GYPSY ARCHITECTURE

My entire knowledge of gypsies comes from old black & white, Hollywood werewolf movies. In those movies gypsies dress flamboyantly, are superstitious and quick to re-act to insult, and are wanderers who travel around in beautiful covered wagons. Well, I was partly wrong.  An increasing number of them aren't wanderers anymore.

Thanks to the enlightened tolerance of Romania and Moldova, the gypsies in those places often have permanent houses. Some of the gypsies are even rich and can afford custom-made villas and mansions.  A book called "Gypsy Architecture" documents these upscale neighborhoods where each house is built gypsy-style, with turrets, tiles, and layered rooftops (above). The style mixes Indian, Turkish, and even Chinese.

I'm really happy for the gypsies. Finally a place of their own! I read that very often the rich owners won't live in them.  The rooms are all furnished, and the appliances work, but the purpose of the house is impress people, and living in them would just get them dirty. Better to keep them pristine, as showpieces. The whole family sleeps outside. 

 

Boy, those columns on the clover-leaf porches look like ones you'd see in India!

A few interiors, courtesy of Anonymous.  I don't know what to make of these shots. There's a huge kitsch element here, but there's also a sincerity that commands respect.

And imposing fireplace (above) combined with a strangely vacant room. 

A high ceiling (above) combined with an unconventional color scheme.

Definitely different (above) than what I'm used to seeing here! I wish I could go to Romania and see these rooms for myself!