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Palace of the Parliament
Palatul Parlamentului
File:Palace Of Parliament Bucharest.jpgThe Palace in April 2018
Location within Romania
Former names	House of the Republic
Alternative names	People's House
General information
Architectural style	Totalitarian, neoclassical
Address	Calea 13 Septembrie 1, Sector 5
Town or city	Bucharest
Country	Romania
Coordinates	44°25′39″N 26°5′15″E / 44.42750°N 26.08750°E / 44.42750; 26.08750
Groundbreaking	25 June 1984
Completed	1997
Cost	€3 billion
Height
Architectural	84 m (276 ft)
Technical details
Size	240 m (790 ft) long, 270 m (890 ft) wide
Floor count	12
Floor area	365,000 m (3,930,000 sq ft)
Grounds	66,000 m
Design and construction
Architect(s)	700 architects under the direction of chief architect Anca Petrescu
Designations	World's largest civilian building with an administrative function World's most expensive administrative building World's heaviest building
Other information
Number of rooms	1,100

The Palace of the Parliament (Template:Lang-ro) is the seat of the Parliament of Romania. Located on Dealul Arsenalului in central Bucharest (Sector 5), it is the second largest administrative building in the world, if excluding the Pentagon with a height of 84 metres (276 ft), an area of 365,000 square metres (3,930,000 sq ft) and a volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres (90,000,000 cu ft). In terms of weight, the Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world, weighing in at around 4,098,500,000 kilograms (9.0356×10 lb).

A colossal building, it was built as a monument for totalitarian kitsch, with socialist realism in mind, upon the order of a megalomaniac communist dictator during a period in which the cult of personality was in full force. Known for its ornate interior composed of 23 sections, it houses the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, three museums and an international conference center. The museums hosted inside the Palace are the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Communist Totalitarianism (established in 2015) and the Museum of the Palace. Though named the House of the Republic (Template:Lang-ro), after the Romanian Revolution in 1989 it became widely known as the People's House (Template:Lang-ro). Due to its impressive endowments, events organized by state institutions and international bodies such as conferences, symposia, and others take place there, but even so about 70% of the building remains empty.

In 1990, Australian business magnate Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy the building for US $1 billion, but his bid was rejected. As of 2008, the Palace of the Parliament is valued at €3 billion ($3.4 billion), making it the most expensive administrative building in the world. The cost of heating and electric lighting alone exceeds $6 million per year, as much as the cost for a medium-sized city.

It made second place in a ArchDaily list for "most expensive, unsuccessful and shameful architectural projects ever made".

Location

The building of the Palace is located in the central part of Bucharest (in Sector 5), in a location that today is known as Dealul Arsenalului. It is situated at the west end of the 3,5 kilometre Unirii Boulevard, constructed simultaneously with the Palace, and is framed by Izvor Street to the west and northwest, United Nations Avenue to the north, Liberty Avenue to the east and Calea 13 Septembrie to the south.

History

After the earthquake of 4 March 1977, communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu found a pretext to demolish Bucharest old architecture. He wanted a civic center more in line with the country political stance, started a reconstruction plan of Bucharest based on socialist realism. The People's House was the center of this project. Named Project Bucharest, it was an ambitious project of Ceaușescu's begun in 1978 as an intended replica of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. A systematization project existed since the 1930s (during the time of Carol II) for the Unirii–Dealul Arsenalului area. Its construction was organized as a contest and won by Anca Petrescu, who was appointed chief architect of the project when she was just 28. In total, the team that coordinated the work was made up of 10 architects, which supervised a further 700. Construction of the Palace began on June 25, 1984, and the inauguration of the work was attended by Ceaușescu.

The building was erected on the site of some monasteries that were demolished and on the site of Uranus Hill that was leveled. In this area were located the National Archives, Văcărești Monastery, Brâncovenesc Hospital, as well as about 37 old factories and workshops. Demolition in Uranus area began in 1982. 7 km of the old city center was demolished, and 40,000 people were relocated from this area. The works were carried out with forced labor of soldiers and so the cost was minimized.

Between 20,000 and 100,000 people worked on the site, operating in three shifts, 5000 soldiers, huge numbers of "volunteers". Thousands of people died in connection with the construction of the People's House, some mention a figure of 3,000 people.

In 1989 building costs were estimated at $1.75 billion, and in 2006 at €3 billion.

After 1989

Since 1994 the building hosts the Chamber of Deputies, after the initial headquarters of the institution, the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies (now the Palace of the Patriarchate), was donated by state to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Since 2004 the Romanian Senate is headquartered in the building, originally housed in the former building of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party.

Between 2003 and 2004 a glass annex was built alongside external elevators. This was done to facilitate access to the National Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 2004 inside the west wing of the Palace. In the same period, a project aiming to hoist a huge flag was canceled following protests from the public. A flag was already hoisted on the building, but was removed together with the support.

