It was designed by the architect Horia Maicu [ro], in the Stalinist style of Socialist realism, resembling the main building of the Moscow State University, and was intended to house all of Bucharest's printing presses, the newsrooms and their staff.

On 21 April 1960, a statue of Vladimir Lenin, made by Romanian sculptor Boris Caragea, was placed in front of the building.

Renamed Casa Presei Libere ("House of the Free Press"), the building has basically the same role nowadays, with many of today's newspapers having their headquarters in it.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (Bursa de Valori București, BVB) was located in the Southern wing at one point.

As of 2023, the House of the Free Press is the only building in Bucharest that has kept the hammer and sickle communist symbol, which appears on reliefs on its façade.