(born July 10, 1909, in PloieÃÂti, Romania, and died July 21, 1977, in Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian architect, son of Toma T. Socolescu and grandson of Toma N. Socolescu. A functionalist against his will, he was compelled to conform to the directives of communist Romania.
He was awarded two third-place medals, in construction and ornamental drawing, and later, in the first class from November 4, 1936, he received a second-place medal for a rendered project.
Graduated in architecture from the ÃÂcole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts of Paris in 1939, he was admitted to the 2nd class on July 10, 1934, winning two 3rd medals in construction and ornamental design, then to the 1st class on November 4, 1936, winning a 2nd medal for a submitted design. Before and during his studies, worked on the interior design of the transatlantic liner Normandie in 1932-1935 in Roger-Henri Expert's studio.
His first steps were taken alongside his father , in the 1940s, with whom he worked on several projects in the : plans for a locomotive depot in as well as the urban development plans for Câmpina and Mizil. His first position was as a university assistant at the Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture (Bucharest) in 1939, a post he held until 1951. According to his statement in his registration file with the Directorate of Higher Education in 1940, he was then serving a 12-month term in the Romanian army with the rank of second lieutenant.
He made his entire career in industrial architecture and large civilian buildings. From 1942 to 1945, he was Design Architect at the C.A.M ('), a position he would still assume from 1949 to 1951 at the IPC (Institute of Design and Construction). From 1952 to 1958, he was chief design architect at the Institute of Design for Industrial Constructions (IPCI), while also working externally for the Ministry of Local Economy, building canteens, housing and administrative pavilions. He pursued his expertise as chief design architect at the Institute of Design for Petroleum Refineries or ' (IPIP SA) from 1958 to 1960. Finally, from 1960 to 1967, he worked as a consultant architect at the Institute of Design for Food Industries (IPIA) or '. He ended his career as a professor at the Technical School of Architecture and Town Building () of Bucharest, from 1967 to 1970.
built a number of industrial projects, including a large-scale canning factory at Ovidiu near ConstanÃÂa, from 1959 to 1965, a site which would later house the country's first Pepsi-Cola plant.
Also a painter, he exhibited his watercolors at an exhibition organized by the Union of Architects of the Socialist Republic of Romania in Bucharest in 1954.
Toma Barbu's career was more modest than his abilities would have suggested, as his family suffered political persecution. The Romanian political police monitored him for much of his career, as they did his father. He was prosecuted for hostile expressions against the State and summoned several times by the Securitate. As he was not considered a danger to the regime, no further action was taken.
He was a member of several groups of architects:
The family of ', formerly part of FÃÂgÃÂraàor ÃÂara FÃÂgÃÂraÃÂului is a branch of the family of Muntenia, which lived in the county of DâmboviÃÂa. A , great boyar and son-in-law of Mihai Viteazul (1557âÂÂ1601), had two religious foundations in DâmboviÃÂa county, still existing, CorneÃÂti and RÃÂzvadu de Sus. He built their churches and another one in the suburb of TârgoviÃÂte. This boyar married , daughter of , also known as , sister of Prince Antonie-VodÃÂ. was recognized by as his illegitimate daughter, following an extra-marital liaison with . is buried in the church of RÃÂzvadu de Sus, where, on a richly carved stone slab, her name can be read.
Nicolae Iorga, the great Romanian historian and friend of Barbu's father Toma T. Socolescu, found ancestors among the founders of the City of in the 12th century. In 1655, the Prince of Transylvania George II Rákóczi ennobled an ancestor of Nicolae G. Socol: ", and through him his wife , his son , and their heirs and descendants of whatever sex, to be treated and regarded as true and undeniable NOBLEMEN.", in gratitude for his services as the Prince's courier in the Carpathians, a function "which he fulfilled faithfully and steadfastly for many years, and especially in these stormy times [...]". Around 1846, five come to Muntenia, from , in the territory of . One of the brothers was architect Nicolae Gh. Socol (??-1872). He settled in around 1840-1845, and named himself '. He married , from the suburb. He had a daughter (died in infancy) and four sons, two of whom became major architects: Toma N. Socolescu and . The lineage of architects continues with Toma T. Socolescu, and his son Barbu Socolescu.
The historian, cartographer and geographer evokes, in 1891, the presence of Romanian boyars of the first rank ', in Bucharest, descendants of from . Finally, Constantin Stan also refers, in 1928, to the precise origin of Nicolae Gheorghe Socol :
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Almost all of 's projects are in the industrial field, particularly in the food industry.
The entire factory has been emptied of its machine tools, and only the building and its metal structures remain clearly recognizable (in April 2024), despite extensions and modifications. It is located in a square bounded by the and the .