Skopje - The Phoenix City

Divna Pencic & Jasna Stefanovska & Biljana Spirkoska

The urban structure in Skopje is a result of the struggle between the imported models and the specific conditions of the place. Given that the inspiration in urban modernization was always coming from abroad, one can easily distinguish a set of foreign influences in each period of the city’s development. Starting with the artistic project for the city in the first Regulation Plan for the city of Skopje in 1914 developed by the Serbian architect Dimitrija Leko which introduced the expansion of the city on the right bank of the river and marked the beginning of the modernism in Skopje, followed by the garden city movement introduced in the 1929 Regulation Plan by the architect Josif Mihajlovic, then the concept of the modern city (CIAM) introduced in the Master Plan of the Czechoslovakian architect Ludek Kubes, the imposition of the foreign influences, followed by local reactions, soared with the 1965 Master Plan that was prepared by a group of urbanists assigned from the United Nations uniting experts from all over the world.

The 1965 Master Plan was a reaction on the earthquake in 1963 which resulted with destruction of 80.7 per cent of the built city fund and left 75.5 per cent of the residents homeless, and gave the opportunity for radical re‐planning of the City’s layout to the highest possible standard. However, this enormous task of rebuilding the city had to be accomplished in the same time with the preparation of the plans which supposed to direct it, and in the context of a society that just suffered a major catastrophe. In consequence, even though the concept was well laid down by the experts, it matched more the economic realities and situation in their own country than the ones in Skopje for which the results showed that it was pure futurism. The realization of the plan was slim even while Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia and enjoyed the advantages from being de facto included in central transfer payments, living space for a spontaneous chaotic development happening at the same time, solving the pressing‐issues pushed by interested groups while leaving the most missionary and most important issues not properly addressed.

In favour of the previous argument an example can be made with one of the most notable post earthquake works‐ the project for a Cultural complex designed by the Slovenian team Biro 77.