Take any tramway and after a few stops you reaches the crossing where all the old buildings vanish and the districts made of endless blocks of flats start. Monotonous, monochromatic concrete jungle.Nothing to be surprised with, this is how it was believed 70 years ago, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, how ordinary people's homes should look like.
The first what you can think is "well, exactly like e.g. in Ukraine or anywhere else". But when you walk a little bit and observe the people for a while, you start to have some doubts...
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| Somewhere in the eastern parts of Bucharest..... |
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| Piata Obor, a big market between blocks. And an inherent barbecue bistro. |
The lifestyle of Romanians is much more similar to the lifestyle of Italians (those from the south to be honest...) than Homo Sovieticus. The way they are dressed, the way they spend their free time….. There are hundreds of bars, shops and open air markets on every fragment of a street. You can buy a cup of coffee every 20 m. People spend a lot of time outdoor, sitting on a bench, chatting or playing board games. Street – this is where the life is going, homes are just dormitories.
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| Technological solutions from the west - Italy or Spain |
I observe this everyday and I started to wonder, how it could happen that communism was introduced here. Who did it? Romanian people? It is really hard to believe. They are all so peaceful that I can’t imagine them doing a revolution. How did it happen that they moved from country side to concrete blocks? Romanians hate Bucharest, much more than a ordinary citizens in other countries hate their capitals, or rather, people from capitals. Every weekend they go with a whole family for a picnic, barbecue or whatever, just to leave the city.
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| A specially designed feature for keeping cables outdoor. |
What we can see on the street is a strange mixture of soviet blocks and Mediterranean people. Romanian towns could be as attractive for tourists as Italian ones.
Someone could say that ‘no, it’s too dirty here, too much rubbish on the street etc. Ok, but we have to distinguish 2 kinds of “untidiness” - eastern style one and southern style one.
In the southern country, if something is broken and nobody repairs it, it is because nobody bothers. It is too hot to do anything, it is better to have siesta….
In the eastern countries, if something is broken and nobody repairs, it is because it is a public property and nobody wants to work for free for someone else.
The reasons are different and the aesthetics of these two kinds of ‘untidiness’ are different too.
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| A definitely non-soviet font |
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| I can't see much difference form some spanish housing districts |
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| Like in Italy, isn't it? |
In Romania East meets South. It is really interesting to take a walk and think, if the street is dirty because it is a Mediterranean lifestyle, or the legacy of the previous system….
