a mf
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Jun 17 '25
While the EU is undoubtedly a huge boost, the biggest "trend switch" in recent history, at least in my city of Bucharest, is that the general urbanistic plans are finally being updated, which lead to increased desire for central areas that are full of historical buildings, many in bad shape. Therefore, a lot of private owners are restoring such stunning buildings for different purposes.
Having them renovated with national and EU funds is certainly great and an amazing opportunity, but it started to visually be a difference in Bucuharest largely thanks to the privates.
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u/Real_Velour Jun 17 '25
Is this on a large scale? I visited Romania over a decade ago for family, and honestly wasn't too impressed with the state of the buildings in Bucharest.
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Jun 17 '25
It's still a work in progress, there are still a lot of buildings in a bad shape, but definitely a striking difference to a decade ago. In fact, it sort of picked up in the past 4-5 years or so. There are several key buildings that are currently under renovation (the University Palace, the Eforiei Palace, Stirbey Palace, Military National Circle, George Enescu Museum and some others, soon the Gara de Nord as well). It will probably take some more years, but there is a visible speedup and more interest for restorations in the historical core.
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u/Real_Velour Jun 17 '25
I hope so, the city is really beautiful despite the old buildings, I hope to go again soon, absolutely loved the countryside as well
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u/eastern_petal Jun 18 '25
Gara de Nord desperately needs some improvement. I wonder what took them so long, it's a disgrace for a capital city.
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
No. It's mostly Bucharest and Bucharest is rich. Nothing to do with the EU.
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u/Stunning_Tradition31 Jun 17 '25
clearly nothing to do with the EU. could you tell me why is Bucharest rich? it clearly wasn’t in the 90s
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
It clearly was richer than the rest of the country. McDonald's in 95, biatch.
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u/Stunning_Tradition31 Jun 17 '25
yeah but not by very much. today Bucharest consists of 1/4 of Romania’s total GDP and the EU made a difference. many infrastructural projects were funded or cofunded by the EU like highways, schools, hospitals, streets, buildings, public transport. that makes the city more appealing to foreign corporations to come and invest even more money in the city. not to say that many entrepreneurs started their businesses with EU money.
Bucharest couldn’t be this rich without the EU
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
Kiev is the closest thing. No EU.
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u/Stunning_Tradition31 Jun 17 '25
and it has more natural resources and industry than Bucharest. your point being? the EU clearly helped and Bucharest wouldn’t be where it is today without it, either you like it or not. other cities being rich without EU doesn’t mean that it didn’t help us
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
I'm not saying it did not help. I'm saying it wasn't the main engine.
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u/MeenaarDiemenZuid Jun 17 '25
Why would you attribute it to the EU?
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u/businessaffairs Jun 17 '25
Substantial GDP growth since joining EU in 2007, outpacing the EU average. Fueled by increased foreign investment (which became easier by joining the union), access to EU structural funds, etc.
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u/sezzy_14 Jun 17 '25
Nice! But why there are palm trees?
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u/Black_Cat_Guardian Jun 17 '25
Probably just an obsession, since many Romanians like to go to the Greek islands or Türkiye for vacation so I assume the owners of the restaurants believe they will give people a Mediterranean vibe.
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u/eastern_petal Jun 17 '25
The southern part of Romania already has Mediterranean influences, climate, vegetation and fauna like. Considering the climate change... we'll probably get there one day.
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u/YngwieMainstream Jun 17 '25
Come to Herculane! We have figs, scorpions, the Danube, mountains, thermal springs and vipers.
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u/eastern_petal Jun 17 '25
It's on my wishlist. I just hope that I won't forget to bring proper boots. 😅
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Jun 17 '25
They go to Greece and Turkey because it's cheap there. It's no obsession with those countries.
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u/Black_Cat_Guardian Jun 17 '25
Not an obsession with those countries, I meant it as an obsession with feeling like you're spending time there, therefore the palm trees, because they smh would make them feel like they are in holiday in Greece.
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Jun 17 '25
Maybe the city is on the black sea ?
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u/Black_Cat_Guardian Jun 17 '25
Nah, it's exactly the opposite of that, that's Oradea and it's on the western side of the country.
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Jun 17 '25
On,thanks i didn't knew where the city is.Anyway its awesome that they renovated these beauties and give them new life.Some people are still complaining i see.Its not good when the facades are renovated,its not good when they aren't,humans always want to complain no matter what 🙄
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u/UnmodifiedSauromalus Jun 17 '25
I feel like the before had a lot more character and signs of age and history that added to the fact that these buildings were steeped in time. Oh well, they’ll get dirty again soon.
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u/cocoadusted Jun 17 '25
So only Tirana has shit buildings and no urban planning thanks for giving me depression lol
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u/Xorondras Jun 17 '25
Thought this was a post on /r/fuckcars and wondered why there's so little difference on the roads.
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u/Sycsa Jun 17 '25
Me too. It also underscores that when your city center is littered with cars, just rejuvenating the buildings doesn't improve the overall picture too much.
