This is the second largest civilian adminstrative building in the world, surpassed only by the Pentagon, and is also considered to be the most expensive, due to the sheer quantity of building suplies which were used for this cyclopic structure. And this landmark of Bucharest and symbol of the Communist regime, also known as the House of the People / Casa Poporului isn't even completed, for the initial project was even more ambitious.
This palace was Nicolae Ceausescu's grandest project and was envisioned as a seat of power and a symbol of the triumph of the Communist regime and of the New Era. It took a great deal of work for everything to be built as it can be seen today, and stories go that often the presidential couple - Ceausescu and his wife - would come to the building and look around. If they didn't like something, the whole part - in some cases whole rooms or walls - was torn down and rebuilt. Over and over and over again, regardless of the costs. Now, the building is around 270 m by 240 m, no less than 86 m tall and has an underground of about 92 m, all in all having over 1100 rooms, some of them huge halls, with likewise decorations. And it isn't even finished.
Some say the architecture, which mixes several motifs and styles in an eclectic manner is awful and ugly, while others claim that the Palace of the Parliament is by no means the greatest achievement in the history of Romanian architecture. What is sure is that thousands of people worked here, including military, many of them were killed due to the lack of protection rules and hard conditions, and a whole district, Uranus, a beautiful place with historical mansions and small houses, was literally destroyed and ceased to exist. All for a structure that nowadays is still regarded as much too big for the city. Another satisfied ambition of the regime was to use only Romanian building materials, and to some degree it was an inspired choice, although the quantities are astounding. For example, only the marble used here surpasses one million cubic meters, an amount which is hard even to imagine. Likewise were the quantities of crystal, the surface of carpeting, the number of doors, lights, decorative accessories and on and on. The steel and bronze ornaments were just as expensive, several hundred thousand tonnes being used for this project, as was the wood for flooring. What was sure was that for this project the regime only wanted the best.
The centre of the New Bucharest, after the old historical one had been almost completely obligaterated, the building of the House of the People began in 1983, and initially the Presidency of the Republic, the Great National Assembly, the Governement and the Supreme Court were due to be moved here. All of the institutions in one huge complex, a signal that all was in control, under the guidance of one party and one man. It is hard to even begin to estimate the costs of this entire project, which would be worthy of the time of the ancient Egyptians, if it were more interesting and better from an architectural point of view.
The downfall of the Communist regime led to the ending of this project, which was never completely finished. After a period of visiting the place, when people stayed at queues for several hours, the interest slowly faded and the presence of the huge structure became something usual. Since 1997 it houses the Chamber of Deputies, while the Senate was moved here in 2005, there are also several halls, some of which can be rented. Visitors can see some of the House of the People with the help of very well prepared guides, and the building also houses the National Museum of Contemporary Art and te Museum and Park of Socialist Realism.
The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest has its supporters and also its fair share of detractors. Some are claiming this is the greatest thing ever built in the country, while others claim that it is an ugly, useless and absurd project, for which much of the old Bucharest was destroyed.
