(b Focsani, 20 Dec 1852; d Bucharest, 6 Dec 1912). Romanian architect and teacher. He studied engineering at the School of Bridges and Roads, Bucharest, graduating in 1875, and then studied architecture at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, between 1877 and 1884, in the studio of Julien Azais Gaudet. From 1884 he established himself in independent practice in Bucharest, where he formed a group of disciples and influenced such architects as Petre Antonescu, Nicolae Ghika-Budesti and Cristofi Cerchez through his attempts to revive various formal and ornamental elements of Romanian vernacular architecture. He was the first to articulate the ‘neo-Romanian’ style in such works as the Lahovary Building (1886; now the Dr I. Cantacuzino Hospital), Bucharest, which uses the traditional Romanian elements of the verandah and lancet arch. However, the clearest expression of Mincu’s neo-Romanian style is the restaurant Bufetul (c. 1890; now Doina Restaurant), Bucharest, based on plans (1889; unexecuted) for a Romanian Restaurant–Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1889). He achieved here a picturesque effect with asymmetrical composition resulting from variations in height and roof pitch, which are balanced by rich decoration in the upper areas only. The focal element is a watch-tower, which is placed on the left of the main façade and combines vernacular decorative elements in traditional materials of brick, wood, coloured ceramics and tiles. Although the component elements are easily identified as having historical models, Mincu’s interpretation and integration of them is original. He was a founder-member (1891) and later President (1895) of the Society of Romanian Architects. Between 1896 and 1908 he was a professor at the High School (later Academy) of Architecture, Bucharest.

• Mincu, Ion
  • Bucharest, §1: History and urban development
  • Romania, §II, 3: Architecture, after c 1800
  • Romania, §X: Art education