Toma T. Socolescu
Toma T. Socolescu (20 July 1883 in Ploiești – 16 October 1960 in Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian architect. He was one of the influencers of Romanian architecture from the early 20th century through World War II. Early life. Socolescu was born to a family of architects, encompassing both his father and uncle. His father was Toma N. Socolescu. His uncle was Ion N. Socolescu. He studied in 1901 at the lyceum St Peter and St Paul of Ploiești and then enrolled at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, then known as the National School of  Architecture. He was a student of Ion Mincu, the leading expert in Romanian architecture at the beginning of the 20th century. In June 1911, he graduated with honors, specializing in civil and religious architecture and Romanian archaeology. He returned to this institution to teach architectural theory from 1929 to 1947. Career. He began his career as a designer at the Central Post Office in Bucharest in 1904. In 1906 he was hired as a designer by a large workshop of architects dedicated to building the infrastructure of the 'Romanian General Exhibition of 1906'. Carol Park was specially designed for this  event by the French landscape architect Édouard Redont. The exhibition ran from 6 June to 23 November 1906 in Bucharest. The event was organized by the Romanian Government in honor of the 40-year reign of Carol I of Romania. This opportunity put him in contact with leading artists and architects of the time and is credited with having a decisive impact on the rest of his career. His travels to Vienna, Constantinople and Budapest in 1913, to Italy (15 December 1923 to 20 February 1924, and January 1937) and to France represented significant milestones in his life. In these  places he found inspiration for his work in Romania. World War I. He was drafted into the 47th Infantry Regiment in 1916, where he was assigned to the Bucharest transport regiment and sent to the 'Danube Defense Group' (Grupul Apărării Dunarii). There, with other architects and engineers, he was responsible for bridge demolition operations during the Moldavia retreat. He built hospitals and sanitation facilities, hoping to combat typhus, which was wreaking havoc on the Romanian army. Around 1917 he joined a battalion of mountain troops. The retreat of the Romanian army to Moldavia gave him the chance to discover the  rural and religious artistry of various Romanian regions. Clutching his notebook, he produced many drawings of folk art and traditional architectural styles that would later inspire him. Two reproductions of his watercolors of houses in Chișinău (Bessarabia) were published in 1926. In 1941 he wrote an article on the Romanian ancient art of Bessarabia, and illustrated it with his own watercolors. Architectural and urbanistic work. Socolescu was one of the leading advocates and a staunch defender of the Romanian national architectural style, also referred to as Neo brâncovenesc or Neo Romanian style. He was inspired particularly by the Brâncovenesc style . He worked to improve Ploiești's appearance and to develop public buildings for all of county of Prahova. His strong interest in archaeology led him to study and preserve many old houses and churches, and to publish essays and surveys on this subject. He played a key role in the management of the Society of Romanian Architects, and participated in his hometown's cultural and social life. He served as Mayor from December 1919 to March 1920. The artistic component of architecture was fundamental to him and he was very critical of architecture that was unrelated to art, especially to  traditional Romanian art. He decried a sharp increase in the number of architecture students lacking the necessary artistic talent. In his memoirs, he chastised architects active from the 1920s through the 1940s, who, according to him, neglected architecture's artistic foundations. He also denounced the projects which took only land use into account and noted the lack of hygiene in houses built between 1930 and 1950, while the buildings in France, Austria and Germany of the same period were much more advanced. In his editorials, he wrote against property speculation and the immediate search for profit that led to poor  construction and "soulless" buildings. In "The Architecture of Ploiești, A Historical Study" (1938), Socolescu wrote: In Ploiești. He served as mayor of Ploiești immediately after World War I, as well as the county's Chief Architect. He had to handle all major supply problems in the city. He was the primary instigator of the expansion of the city's boundaries, to include the refineries located in the periphery that allowed the city to benefit from the tax base they provided. The budget tripled and reached a level that allowed large infrastructure projects. He planned major changes in the city, including  the construction of the , and acted as urban planner. Many architectural projects that were not completed during his short term were finished by the mayors that succeeded him. Throughout his life, he improved town planning and hygiene for the city of Ploiești. From 1932 to 1935, in collaboration with architects Ion Davidescu and S. Vasilescu, he developed a systematic plan of the city. This plan gave more weight to green-space, traffic and railway and generally to allow for orderly growth. The plan provides for urban development and optimal population density, allocation for public and cultural institutions, schools and green -spaces. It also details the rules that defined land-use plans. He developed similar plans for the towns of Câmpina and Mizil. These projects were enforced until the Communist takeover in 1945. In Păulești. He settled into the commune of Păulești in 1927. He was its mayor between February 1938 and January 1945, a term interrupted by the Legionary Movement regime between November 1940 and February 1942. His second term was shortened by the Rădescu government