House of the Free Press

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Historic building

The House of the Free Press (Template:Langx), built and known under Communist rule as Casa Scînteii (' The Spark Building') after the Party newspaper edited and printed there, is a building in northern Bucharest, Romania, the tallest in the city between 1956 and 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

A horse race track was built in 1905 on the future site of the House of the Free Press. A third of the track was removed in 1950 to make way for a wing of the building, and the race track was finally closed and demolished in 1960, after a decision by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.<ref>"Povestea unei lumi dispărute: cursele de cai din România" Template:Webarchive, Evenimentul Zilei, October 21, 2008</ref>

Construction began in 1952 and was completed in 1956. The building was named Combinatul Poligrafic Casa Scînteii "I.V. Stalin" ('The Scînteia Building Poligraphic Combine [named for] J.V. Stalin) and later simply Casa Scînteii (Scînteia was the name of the Romanian Communist Party's official newspaper). It was designed by the architect Template:Ill, 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.

It has a foundation with an area of Template:Convert, the total constructed surface is Template:Convert and it has a volume of Template:Convert. Its height is Template:Convert without the television antenna, which measures an additional Template:Convert,<ref>Dicționarul Enciclopedic Romîn, 1962</ref> bringing the total height to Template:Convert.

Between 1952 and 1966, Casa Scînteii was featured on the reverse of the 100 lei banknote.

On 21 April 1960, a statue of Vladimir Lenin, made by Romanian sculptor Boris Caragea, was placed in front of the building. However, this statue was removed on 3 March 1990, following the Romanian Revolution of 1989.<ref>"Epilog la o statuie", România Liberă, 4 March 1990.</ref> On 30 May 2016, the Monument of the Anti-Communist Fight ("Wings") was inaugurated in the same place.

Renamed Template:Lang ("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.<ref name="EI">Template:Cite news</ref>

Casa Scînteii on the reverse of a 100-lei banknote, 1952
Gathering of Romanian young pioneers at Lenin's statue in front of Casa Scînteii in 1977
The House of the Free Press and the "Wings" Monument

The House of the Free Press and the "Wings" Monument
General view from the Free Press Square

General view from the Free Press Square
View of building sometime between 1990 and 2016

View of building sometime between 1990 and 2016
Soviet-style five-pointed star on the façade