Born in Bucharest in 1915, Grigorescu finished her studies at the Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture in 1941 (she received her diploma only after the end of the second world war, in 1946). In 1942, she began working as an architect for the Romanian Radio, moving to the Ministry of Information in 1947; in 1950-51 she was employed at the Institute for Construction Planning (IPC). Simultaneously, since 1949 she worked as an assistant at the Department of Architecture of the Ion Mincu Architectural Institute between 1949 and 1951. Since 1954, she worked at the State Committee of Architecture and Construction (CSAC), and, starting in 1960, at the Directorate of Historic Monuments, which became her most long-lasting and significant position. 

In addition to architecture, Grigorescu practiced fine and decorative art, often supporting her work as a preservationist with sketches and small sculptures. In the course of this work, she developed a personal and original approach to preservation, which colleague Ștefan Balș described in the following way:

…Although I couldn’t agree with her understanding of restoration work, I highly appreciated her exigent execution and the passion she put into restoration. Unfortunately, she also provided a personal touch which often downsized the traditional expression of the monument, in her commendable but also ambitious wish to treat her works in the spirit of today’s architecture.

However, the restoration work of loana Grigorescu was marked by honesty and authenticity, as she herself said: „…like putting together a clay bowl using a contrasting material. Looking at it, one is content to know which portion is truly original and which has been repaired. (1)

Grigorescu headed multiple projects of restoration of monasteries in Romania, including the Dealu-Târgoviște monastery (with Nicolae Diaconu, 1954-55). Following the foundation of the Directorate of Historic Monuments, between 1960 and 1971 Grigorescu and Diaconu worked on the restoration of several monasteries in the north of Romania, including Sucevița, Dragomirna, Voroneț, Humor, and Galata. Alone, she worked on the monasteries in Slatina (1960-1972), Secu (1963-1972), Sihăstria Secului (1966-1969), Putna (1966-1972), as well as on und the Dosoftei house in Iași (1964-1967). Grigorescu also published her preservation projects in professional journals. Her monograph on the architectonic and technical aspects of suspension bridges in Moldavian monasteries remained unpublished.

Footnotes:

1. Quoted in Lazăr and Negulescu, “Romanian Women Architects în Preserving Cultural Heritage,” 316.