The restaurant, accessible only to politicians, was refurbished. Since 1998 the building houses a Regional SECI Center for Fighting Transborder Crime.

In 2008, the Palace hosted the 20th NATO summit. In 2010, politician Silviu Prigoană proposed re-purposing the building into a shopping centre and an entertainment complex. Citing costs, Prigoană said that Parliament should move to a new building, as they occupied only 30% of the massive palace. While the proposal has sparked a debate in Romania, politician Miron Mitrea dismissed the idea as a "joke".

The Palace has also been the background of several motorsports events, including the 2011 Drift Grand Prix Romania, which brought together professional drifters from all over Europe.

Technical details

The construction of the Palace began in 1984 and initially should have been completed in only two years. The term was then extended until 1990, but even now it is not finalized. Only 400 rooms and two meeting rooms are finished and used, out of 1,100 rooms.

The building has eight underground levels, the last one being an antiatomic bunker, linked to the main state institutions by 20 km of catacombs. Nicolae Ceaușescu feared nuclear war. The bunker is a room with 1.5 m thick concrete walls and can not be penetrated by radiation. The shelter is composed of the main hall – headquarters that would have had telephone connections with all military units in Romania – and several residential apartments for state leadership, in the event of war.

The building has a developed area of 365,000 m, making it the world's third-largest administrative building, after The Pentagon and Long'ao Building, and in terms of volume, with its 2.55 million m, it is the third most massive, after the Vehicle Assembly Building of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan, Mexico. For comparison, it can be mentioned that the building exceeds by 2% the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza, and therefore some sources label it as a "pharaonic" construction.

The building of the Palace of the Parliament sinks by 6 mm each year. Romanian specialists who analyzed the data argue that massive weight and structure of the Palace lead to the settlement of layers below the construction.

Materials

The building was constructed almost entirely of materials of Romanian origin. The only exceptions are the doors of Nicolae Bălcescu Hall. These were received by Ceaușescu as a gift from his friend Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire.

Among them: 3,500 tonnes of crystal – 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals;1,000,000 m of marble 900,000 m of wood (over 95% domestic) for parquet and wainscotting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 m of woolen carpets of various dimensions (machines had to be moved inside the building to weave some of the larger carpets); velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold.

Gallery

• Palace of the Parliament seen from the Union Boulevard Palace of the Parliament seen from the Union Boulevard
• Palace of the Parliament and the Romanian People's Salvation Cathedral, currently under construction
• Inside the Palace of the Parliament
• International Conference Centre
• Palace of the Parliament, view from the Izvor Park

References

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2. "Heaviest building". Guinness World Records.
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4. ^ "Vlad Bodogan: Architecture of oppression: an analyses of the socio-political implications behind the construction of Casa Scânteii". Pavilion Magazine. 11 July 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
5. "Megalomania lui Ceaușescu: dorința de a merge pe sub București și povestea catacombelor secrete". 11 June 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
6. "Se muncea, dar se și murea. Povești cutremurătoare de pe șantierele lui Ceaușescu". 11 July 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
7. "Senatul a adoptat legea privind infiintarea Muzeului Totalitarismului Comunist. Academia Romana va intocmi si un raport de condamnare a comunismului". HotNews.ro. 22 September 2015.
8. "Palatul Parlamentului, o emblema a Bucurestiului". Hotel-Bucuresti.com.
9. John Malathronas (5 December 2014). "Palace of the damned dictator: On the trail of Ceausescu in Bucharest". CNN.
10. "Detalii nestiute despre Casa Poporului, cea mai scumpa cladire administrativa din lume". Stirile Pro TV. 16 May 2013.
11. "Casa Poporului - de trei ori în Cartea Recordurilor". Gândul. 4 April 2008.
12. Andrei Pandele (September 2008). "Palatul Parlamentului din Casa Poporului". National Geographic România.
13. "Palatul Parlamentului din Bucureşti ocupă locul doi într-un top al celor mai costisitoare, lipsite de succes şi ruşinoase proiecte de arhitectură făcute vreodată. Clasamentul a fost realizat de arch daily, cel mai vizitat site de arhitectură din lume". 19 July 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
14. Roxana Ruscior (21 August 2014). ""Ceauşima" – cum a fost demolat cartierul Uranus". Descoperă.ro.
15. "Demolarea casei Grigore Cerkez după cutremurul din 1977". 11 July 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
16. "De la Casa Poporului la Palatul Parlamentului. Istoria clădirii care a intrat de trei ori în Cartea Recordurilor". Digi24. 31 October 2013.
17. "Spitalul Brâncovenesc nu trebuia să cadă!". Ziarul Ring. 22 February 2010.
18. "Atunci si acum: Casa Poporului". Metropotam. 9 June 2009.
19. Ioan Popa (1992). Robi pe Uranus (I ed.). Humanitas. ISBN 973-28-0304-5.
20. "Şantierele groazei. Cum s-au construit cu sânge mastodonţii doriţi de Ceauşescu: Casa Poporului, Canal, Transfăgărăşan şi Bicaz". 11 July 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
21. Anca Murgoci (8 November 2013). "Peste ce s-a construit Casa Poporului. Vezi imagini din 1982". DC News.
22. Mariusz Czepczynski (June 2008). Cultural Landscapes of Post-Socialist Cities. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-7022-3.
23. "South-East Europe Cooperative Initiative (SECI)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
24. Matthew Day (4 February 2010). "Nicolae Ceausescu palace 'to be turned into shopping mall'". The Telegraph.
25. "Guest Blog: Drift.ro>> Sideways In Romania's Capital - Speedhunters". Speedhunters. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
26. "Secretele Casei Poporului | "Ceauşescu voia să umble cu maşina pe sub Bucureşti"". Libertatea. 21 February 2011.
27. "La plimbare prin subsolul Casei Poporului". Adevărul. 26 March 2010.
28. "Lucruri mai putin stiute despre Casa Poporului - cea mai mare cladire din Europa". Metropotam. 4 March 2015.
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31. "VITROMETAN, locul unde 2 ani s-a lucrat la candelabrele din Casa Poporului. De la moda peştelui din sticlă colorată aşezat pe mileul de pe televizor la planul pentru supravieţuire". Mediafax. 26 March 2013.
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External links

