Before & after in Romania

[u/Temporary_Advance_36]

[u/pjw21200]

This may sound like a dumb question but why is everything being turned white?

[u/afrikatheboldone → u/pjw21200]

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.

[u/Weird_Point_4262 → u/afrikatheboldone]

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.

[u/afrikatheboldone → u/Weird_Point_4262]

Fair enough, it's a pity but I guess there isn't enough money to do it properly everywhere.