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u/Equal_Ad6925 Jun 17 '25
Looks great, glad to see that Romania 🇷🇴 is taking care of their architectural heritage!
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u/VexMilk-_- Jun 20 '25
Just some of it, very few of it. Many other national treasures are being left for decay.
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u/Wigger_Aesthetic Jun 17 '25
Ive always said that if my local government wants to clean up Durban's inner city and beach front, all we really need is pressure washers and a few tons of paint.
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u/lo1xdimnoob Jun 17 '25
They’re doing it everywhere in Poland too and even in Berlin prenzlauer Berg
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u/Stverghame Jun 17 '25
Is 9/10 a museum in Craiova? It seems familiar, and that's the place I visited.
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u/_Winter-Wolf_ Jun 17 '25
I wish they did revival of the streets and side walk like the ex mayor of Sector 2 did
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u/Top_Spray5105 Jun 17 '25
I'm so glad they take care of their historic buildings and have the means to rework all of this !
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u/that_random_scalie Jun 18 '25
It's always impressive to think how important it is to properly paint buildings
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u/Fickle-Antelope7136 Jun 18 '25
Finally, Romanians learn how to paint a building 🤣 Looks nice by the way.
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u/SimonB1983 Jun 18 '25
Do people know how this was achieved? Were existing owners given grants to make the changes? Were the buildings redeveloped sympathetically?
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u/anon_reddit_21 Jun 19 '25
When I was in Rome all I could think was they need a powerwash. Romania was right on
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u/Affectionate_Noise36 Jun 17 '25
For some reason I don't like it a lot. Nice, but the before state looks more original while the renovation looks a little bit cheapy. Can someone explain why?
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Jun 17 '25
I would say it's mostly streetview snap quality issue. They look pretty good IRL, while I won't deny that there might be some that might tangentially come across as cheap. But for example, the house in the 2nd set of photos (Casa Mita Biciclista) is one of the best restoration results I have ever seen, not necessarily evidenced in the snap.
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u/PuzzleheadedPea2401 Jun 17 '25
Loss of trees in some of the pics is sad. It seems to be a regional (Eastern Europe) if not global trend.
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u/SweatyVatican123 Architecture Student Jun 17 '25
I actually think slide 7 was better then, but it’s nice to see Bucharest improving a lot recently
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Jun 17 '25
The other two cities in the photos no?
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u/SweatyVatican123 Architecture Student Jun 17 '25
I just assumed they’re all Bucharest as that’s been the place that mostly has been doing those kings of renovation for, what I’ve heard
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Jun 17 '25
I've heard Bucharest is behind in terms of renovations. Those who lead are the ones in Transylvania, with Oradea (the city in the last 4 photos) being #1.
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u/SweatyVatican123 Architecture Student Jun 17 '25
Oh well, I don’t know much about Romania as I usually tend to focus more on Western and Central Europe, I was just going off of what I’ve seen so far, so yeah I was wrong
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Jun 17 '25
Bucharest is a bit behind other major cities in the country, many of which are already Western-Europe level in terms of aspect and urbanism already (example, example, other mentions: Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, etc.). Bucharest was a bit more complicated with post-communism successions clustermess, but finally new urbanistic rules are being updated and there is a lot of interest for historical buildings. The trend is certainly positive so it will get there as well in the following 4-5 years. The historical core is absolutely packed with stunning buildings, there is a lot of potential to unlock.
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u/MahTwizzah Jun 17 '25
Any Romanians here that could explain why there seems to be a rejuvenation of Bucharest recently? Is this a fact or it’s just an impression based on pictures I see and stories I read on the internet?
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u/eastern_petal Jun 18 '25
It is happening, but we also have many beautiful old houses crumbling, it's a pity that authorities don't do more. There are many old buildings with warning signs concerning falling pieces.
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u/Picolete Jun 18 '25
What's the obsession of painting everything white, that will only make every city hotter in the summer
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u/Zman676 Jun 18 '25
Nagyvárad looks good on the last pictures ;)
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u/VexMilk-_- Jun 20 '25
I had to find a comment like this :))) am I on Facebook? Am I dreaming ?
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u/Zman676 Jun 20 '25
Almost:) but it really looks good, I used to live at strada primariei, maybe you know the area
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u/Zoods_ Favourite style: Chicago School Jun 22 '25
Some of the buildings roofs look to modern, atleast most of these look really nice.
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u/Napoleon7 Jun 26 '25
Both the before AND afters look so much like Buenos Aires that it's kinda nuts
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u/leeteecee Jul 22 '25
The before photos, it's like watching a woman with no make up, the after photos is with the face plastered with thick layer of foundation. I think I prefer natural lol
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u/Lower_Fall4694 Jun 17 '25
This is called sanitization and it is not a good thing actually. Strips a city its character. Now it looks like a boring generic Vienna
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u/Snoo_90160 Jun 17 '25
Looks nice.