The Legacy of a Political Regime. Hunedoara Steelworks: From Industrial Architecture to Industrial Landscape, 1947 - 89

Due to its association with Ceausescu’s Golden Era of industrial realizations, the concept of ‘steel landscape’ reminds still today of the communist regime in Romanian context (Kombinat, 2007). In fact, the ‘Cult of Steel’ and the forced industrialization process represented common features in the characteristics of the entire Eastern Bloc after 1945, resulting in important territorial transformations (Aman, 1992). In Romania, the communist industrialization determined the passage from an agricultural-based economy towards an industrialised one (Ronnas, 1984). Moreover, the new ‘steel landscape’ was widely used for propagandistic purposes to emphasize the State’s economic, urban, architectural, and even social achievements. The site of Hunedoara was such an icon. Already with a pig iron production since 1884, Hunedoara increased its size tenfold during the period 1947 – 89 due to the intense industrial development, becoming one of the main Romanian metallurgic sites. Published images of Hunedoara Steelworks in architectural publications as well as in touristic guides, contributed to the creation of a metallurgic landmark further pushing towards the creation of a local memory revolving around the steel production. This paper focuses on the landscape transformations that generated the ‘metallurgic icon’ of Hunedoara during 1947 – 89, with a detailed analysis of Hunedoara Steelworks’ architecture. Indeed, the industrial architecture was another leitmotiv of the communist propaganda especially in the context of the State’s control of construction industry and architectural practice. This case-study offers the possibility to analyze the industrial architecture from a qualitative point of view, and will help formulating hypothesis regarding the architectural practice in communist Romania. The understanding of the complex evolution of Hunedoara Steelworks over time could help in forming new ‘social awareness’ regarding the built environment inherited from a political regime of the recent past. This could be especially important in the modern context of recently created ‘steel landscape’ quick disappearance