24
25
Hotel Traian - the world first
building on steel structure
Nearly a one and a half century ago, Iasi city was at the vanguard of
new technology users, the specialists of that time making here one
of the first large buildings on a metal structure.
In 1882, two years before the architect Gustave Eiffel became
famous through the Statue of Liberty, and seven years before
raising the parisian tower which bears his name, in Iasi, in Unirii
Square, according to the plans of the master of Cote d'Or, an edifice
with neoclassical influence came to life: Hotel Traian.
The french architect introduced a new direction in the field of
construction as a result of the introduction of an innovative
technique: the use of prefabricated metal structures in the
construction of large buildings. As far as Hotel Traian is concerned,
it was built according to the plans of the french maestro, but was
built on cast iron columns and metallic platforms, the technology
being invented by the Romanian engineer Gheorghe Panculescu.
According to the architect Valentin Mandache, Traian Hotel is built
on a metal frame with prefabricated metallic elements, filled with
mild brick masonry, technology that has enabled the execution of
larger openings for windows. Made in the Beaux Arts style, reduced
to the essence, almost industrial - also typical of other buildings
erected by Gustave Eiffel, the building is a true wonder of the eras
engineering and architecture.
Hotel Traian has met its moment of glory in the First World War,
when it was the headquarters of the Romanian Government, the
capital of the country being temporary moved to Iasi at that time.
Hotel Traian - vintage photo