House of the Free Press
Casa Presei Libere is a building in northern Bucharest.
The construction began in 1952 and was completed in 1956. The building was named Combinatul Poligrafic Casa Scînteii "I.V.Stalin" and later Casa Scînteii (Scînteia was the name of the Romanian Communist Party's official newspaper). It was designed by the architect Horia Maicu, in the pure (albeit comparatively small-scale) style of Soviet 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.
In front of the building, on 21 April 1960 was placed a giant statue of Vladimir Lenin, made by Romanian sculptor Boris Caragea. This statue was however removed on 3 March 1990, following the Romanian Revolution of 1989.[1]
It has basically the same role nowadays, with many of today's newspapers having their headquarters in the same building, now renamed Casa Presei Libere ("The House of the Free Press"). The Bucharest Stock Exchange is located in the southern wing.
References
- ^ România Liberă. "Epilog la o statuie". 4 March 1990.