The Villa of the poet Octavian Goga, arch. Horia Creangă

7 Noiembrie 2018 • Articole

The Villa of the poet Octavian Goga, arch. Horia Creangă

Designed by the pioneer of modern Romanian architecture, at the command of the Interwar Romania's last Prime Minister, the Octavian Goga Villa is one of the iconic houses in Bucharest. Named after its first owner, the great poet and Transylvanian politician, the villa was built between 1936 and 1938.

On a generous part of more than 800 sqm of land near Ioanid Park, Octavian and Veturia Goga started the works for the construction of their home in the capital, 80 years ago. The imposing building that we can admire today had to reflect the political status of the poet was the Prime Minister of the Romanian Government for only 44 days. The result was a complete success. The 1,200 sqm of the villa, set on five levels, is one of the outstanding creations of Horia Creangă, the grandson of the great writer Ion Creanga.

His portfolio includes the ARO building in Brasov, the Palace of Culture in Cernăuţi and the Patria Cinema in Bucharest. Seen by many critics as the promoter of modernism in Romanian architecture, Horia Creangă drew a simple and elegant building despite its impressive dimensions and dominated by straight facades and extremely generous glazed spaces.

The building has been designed to serve a double purpose. The villa had to be both a welcoming home, and the place where Octavian Goga, poet, academician and politician, could receive a large number of guests. In fact, the solutions that were used for the first time in the era (reinforced concrete slabs) and the interior fittings, make the Octavian Goga villa a building that can serve today successfully the purpose for which it has been built. And the best proof of this is the list of its last tenants.

The villa was rented until recently being the personal residence of the Japanese Ambassador in Bucharest for more than 10 years. Before that, it was the place that the European Union representative in Romania, called home for five years. Beyond the exceptional architecture and the exquisite interior decorations (marble, walnut wood etc.), the main trait of the property remains the location. The villa comprising a beautiful garden of over 400 sqm is located in the heart of Bucharest enjoying at the same time the discretion and tranquility guaranteed by a street accessible only to the residents.