Who knew?!! During the years 1948 to 1980, the now splintered nation of Yugoslavia was producing impressive design at all scales, of which many of us were unaware. While the Modern movement of those Cold War years was celebrating achievements in the “free world,” we detected virtually nothing of distinction occurring in the Communist countries. As an architectural journalist active during most of the exhibition’s years, I was completely surprised by the extent and quality of the work in this MoMA exhibition uncovering the architecture of Yugoslavia.
A bit of geopolitical background may help explain how these design achievements came about. The nation of Yugoslavia, pieced together after World War I from fragments of the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire, came under Communist rule at the end of World War II. But in 1948 Marshall Tito, its undisputed leader until his death in 1980, declared the nation’s independence from the Soviet bloc that dominated Eastern Europe for the next several decades.
While architecture and design in most of the Communist world were stifled by party-ruled government design offices, Yugoslavia’s “market socialist” regime encouraged innovative and inspiring design – at all levels from furnishings to urban plans. Its designers were open to the lessons of the Modern Movement beyond the country’s borders, including examples in neighboring Italy and Greece. They were conscious, as well, of pioneering Modernist efforts in the former Empire that had encompassed Yugoslavia, including the work of their own Jože Plečnik, an early Modernist architect now recognized worldwide, who practiced and taught in Ljubljana well into the 1950s.
MoMA’s show is remarkably comprehensive, with more than 400 drawings, photographs, models and films. Much of the work shown deals with the components of modernization worldwide: urban planning, housing, educational and cultural facilities, etc. There are also necessary urban rebuilding projects involving areas devastated in World War II and by earthquake destruction. Monuments commemorating key historical events are prominent among the landmarks displayed.
Urban Upgrades
Housing and urban development accomplishments were essential in improving the living standards in a country that had been subjugated to two different empires and devastated in two world wars. With these efforts came advances in construction technology, especially refinement in the use of concrete. The 1957 Belgrade fairgrounds featured the world’s largest concrete dome, its span to be exceeded in 1965 with the construction of Houston’s Astrodome. During the extensive construction of the 1960s, concrete was the material – as in much of the world – for housing, office buildings, cultural facilities, even churches and mosques.
Of equal importance for the welfare of the growing population was the design of innovative, affordable appliances and furniture. Among a variety of furnishings included here, the 1956 Rex folding chair by Niko Kralj was to become ubiquitous in Yugoslavia and elsewhere in Europe. The sleek prefab K-67 kiosk, designed by Saša Mächtig, is adaptable for a variety of uses in public spaces – and appears at this show in an actual full-scaled example.
Cities Reborn
Building and rebuilding of urban areas included reconstructing the coastal city of Zadar, virtually obliterated by World War II bombing. The competition-winning 1953 plan was organized along tradition-recalling stone-paved streets and plazas lined with technologically modern buildings that incorporated regional details such as tile roofs and wood shutters.
The reconstruction of the city of Skopje, following a catastrophic 1963 earthquake, was planned jointly by the Yugoslav government and the United Nations. Doxiadis Associates of Greece collaborated on the master plan, and prominent building were designed by the eminent Kenzo Tangeof Japan along with local architects. The effective use of rough concrete here encouraged the adoption of Brutalist design throughout the country.
A third notable urban development was the major expansion of the Adriatic port of Split. Reflecting the influence of Postmodern design theory, a point was made of mixing a variety of public activities among the housing structures, maximizing sea views for dwelling units, and relating the street grid to adjoining development that dated back to Roman times.
Tourism and Foreign Engagement
Yugoslavia’s economic objectives included development of thoroughly modern hotels along the Adriatic Coast of Croatia, often very sensitively notched into the coastal terrain, with appealing terraces and pool decks. Color photos in the exhibition show tourists fashionably clad in bathing attire and evening apparel.
As the nation maintained a neutral position regarding the world’s Cold War confrontations, its architects took part in an outreach to other nations. The architect Vjenseslav Richter designed an elegantly Modern, pointedly transparent, pavilion for the 1958 Expo in Brussels and handsome display facilities for international fairs in Paris and Turin. In Africa, contracts for construction of roads, dams and other infrastructure were complimented by design work, including architect Zoran Bojović’s proposals for housing development in Nigeria and his design of the Lagos international trade fair there.
Regional Identities
Efforts to establish strong design identity for the entire the nation were counterbalanced by development of regional and even personal approaches. In the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the architect Juraj Neidhardt, who had worked in Le Corbusier’s Paris studio, looked to vernacular architecture of the Ottoman Empire’s rule there as inspiration for a specifically Bosnian Modernism. His younger compatriot Zlatko Ugljenalso produced Modern interpretations of Ottoman traditions, notably in the handsomely sculptural Šerefudin White Mosquein Visoko. Edvard Ravikar, another Corbu protégé, was influential in Slovenia, where he built on the traditions of early Central European Modernism, teaching in Ljubljana and designing the Revolution Square there, as well as the Kampor Cemetery on the island of Rab.
Memorial Symbolism
The ideological significance of various wars, with huge death tolls, largely accounts for the prominence of memorials in that country. But it is their powerful sculptural and spatial design that makes them so memorable. Some the most visually compelling monuments are credited to sculptors. The boldest of these may be the Monument to the Battle of Sutjeskain Bosnia-Herzegovina, completed 1971 by the sculptor Miodrag Živković. It has become to some extent the symbol of the entire exhibition. (See top photo) A number of other very powerful memorial structures from other parts of Yugoslavia are credited variously to sculptors and architects. Among of the show’s contributions is introducing us to these works that span the divide between design and pure art.
Besides a variety of historical drawings, photo, and models, the show includes some fine newly commissioned photography and videos of key works. And it is documented in a 228-page, generously illustrated catalogue. The exhibition is scheduled to remain on view through January 13.