The inter-war architecture – from tradition to avantgarde

The inter-war period is defined by the continuous scanning between traditionalism and modernity, the latter being occasionally doubled by the direct presence of the avantgarde influence. Regarding the traditional reference, the approach becomes more opened. The Neo Romanian influence is still present but in bulky or already blocked formal images. There are some new directions. The Latin lineage is now fully exposed and invoked, perhaps a result of the European ideological movements at the moment. The referral to the Daco-Roman synthesis throws open the door for new architectural images, successfully avoiding the Neo Romanian approach. The peasent home type is still refered to but in a flexible fashion. The main benchmarks are represented by the following: an interpretation of the Neo Romanian style using the Mediteranean influence (Octav Doicescu), a crossbreeding with the Balcanic folk architecture (Henriette Delavrancea-Gibory) or even with the influence of the F.L. Wright architecture, especially “the prairie houses”. The referall to tradion doesn’t avoid the avantgarde movement. Exposed in his articles, the theories of Marcel Iancu are partly built on this type of referall to tradition and the main antagonist is not the tradition but the traditionalism itself.