1 Testing the Physiognomy of the ARHITECTURA Magazine (1952-1989) 1 Ana Maria Zahariade (Published in Studies of History and Theory of Architecture (sITA )1/2013, Printed in Red. Architectural Writings during Communism, Editura Universitară Ion Mincu, 2013; https://sita.uauim.ro/) Publishing an architectural magazine has never been simple in Romania, no matter the political regime. Before World War II, many such publications had meteoric life; enthusiasm and good intentions were ineffective when confronted with reality in terms of money, authors and time. Among the twenty-five professional magazines that came out between 1890 and 1947 2 , most of them ephemeral, the Arhitectura magazine had the longest life and an unusual consistency. Founded in 1906 as the periodical of the Society of Architects, it continuously represented the “official” point of view of the sponsoring organisation through thirty-six issues published (although with many disruptions and delays 3 ) until 1944. From this perspective, the 1952-1989 period might look as much more favourable, since 239 issues of (the “renewed”) Arhitectura were published with no interruption. Certain delays in its publication are noticeable, especially at the end of the 1980s, but this is irrelevant in a context where the delays in the editorial calendar of other cultural magazines in the same period could be counted in years 4 . 1 This article is based on an older study: A.M. Zahariade, “Privire generală asupra evoluției revistei ‘Arhitectura’” [An Overview of the Evolution of “Arhitectura” Magazine], in Istorii reprimate [Repressed Histories], A.M. Zahariade (director), Augustin Ioan, Nicolae Lascu, 2001, (CNCSIS research project, not published). 2 Between the first architectural magazine, Analele arhitecturii și ale artelor cu care se leagă (1890- 1893), and the last issue of Simetria (1939-1947) 3 Before WW II, besides the 25 mainly professional magazines, G. Tabacu counted 18 building periodicals, 16 cultural and artistic and 11 commercial, where architecture was present. The life of the overwhelming majority of the 25 architectural publications was very short; most of them had a handful of issues. See Gabriela Tabacu, “Arhitectura în periodicele românești de specialitate până la al Doilea Război Mondial” [Architecture in Romanian Periodicals until the Second World War] (PhD diss., UAUIM, 1999). 4 I.e., the remarkable cultural magazine Secolul 20.