One of the many forms that Bucharest living took in the first half of the 20th century manifested in the villas located in the so-called “residential parks”, neighbourhoods where the ample architectural gestures found the ground to grow. The isolated built object could freely plunge in a sea of green flooding the generous lot, the surroundings turning both picturesque and modern. Beyond the private courts, the public space was modelled, following urban and landscape architecture principles, into squares, gardens and parks, green nuclei essential for domestic and social life of the block which had now become a privileged enclave.
The lot known as Dorobanți 1 (Protected Area no. 54) is one such urban island wedged between two large avenues, Calea Dorobanți and Lt. Aviator Radu Beller. The well-controlled street composition, the two George Călinescu parks and the Cpt. Av. Mărășoiu Gheorghe Park, the lot and the houses’ layout on the site, the uniformly withdrawing buildings, the limited height – both macro and micro components show that this is an upper-class residential area. As for the architectural style, the houses built in the interwar years mainly chose a modernist or a Neo-Romanian expression, respectful of the general ambiance and coherence.
Stopping at 15 Locotenent Aviator Iuliu Tetrat, where Nicolae Licareț lived, we see that the house opted for that Neo-Romanian design: the entry featuring an arcade supported by a single column, the ornamental profiles, the wooden pavilion, the window openings, all concentrated on the main façade. Here, peaceful living is not restricted to the generous private space, but fully enjoys the privileged context.
Andreea Mihaela Chircă