in January 1945. In five and a half years, he built several buildings, bridges and public monuments, including the town hall, the primary school  and the public baths. He created landscaped areas for the municipal park, called (the park with chestnut. A chestnut tree-lined avenue cut across the park and led to the cemetery. He had hoped that an amusement park and an ornamental pond could be built to provide a large relaxing green space (Păulești is located 7 km from Ploiești). The project began around 1930, but was not completed before the Second World War. It was revived under the name of in 1995. After many legal disputes between the city and the construction company, the project was halted and then re -activated in July 2007. Work resumed in 2009. In 2007, in recognition of the benefits provided by the architect, the commune college was renamed Arhitect T T. Socolescu. In May 2011, another ceremony was held in his honour, unveiling a bust in his image that was installed in the school's courtyard. Cultural and artistic work. To support the culture life of his city, he launched initiatives that equipped Prahova County with its first museum and cultural institutions. Supported by Ploiești and Nicolae Iorga, he founded its first history museum, its first public library and its first museum of fine  arts. Regional Museum of Prahova. In 1914, aided by Nicolae Iorga, to appeal for the intervention of Ion Duca, then Minister of Education, he saved an historic house dating from the 18th century from destruction, preserving it in its original form: the coppersmith dealer house of Hagi Prodan (Casa Hagi Prodan). In 1919, as County Architect in Chief, he founded a small regional ethnographic and religious art museum in that house. It was the city's first museum, initially called or .After a public appeal and fundraising campaign, he collected art from across the county, with the help of priests  and teachers. The museum was stocked with furniture, clothing and icons forgotten in the region's attics. During the period 1940–1944, the museum's inventory was eventually lost or stolen and replaced with other objects collected by Professor , assisted by Socolescu. Known as the since 1953, the museum was renamed on 18 June 2005: . Popular University Nicolae Iorga. As a political and cultural companion of Nicolae Iorga, Socolescu actively participated in Summer courses (Known from 1920 as ) that Iorga established in 1911 in Vălenii de Munte. In addition to completing the plans of the classrooms, Socolescu regularly participated as a  speaker along with other professors and prominent figures from Romanian cultural and political life. Socolescu was a regular speaker, among other professors and prominent figures of Romanian cultural and political life. The renown and popularity grew to such an extent that the openings of the Summer courses attracted leading politicians and ministers. King Ferdinand of Romania, Prince Carol II of Romania and Princess Elisabeth of Wied attended Iorga's lectures. On 17 August 1938, Maria Tănase sang for the closure. Popular Library Nicolae Iorga. In 1921 he founded the "", originally installed on the municipal baths' right wing. Heading the Management  Committee, he expanded the library collection with help from donors. In the same place, on the ground floor, he developed an art gallery by collecting Western European artists' reproductions as well as original Romanian oils and watercolors. Inaugurated on 20 March 1921, it originally held 1,250 volumes. By 1937, more than 11.000 books and more than 3,500 publications were available free of charge to its 8,000 registered readers. Socolescu donated over 250 volumes from his collection. Museum of Fine Arts. He founded and developed an art gallery by collecting reproductions of Western Europe artists as well as original Romanian oils  and watercolors, on the ground floor of the same building. For this purpose, he was helped by a group of Ploiești intellectuals including lawyer, art collector and politician Ion Ionescu-Quintus, the historian Dumitru Munteanu-Râmnic, as well as by city mayors including Ștefan Moțoiu, who provided substantial financial support. Created around 1930, within the framework of the Cultural Foundation Nicolae Iorga, the pinacotheca subsequently became the Ploiești Art Museum. It was inaugurated by Socolescu in November 1931 The wopening speech is reproduced in extenso in Amintiri. It was only in 1965 that the museum would be moved to the  current building: the "Ghiță Ionescu palace", former County Prefecture. In "Arhitectura în Ploești, studiu istoric" and Monografia orașului Ploești, appear photographs, a list of all the exhibited painters, as well as some remarkable works present in the museum in 1938. The latter was then installed in the old municipal baths. Some oils and watercolors by Toma T. Socolescu, which the latter donated to the museum, still exist, as do some works by the artist Toma Gh. Tomescu, but are currently on display in the museum. Communist period. He refused to integrate into the Communist-sponsored organization of architects, and was  considered as an "enemy of the people" and was persecuted by the Communist authorities. His property was nationalized in the 1950s. He was not allowed to practice as an architect and was expelled from his Păulești estate on 21 February 1952. He moved in with his son Toma Barbu Socolescu in Bucharest. The Socolescu family was harassed by the "Securitate" almost until his death in 1960. Left without an income, he worked until the age of 74 at the Institute of Urban Planning and Construction (ISPROR). From 1953, within the framework of Institutul Central pentru sistematizarea orașelor și regiunilor (ICSOR ) he was seconded to the Department of Historical Monuments for four years. On 12 February 1957, he was forced to retire on a reduced pension. Socolescu nevertheless continued to protest projects that he considered to be against his idea of architecture.