In a region known for its elegant and increasingly restored cities, the Romanian capital is, unfortunately, an ugly duckling among the swans. Instead of dazzling visitors with art deco or baroque, Bucharest overwhelms them with brutalist architecture. Add the dust, the traffic and the ubiquitous trash and the city once described as the Paris of the east is now sometimes referred to jeeringly as the New Delhi of the west.
Snide comments are not the only consequence. Though Bucharest is prospering, city officials worry that the capital’s rough appearance is holding back the local economy. “Bucharest has an image problem,” says Adrian Bold, the city’s chief architect. “It doesn’t help attract investors.”
