All is old and all is new. The Udriște Năsturel stone house in Herăști
All is old and all is new. The Udriște Năsturel stone house in Herăști

Summary/Abstract: Due to outstanding features, some buildings become milestones for both the history of architecture and the preservation of cultural heritage. At the same time, however, the same special qualities that give such edifices the status and aura of landmarks have overshadowed (at least in the past) other meanings, sometimes leading even to the elimination of some of the layers resulting from the historical evolution that the present (after the Venice Charter with its respect for the “valid contributions of the various ages”) would consider at least as important. In most cases, those significances and historical strata are lost forever. Sometimes, however, the very interventions of the past that saved but also impoverished these buildings offer the chance of a complete recovery of the meanings previously sacrificed in favour of the most remarkable ones. The “Stone House” in Herăști is one of these building, its rich denotations and connotations being acquired along the three major “moments” owed to the family Năsturel, to the prince Miloš Obrenović and to the Stolojan family. In a future article, the three projects from the 20th century will be addressed, as well as the works executed then, works that, in the current conception, are not scientifically founded (anymore) but which, paradoxically, currently constitute the basis on which it is possible to elaborate an intervention that allows the effective in situ recovery of the meanings due to the more recent stages of the historical evolution of the ensemble.

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