As in the past several years, 2014 saw activists take to the streets in major protests around the world. Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement demanded open elections without new regulation by China, while Ferguson became the center of racially-charged demonstrations against police brutality. From New York to Venezuela to Palestine and Turkey, uprisings addressed serious issues. In Macedonia, however, protesters are taking on a more light-hearted — but not unimportant — cause.
A group of citizens in Skopje have gathered around the GTC, a modernist shopping mall that has become a beloved part of their city. The GTC’s Socialist architecture is being threatened by a government program to renovate it with a Baroque façade. The Skopje 2014 project would erect 20 new buildings in the Neo-classical style, in addition to nearly 40 statues. The overhaul is defended as a way to beautify the city, but it is decried as kitsch as regressive nationalism.
Image via Vasilka Dimitrovska/Twitter
The historicist revival is rooted in the country’s long history as part of former Yugoslavia. The ancient city was almost completely leveled in a 1963 earthquake, and the frantic rebuild was mainly Soviet-style modernism. However, since the fall of Communism and subsequent political fallout, Macedonia has had political strife between rivaling ethnic groups, each claiming different things about Macedonian identity. Greece also contests Macedonia and their use of the name.
Image via theconversation.com
In reaction to these turmoils, a strong Macedonian nationalism has sprung up. This is the force behind Skopje 2014. It is an attempt to reclaim some of their national heritage through the built environment — triumphal arches, museums, theaters, and even a statue of a horseman believed to be Alexander the Great. “This is a crime against public space, culture, urbanism, and art — against the city and the citizen,” Miroslav Grčev, a professor of urban design and the creator of the Macedonian flag said. The protests claim that these buildings are ruining the Modernist architecture, but critics also point to massive budget discrepancies that some claim are the result of corruption. There are also those who claim that this is a fake way to reclaim identity, and that it will be more like Las Vegas or Disneyland than Macedonia.
Image via theconversation.com
This is a classic battle of ideologies played out in architecture. For many years, Prince Charles has been hating on Modern architecture. Most famously, he called a scheme for the National Gallery extension in London a “carbuncle,” and has championed Neo-classicism to the chagrin of RIBA and modern architects. Similarly, China’s President Xi Jinping recently called for an end to weird architecture there, presumably a slightly nationalist claim against bombastic buildings by international architects that are bringing negative attention to the rapidly urbanizing country.
via Hyperallergic