Petre Antonescu

Over the course of a career that spanned the first half of the 20th century, he established himself as a leader in the field within his country, helping define a national style of neo-Romanian architecture.

Together with Gheorghe Balș and Nicolae Ghica-Budești, he formed part of the historic monuments committee, helping create a scientific template for restorations.

[6] He was granted the State Prize in 1952 for rebuilding and expanding the Bucharest City Hall [ro],[7] and in 1958 was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic, first class.

[5] Together with his predecessor Ion Mincu, Antonescu helped define the existence of a national style in Romanian architecture, becoming a dominant force in the field during the first half of the 20th century.

[5] Like Mincu, he believed that the past creations of Romanians could serve as a vast reservoir of inspiration, and drew on this as his main professional preoccupation.

[10] While training under Guadet and Edmond Paulin, he began his career in the classically oriented academicism prevailing at their school, designing several important works in this spirit.

In Biserici nouă – proiecte și schițe (1942, re-edited 1943), he presented theories on the history of church architecture and the foundations of the Byzantine style.