Jugoslavija
– architettura e città (1945-91). I nuovi studi
convegno
24 gennaio 2013
Aula Tafuri, palazzo Badoer
a cura di:
Luka Skansi (Iuav)
Ines Tolić (Università di Bologna)
Inizio
lavori, 9.30:
Luka Skansi, relazione introduttiva
10
Tamara Bjažić-Klarin (Accademia delle Scienze e delle Arti, Zagabria)
CIAM in the Service of Constructing Socialist
Society
10.40
Martina
Malešič (Università di
Ljubljana)
Scandianavian Influences on Slovenian Housing culture after WWII
11.20
Maroje
Mrduljaš (Università di Zagabria; Rivista
“Oris”)
Learning from Yugoslav Tourism
12
Karin
Šerman (Università di Zagabria)
The Role of Abstraction in Croatian Postwar Architectural Modernism
Pausa pranzo
14.30
Višnja
Kukoč (Università di Spalato)
Split 3 – Third City Region
15.10
Jelena Grbić (Grupa Arhitekata, Belgrado)
“Made in Yugoslavia”: Prefabrication and
Housing Projects
Jelica Jovanović (Grupa
Arhitekata, Belgrado)
Prefab Glossary. Milestones of Post-WW2 Yugoslav
Building Industry.
16.20
Ines Tolić
(Università di Bologna)
Skopje after the earthquake in 1963
17.00
Ljiljana
Blagojević (Università di Belgrado)
Inquiry into emergence of
architectural postmodernism in late socialism
Abstract degli interventi
Tamara Bjažić Klarin (Accademia delle Scienze e delle Arti, Zagabria)
CIAM in the Service of Constructing Socialist
Society
After the Great
War in Croatia - one of the six republics of the Federal People's Republic of
Yugoslavia - architects built a physical environment of the new socialist
society directly relying on the Neues Bauen principles accepted and partly
accomplished in the 1930’s. The scope of architectural tasks gave them
the opportunity to experiment with typification, standardization and
prefabrication adopted by the First Five-Years Plan (1947-51). In the area of
urban planning, reconstruction and expansion of cities, it meant the
implementation of the CIAM’s (Congrès International d'Architecture
Moderne) Functional City concept. The process of connecting with CIAM and the
acceptance of its ideology was generally performed in two stages elaborated in
this presentation. The first stage is the pre-war period of networking, the
official enrollment and participation of Croatian architects, Ernest Weissmann
and Radna grupa Zagreb (Working group Zagreb), in the work of the Congress. The
second stage is characterized by the transfer of ideology in the realm of urban
planning theory and practice with the emphasis on the broader geographical and
economic context. The significant role in the post-war period had Vladimir
Antolić, CIAM delegate and the director of Urbanistički institut
Hrvatske (Croatian Institute for Urban Planning).
Tamara Bjažić Klarin Ph. D.
in Art History, B. Sc. in Architecture. A senior research assistant at the
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Croatian Museum of Architecture. Author
of a numberous articles and presentations at conferences focused on the
Croatian inter-war architecture and contributions in national television and
radio broadcasts.
Martina
Malešič (Università di
Ljubljana)
Scandianavian influences on slovenian housing culture
The period after the Second World War is considered a turning point for
Slovene architecture. It was dominated by a new generation of architects,
enlivened by post-war renovation of the country and nurtured by ideas of
vibrant architectural scene of Western Europe. Among those influences from Scandinavian
countries have been proven to be of crucial importance. Development of
Scandinavian architecture was regularly followed by Slovenian architects
through publications, exhibitions and visits. Numerous went to the North
(mostly to Sweden, but also to Finland, Denmark, and Norway) also for study or
work. As a consequence of those visits there were also many additional
contacts, in form of co-operations, conferences, lectures. Architecture of
Scandinavian countries was for Slovenian architects appealing mainly due to the
well-developed housing policies and their long-standing efforts for a higher
standard of living. Therefore the result of these contacts reflected primarily
in the area of dwelling culture, as influences, echoes or interpretations of
Scandinavian solutions in urban planning, housing construction, housing
typology, floor plan design and interior design. The aim of my contribution
will be to present those influences and determine what was their significance
for development of Slovenian housing culture after the Second World War.
Martina Malešič is an art historian, PhD
Candidate and assistant researcher at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of
Arts, Department of Art History.
