The Universul Palace (Palatul Universul) is a historic building in central Bucharest that once housed the ‘Universul’ newspaper.
The newspaper Universul was founded by the Italian journalist Cazzavillan in 1884 and appeared until 1953. The first building, which is now the C-wing, was built just before the first issue of the newspaper in 1884, but became too small over time.
At the initiative of Stelian Popescu, director of Universul between 1915 and 1945, a new headquarters was constructed between 1926 and 1930, which now form the A and B wings of the Universul Palace. The 7-story building was designed by the famous architect Paul Smărăndescu, who had also designed the private residence of Stelian Popescu in 1911. The construction was completed with the help of the engineer Emil Pager and the constructor N.I. Bratescu.
The Universul was a joint stock company, but under the communist regime, the assets were nationalized and the state-owned Printing Company 2 was housed in the building. The newspaper continued to be issued under a new management until 1953. At that time the state newspaper Bucharest Information (Informația Bucureștiului) operated in the building until 1989. On 22 December 1989, the newspaper Freedom (Libertatea) was founded as the first independent newpaper of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and ran for about 10 years in the building.
After an extensive renovation, the Universul Palace now has a mixed use as office spaces, a creative hub, a cafe, a cocktail bar, and other purposes.