• Cristina Hanganu-Bresch, The People's House: The Building and Rebuilding of Romanian National Consciousness
• Palace of Parliament - Chamber of Deputies, Bucharest at Google Cultural Institute

v t e Tall buildings in Romania
Built Bucharest >100 m Floreasca City Center (137 m) People's Salvation Cathedral (135 m) Globalworth Tower (118 m) Ana Tower (110 m) Bucharest Tower Center (106 m) House of the Free Press (104 m) 70-100 m Asmita Gardens (92 m) Orhideea Towers (85 m) Palace of the Parliament (84 m) Bucharest Financial Plaza (83 m) BRD Tower (82 m) Charles de Gaulle Plaza (80 m) Doamna Ghica Plaza A (80 m) Euro Tower (80 m) Grand Hotel Bucharest (77 m) Nusco Tower (76 m) Monaco Towers (76 m) Cathedral Plaza (75 m) City Gate Towers (75 m) TVR Tower (74 m) Crystal Tower (72 m) Millennium Business Center (72 m) The Mark (70 m) <70 m Unicredit Tower (68 m) United Nations Plaza (66 m) Phoenix Tower (65 m) Rin Grand Hotel (65 m) Piraeus Bank Tower (64 m) Premium Plaza (64 m) Griro Tower (60 m) Bucharest Corporate Center (60 m) CCIR Building (57 m) BSE Tower (56 m) UpGround (55 m) Pipera Business Tower (54 m) Pullman Hotel (52 m) Oracle Tower (45 m) Anchor Plaza (35 m) Satu Mare Administrative Palace Satu Mare (97 m) Dana Complex (64 m) Cluj Napoca West City Tower (95 m) BRD Tower (50 m) Timișoara UBC 0 (90 m) UBC 3 (84 m) ISHO Riverside A (75 m) ISHO Riverside D (70 m) UBC 2 (60 m) UBC 1 (60 m) Iași Palas Iași (71 m) University of Medicine and Pharmacy (65 m) Sibiu MyContinental Hotel (58 m) BCR Tower Sibiu (56 m)		Bucharest skyline in 2022.
Proposed Esplanada City Center (250 m) Dâmbovița Center Towers (155 m) Cefin Tower (125 m) Sky Towers Cluj Napoca (125 m) Sigma Towers (120 m) Sema Parc Hotel (75 m)
Demolished Basarab Tower (104 m) Carlton Bloc (47 m)
Tallest timeline Turnul Colței (1714–1888) Foișorul de Foc (1890–1932) Carlton Bloc (1932–1934) Telephones Company Building (1934–1956) House of the Free Press (1956–2007) Bucharest Tower Center (2007–2012) Floreasca City Center (2012–present)
Buildings listed in order of height Building data source: Skyscraper Center See also: List of tallest buildings in Romania & List of tallest buildings in Bucharest Category:Buildings and structures in Romania Category:Skyscrapers in Romania

• Use dmy dates from April 2011
• Government buildings completed in 1997
• Museums in Bucharest
• Government buildings in Romania
• Palaces in Bucharest
• Parliament of Romania
• Legislative buildings in Europe
• Seats of national legislatures
• Landmarks in Romania
• Skyscraper office buildings in Bucharest
• Terminating vistas
• Stalinist architecture
• Neoclassical architecture in Romania