Maroje
Mrduljaš (Università di Zagabria;
Rivista “Oris”)
Learning from Yugoslav Tourism
Since the 1950s the Yugoslav Adriatic coast became a popular tourist
destination. The rapid development of an economically deprived littoral was one
of the strategic priorities of former Yugoslavia. For such purpose, an
“integral” physical planning approach was conceptualized with aim
to channel economic demands, develop modern tourist resorts and preserve both
nature and historical settlements. Hotels and tourist resorts emerged as one of
the most exciting topics for architects, resulting in a quick evolution of
diverse architectural typologies, urban planning methodologies and interior
design. Planned tourism in Croatia during Yugoslavia was able to set in motion
a dual process that on one hand lead to contribution to architecture culture,
and on the other built “lucrative landscapes” competitive on
international market which are mainly still functional today. Tourism was a
fundamental “modernizing device” which affected reconfiguration of
urban littoral and gradually introduced changes of local social dynamics.
Maroje Mrduljaš is architecture and design
critic. Authored and edited several books including Unfinished Modernisations
and Design and Independent Culture. Published numerous texts in leading
international periodicals, curated several exhibitions.
Karin Šerman
(Università di Zagabria)
The Role
of Abstraction in Croatian Postwar Architectural Modernism
The presentation will focus on the pronounced tendency towards pure
“questions of form” and rigorous geometrical research that marked
the art and architectural world in post WW2 Croatia, as part of the Yugoslav
federation. It will examine the choice of abstraction as an aesthetic tool
meant to adequately serve the new social ideas and circumstances. The concept
of abstraction was most vigorously introduced by the group of artists called
EXAT 51 – EXAT standing for Experimental Atelier, and 51 for the year
1951 in which they published their highly influential Manifesto. The group
consisted of painters and architects acting simultaneously as industrial
designers and graphic artists. The key points of their artistic and ideological
program were: the revolutionary promotion of abstract art and total freedom of
artistic expression; the idea of the synthesis of all fine arts, i.e. the
elimination of traditional boundaries between different spheres of art and
their integration in a new “total plastic reality”. This
“total plastic reality” was in turn meant to properly house and
accommodate the new, strong and modern socialist society. The discussion will
examine the significance and implications of the concept of abstraction for the
postwar Croatian architecture – how it enabled architecture to engage in
forming the new socialist society by giving it its proper spatial setting, but
at the same time to remain enthusiastically on the steady course of modernism
and to advance freely in the autonomous research of their spatial discipline.
The discussion will thereby observe the continuity of architectural modernism
from the previous, interwar period, as well as the relationships and
proximities of architecture and art.
Karin
Šerman
graduated in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture, University of
Zagreb in 1989. She received her MDesS (Master in Design Studies) in
Architectural History and Theory from Harvard University Graduate School of
Design in 1996, and her PhD from the University of Zagreb in 2000.
Višnja
Kukoč (Università di Spalato)
Split 3 – third city region
In the 1960s the population of Split was increasing by 3% a year. Capacity
of infrastructure and facilities, in existing part of the city, was fully
utilized.
Due to a yearly need of about 2.000 dwellings and the wish for better and
more rational development the third city district was planned. The main
organizer was the Split Construction Enterprise.
Split was divided into five districts. The part that was constructed
until 1945 was called Split I and the part constructed from 1945 to 1965 was
called Split II. Both parts comprehended about 14,000 dwellings. Almost as many
dwellings were planned to be built in the third part, on 341 hectares, called
Split III. Districts IV and V were to be built in the future.
The original program for Split III included seven local communities and
14,000 apartments for 50,000 inhabitants with services and facilities.
The winning project of Split III has a street as the main principle
joined by the arrangement of urban units, based on an existent communication
grid that follows the Roman centuriation.
40 years after its creation Split III is recognizable and satisfies the
better part of people’s daily needs. Its streets and public places provide
for urban life.
Višnja
Kukoč
Graduated in Ljubljana; worked in Ljubljana and Split; senior lecturer at the
University of Split; scientific projects and PhD to be at the University of
Ljubljana.
Ines Tolić (Università di Bologna)
Epicenters
of knowledge. The reconstruction of Skopje after the 1963 earthquake.
On July 26, 1963, the city of Skopje was struck by a powerful earthquake
which left behind almost nothing but ruins. Financially precarious, technically
unprepared and politically non-aligned, Yugoslav government needed a neutral, long-term
and specialized technical assistance if the Macedonian capital was to be
rebuilt. United Nations joined the reconstruction on October 14, 1963, and, in
the following years, some of the most renowned contemporary architects and
urban planners were invited to present their vision for the New Skopje of the
future. Once the reconstruction would be completed and given the engagement of
such eminent designers, international audience expected New Skopje to became
nothing less than a “cité mondiale”; to provide solutions to the
contemporary “urban crisis”; to prescribe a cure for “sick
cities”; and to show the way for the “huma-nization” of the
built environment. Even though mostly unattained, these ambitious goals gave
life to an international debate about the future of both cities and planning,
which was determining for the definition of UN’s later interventions. In brief,
the goal of this presentation is to deal with Skopje’s reconstruction
highlighting its temporary conditions as a node of knowledge within a
development network being established by the United Nations during and - most
of all - in spite the Cold War context.
