Annual Croatian Architects’ Works Exhibition Opened, New Layout of South Salon of Office of the President Presented
The 2020 Annual Croatian Architects’ Works and the “Vila Zagorje – povijest zagrebačke bele hiže na prekrižju” exhibitions were opened in the Office of the President of the Republic, together with a new layout of the South Salon of the Office of the President, which was presented under the title “South Salon: 2021.” The Croatian Architects’ Association and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb organized the event, which was held under the auspices of the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović on the 60th anniversary of the “Viktor Kovačić” awards ceremony.
The exhibition is being held from 24 April to 8 May 2021, during which the Croatian Architects’ Association will organize tours for both the general public and experts in the field. Through this initiative of the Croatian Architects’ Association and the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Office of the President has opened its doors to citizens in a unique way.
President Milanović opened the exhibition and recalled in his remarks that Zagorje Villa would not have become part of the Office of the President had there not been an attempted murder 30 years ago. “Thirty years ago, a regime tried to assassinate the Croatian President, the Prime Minister of the Yugoslav Government and the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament. It was then that President Tuđman moved here. This furniture has various origins and its shared quality is that it does not belong here,” said President Milanović.
President Milanović further reminded that politics – the only investor at the time – built Villa Zagorje. “Now we have it, it is beautiful and should be preserved. The building is fascinating, it intertwines top-quality and expensive materials with trash from that period,” said President Milanović, who also expressed gratitude to the Croatian Architects’ Association for decorating the South Salon in modern style. “However, a touch of tradition should remain here, both the good and bad of Croatia. This building was furnished quickly in the chaos and instability of war with what was at hand, as work had to continue. It was not changed for thirty years and that is already part of the tradition. Let’s keep a portion of that,” concluded President Milanović in his speech.
Croatian Architects’ Association awards were conferred as part of the programme. The “Victor Kovačić” award for lifetime achievement was bestowed upon Ivan Prtenjak. The “Victor Kovačić” award for the most successful achievement in all areas of architectural creativity in 2020 was bestowed upon Igor Franić for the SEECEL Centre and Tin Sven Franić, Vanja Rister and Ana Martinčić Vareško for the University of Dubrovnik campus; the “Drago Galić” award for the most successful achievement in residential architecture for 2020 was bestowed upon Hrvoje Njirić and Iskra Filipović for the reconstruction and addition to the house on 140 Petrova Street in Zagreb and to “Ivanišin.Kabashi.Arhitekti” Krunoslav Ivanišin, Lulzim Kabashi and Iva Ivas for the Dubrovnik Villa – Villa with a view; the “Bernardo Bernardi” award for the most successful achievement in architecture and interior design in 2020 was conferred on Vjekoslav Gašparović for his approach and presentation of the Castle of Petrapilosa and Damir Gamulin and Antun Sevšek for the exhibit entitled “Ako tebe zaboravim…- Holokaust u Hrvatskoj 1941.-1945. / Zadnje odredište Auschwitz” (If I forget you… – Holocaust in Croatia 1941-1945 / Final Destination Auschwitz”; the “Neven Šegvić” award for journalistic, critical, scientific-research and theoretical work in architecture in 2020 was bestowed upon Jelena Skorup Juračić for her book “Atomizirani hotel – novi tip hotelske arhitekture u revitalizaciji grada ili krajolika” (New Types of Hotel Architecture in the Revitalization of the Built Environment) and Tamara Bjažić Klarin for her book “Za novi, ljepši Zagreb! – Arhitektonski i urbanistički natječaji međuratnog Zagreb, 1918.-1941.”.
This year’s programme of the Croatian Architects’ Association is being held for the first time in the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia because it is located in Villa Zagorje, exceptional example of Croatian architecture of the second half of the 20th century designed jointly by Vjenceslav Richter and Kazimir Ostrogović, according to the basic concept of Drago Ibler.
Croatian Architects’ Association president Maja Furlan Zimmermann thanked the Office of the President for their cooperation, and said: “This is the first time that a cultural programme of this kind is being held in Villa Zagorje since it is being used as the Office of the President. From our side it seems like a suicidal undertaking in terms of logistics and organization, and we cannot even imagine what it means for you.
We therefore thank you for recognizing how important and necessary it is to open up and make room for creativity, and how important it is to design and plan space in general, as well as all the messages being sent. As creative people, artists, intellectuals and engineers, today we have reason to believe, even if it’s only for one moment, that what we are doing, what we like and what we believe in, is important”, Maja Furlan Zimmermann concluded.
The exhibition entitled “Vila Zagorje – povijest zagrebačke bele hiže na Prekrižju” features drawings, drafts, photographs and other material on Villa Zagorje that are kept in the Croatian State Archives, the Croatian Museum of Architecture of the Croatian Academy of Science and Arts and the Richter Collection – Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb. The layout “Južni salon: 2021” introduces a contemporary spirit in the South Salon of the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia through the choice of a contemporary Croatian product design of the internationally acclaimed brand of Prostoria Grupa as well as artists, both women and men, whose works of fine arts and other forms of art have been marked as not to be overlooked in Croatian contemporary art. The fine arts exhibition covers works from the 1970s to the present including the works of art of Juraj Dobrović, Edita Schubert, Duje Jurić, Silvio Vujičić and Ivana Franke.
The President of the Republic was joined by his wife Sanja Musić Milanović at the official opening of the exhibition.
Alongside President MIlanović attending the opening was the Head of Cabinet of the President of the Republic Bartol Šimunić, the Special Adviser for Energy and Climate Julije Domac, the Special Adviser of the President for Culture Zdravko Zima, the Special Adviser for the Economy Velibor Mačkić and the Adviser to the President for Education Jadranka Žarković.
PHOTO : Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas i Ana Marija Katić