Ştefan Balş

Ştefan (Lupu M.) Balş (b. Bucharest, 27 Oct 1902, d. 1994) was a Romanian restorer, architect and architectural historian.

He studied (1922-8) at the High School of Architecture, Bucharest, under Petre Antonescu and Paul Smarandescu. In 1928 he obtained a two-year bursary to study at the Accademia di Romania, Rome, where he specialized in architectural restoration. He attended the courses of Gustavo Giovannoni at the faculty of architecture at the Universit? La Sapienza, Rome, and studied Italian restoration projects.

From 1930 he worked for the Historical Monuments Commission in Bucharest. Among his early restoration projects were the 18th-century churches of Kretzulescu (1932-39) and Antim (1945), Bucharest, and during this period he also designed a number of original works, such as the Gordon Hayward Villa (1936-7) in Câmpina, the church in Balcic, and the Pherekyde and Constantinescu houses (1938), also in Balcic.

Notable later restorations include the 17th-century monastery church (1943-4) at Iasi, the church (1963-70) at Cetatea Neamtului, and the monasteries at Moldovita (1966-70) and Horezu (1961-75). He also undertook extensive works at the ancient city of Alba Iulia, restoring the Assembly Hall (1967-8) at the Babilon Barracks, the Orthodox Cathedral (1967-71) and the 13th-century Roman Catholic Cathedral (1967-75).

His restorations were generally discreet and restrained, and they reflected a careful analysis of the pre-existent material and archaeological evidence. He opposed the tendency, fashionable in the 1960s, in which the final image of the building was moulded in the spirit of contemporary building styles.

Balş wrote extensive reports on many of his restoration projects. In 1990 he was made an honorary member of the National Commission for Monuments, Ensembles and Historical Sites and also of the board of the Union of Architects.