Ines Tolić Graduated at the Iuav University of Venice
(2004) and obtained a PhD in History of Architecture and Urban history at the
School for Advanced Studies in Venice (2009). Assistant professor at the
University of Bologna since 2011.
Jelena Grbić (Grupa Arhitekata, Belgrado)
“Made in Yugoslavia”: Prefabrication and
Housing Projects
The development and wider application of prefabricated technologies in
Yugoslav construction industry was set within the broader context of post-World
War II recovery and industrialization. The shift from “reinforced
masonry“ to “prefab” was evident in case of housing, civil
and industrial infrastructure, and public facilities. The building production
started off with the plain and simplified use of technology based on two
prototypes, Yugomont “YU-61“ panel system, and IMS-Žeželj
skeleton system, but then quickly advanced to meet the needs. In an effort to
create the authentic architectural expression built to represent the Yugoslav
production, but also to be competitive and compliant in the global market, the
quality architectural design was presented as a major asset to the development
of the construction technologies. In the course of development, the classic
construction systems and designs were gradually replaced by prefabricated and
semi-prefabricated structures. However, they were never fully abandoned, thus
the combination of classic supporting system and prefabricated façade was very
common. During the construction process, it was not insisted upon the
consistency of the system, especially if the design requirements or the
deadlines were not met, if the costs were rising, which was often in the case
of projects for mass housing neighbourhoods.
Jelena
Grbić Graduated
from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, in course Architectural
Engineering. Researcher and active member of NGO Group of Architects and
Docomomo Serbia.
Jelica Jovanović (Grupa
Arhitekata, Belgrado)
Prefab Glossary. Milestones of Post-WW2 Yugoslav
Building Industry.
Overall upgrade of the building procedures of Yugoslavia complemented the
efforts of overcoming the damage caused by the World War II. Second half of
twentieth century in Yugoslavia was, as in many other countries of the world,
the century of prefabricated, industrial, modular, serial production of
habitats, as well as any other item. However, in comparison to broader context,
Yugoslav building and construction industry had somewhat different development
path. By “compromising” the robust prefabricated systems, dividing
them to the load bearing structures and flexible façades, the expression of the
architectural design was featured. This inevitably led to research, design and
development of bolder and even more extravagant housing models, executed all
over former Yugoslavia and world. Gradually, “open” and
“closed” prefabricated and semi-prefabricated structures replaced
the “reinforced masonry”, but the “industrialization”
failed to be fully achieved, since only “zero series” were executed
after the competitions. Architectural design that was “in the
system” was very rare, featuring the “creative approach” as
the main commercial point of the YU-prefab technology solutions and design.
Jelica
Jovanović
Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Coordinated a number of
national and international research project. Professional activist in Docomomo
Serbia and the Group of Architects.
Ljiljana
Blagojević (Università di Belgrado)
Inquiry into emergence of
architectural postmodernism in late socialism
My discussion looks at the emergence of architectural postmodernism in
Belgrade (Serbia). I will examine the timeline of changes in architectural
discourse which culminated in 1980s with a series of exhibitions and events in
Belgrade galleries (e.g., Group MEČ at the Student Cultural Centre, 1981;
Solar Architecture, 1980; Earth Architecture, 1981; and Water Architecture,
1983 at the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art). This is a time of
economic stagnation and socio-political disillusionment, uncertainty about the
future, imminent crisis and collapse of the socialist system as a whole. It is
also a point of intersection of a number of heterogeneous lines which formed in
the in post-1968 period as singular, peculiar and distinctly different from the
dominant everyday mass production of socialist modernism. My aim is to examine
cross-disciplinary and cross-generational exchange which occurred at that time
of the detachment of architecture from realities of economy, construction,
technology and production, and its transference into domain of arts and
culture.
Ljiljana
Blagojević,
architect, associate professor at the University of Belgrade — Faculty of
Architecture, and visiting at Faculty of Arts, UDG, Montenegro. In 2009 and
2010, visiting associate professor at Yale University School of Architecture.
Author of Modernism in Serbia. The Elusive Margins of Belgrade Architecture,
1919-1941 (MIT Press, 2003).