Casa Popeea opens its doors full of light.
The history that runs through the streets of each city leaves behind a long list of ** emblematic buildings that are part of the identity of the place **. The past of some makes them untouchable and they remain intact for years to remember what their construction meant. Nevertheless, Over the years, humans and wars have also devastated many other until falling into oblivion.
Casa Popeea is a key piece in one of the historic neighborhoods of **Brăila, Romania **. Art Nouveau was the style chosen for its construction in 1900 , at the hands of a Greek merchant. And shortly after his birth, his decline began. A fire destroyed much of the building in 1923 , which was the trigger for its loss of importance. After the Second World War and confiscated by the socialist regime, it was involved in a spiral of lack of care and neglect.
Minimalism runs through the corridors of Casa Popeea impregnating the atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
The few and insufficient repair attempts after the change of regime in 1989, they left it abandoned to its fate and exposed to the free will of nature. It was in 2005 when, before it disappeared definitively, a series of urgent jobs . At that moment, the design and architecture studio of Manea Kella, together with Penta Stil Studio, were in charge of its redesign . Like a phoenix, there began the resurgence of its ashes.
** Its new identity is a boutique hotel ** in which the philosophy of the less is more . A transformation of space and light, but maintaining its history, which is now open to the public so as never to be forgotten again. 11 are the rooms that compose it , along with numerous facilities that are not only reserved for guests, but are open to other people.
The rooms, like the rest of the hotel, are full of light and charm.
After a careful and thoughtful strategy, access problems of a site that did not enjoy too much amplitude, have been resolved in an impeccable division of zones that is capable of pasting to perfection traditional and contemporary.
An entrance for guests , whose protagonist is a calm and relaxing reception in which light is the protagonist. A second ticket for the rest of the public that, through a tour of the ins and outs of the hotel, admiring the delicate hand-made mold on the walls, takes you to Cafe Popeea , perhaps the coffee shop we all dream of.
White, the color of the beginning, of new opportunities.
The oak rises as the main material , chosen for the restoration of the original staircase and the one in charge of taking us to rooms full of charm. The color palette is made up of the brown shades of wood, which form the perfect tandem with immaculate white . The result is a building bathed in natural light that creates a relaxing and dreamlike atmosphere.
There are no ornaments, no frills, **this is minimalism made art**. It almost seems that, as if it were a person, Manea Kella is giving the building away the calm and peaceful environment that you deserve after so much storm . The facade, which follows the line of the interior, is completely dyed in white , sending a clear message: this is the color of the beginning.
The rebuilding of Casa Popeea is not a repeat of history , nor an attempt to replace it. The past remains, but overcome , is the clear intention of having a new face and a new life, without forgetting what has brought her here. Now, the public enters its interior to get to know it in depth and start writing a new story.
The walls of Casa Popeea keep history, but they do not reflect it.