Stepping into one of the numerous music venues in Prishtina, the capital city of Kosova, you are greeted by electronic music reverberating against ageing concrete walls that adorn stories of past times. This holds true for several cultural spaces in Prishtina, whose functions reflect the current needs of Kosova but where the past is nestled within the walls.
Emerging political and architectural landscapes
Kosova was an autonomous province of the then Republic of Serbia within socialist Yugoslavia, a former federated country of six republics in the Balkan Peninsula (1918-1992). The state had to reconcile the cultural differences of the six republics (Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Montenegro) and two autonomous provinces (Kosova and Vojvodina) whilst managing its socio-economic conditions by means of a socialist system powered by the twin engines of industrialisation and urbanisation.
A physical manifestation of this aspiring modernisation resulted in Yugoslav brutalist modernist architecture, which embraced the broader advent of socialism as a chance to rectify the shortcomings of capitalism. Its architectural expression is discerned by a fusion of Western and Eastern styles, initially comparable to the Soviet realist style until the 50s, with Yugoslavia’s split from the USSR in 1948. The blend of local and international modernist styles characterises the stylistic era that followed.
The tenets of modernisation seeped through the confines of abstraction and into the physical structures of towns and cities, including in Prishtina. The city’s hitherto gradual urbanisation took off in the 70s, with collective housing blocks slotting themselves against former buildings or above demolished ones, as instructed by the deliberate Yugoslav planning of socialist cities. The buildings were part of a broader cultural ecology in Prishtina, along with emerging local postpunk bands and Western films, all advocating for a new, alternative future. However, Kosova’s existing urban environment, especially Ottoman empire influences, prevented such planning from reaching its full extent. Thus, the emergence of these protruding concrete structures symbolised the integration of a Yugoslav identity, as well as the de-Ottomanization of Prishtina. I use the word ‘Yugoslav identity’ lightly here, as existing temporal and spatial differences of administrative units set the scene for their respective transformative capabilities.
For this new identity to manifest, many enclaves with high historical value, such as the bazaar of Prishtina, were demolished to pave the way for European ideals and rid Prishtina of its former oriental aspects. In their place, plazas and other typologies emerged that were collectively owned by the workers through wage contributions. Some efforts were made to pay homage to Ottoman architecture, with the National Library of Kosovo, a building constructed during the Yugoslav era, adorned by semi-domes.
Deliberation, transformation, and loss
Following the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991 and the end of Kosova’s war for liberation from Serbia in 1998-1999, the urban planning of Kosova was disrupted. In 2002, the ‘Privatisation Agency of Kosova’ was formed, responsible for allocating former public buildings to private interests. While a number of public centres retained their cultural significance, albeit accommodating to a new era, others were left to become dilapidated, vulnerable to war, the turning currents of culture, and thus looming, impersonal buildings wrapped in sleek glass emerged in their place. In recent years, the public, along with cultural organisations and independent artists, have taken it upon themselves to revitalise lost spaces with the help of the municipality of Prishtina. Their efforts, whether to replicate the buildings’ original purpose or to introduce new functions, have been instrumental in breathing new life into these structures.
Kino Armata, situated in the Prishtina town square, was initially built in the 70s as a public theatre and originally named ‘The House of Yugoslav People’s Army’. The use of the space oscillated from public to private services in concordance with the interests of various parties. The cultural centre went from catering to the Yugoslav army, then Serb personnel from 1988, and a compound for United Nations operations from 1999 onwards. In 2017, Kino Armata opened its doors to the public following a transfer of the UN compound to the outskirts of Prishtina. Light renovations were made to its interior while preserving its original design, with red carpet hugging the walls, only separated by incised wood, a design akin to other socialist interiors such as the nearby Grand Hotel. The Municipality of Prishtina owns Kino Armata, which is run by independent organisers. Most importantly, it is frequented by the public, who enjoy its weekly film screenings and public meetings, reminiscent of Yugoslav soldiers in the 70s who enjoyed World War Two and Western flicks here.
“Rilindja” Prishtina, Kosova. by: Cradel, 2008 via Wikipedia Commons
While Yugoslav remnants such as Kino Armata have retained (or reclaimed) their original purpose, others have seen a transformation in function, usually after decades of neglect following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the subsequent period of Serbia’s control. One such case is the printing house ‘Rilindja’, which printed the first Albanian newspapers in Yugoslavia and became the second-largest newspaper distributor in the country during the early 90s.
When Rilindja was built, it stood as the tallest structure in Prishtina, a standing tribute to brutalist fundamentals of functionality and defined structure. Following the Kosova-Serbian war in 1999, the area lay vacant for three years before becoming privatised. It was stripped of its printing presses and machinery, and the space was sliced to accommodate various uses. Today, the building and the surrounding area house four ministries, a disco club, a coffee shop, two TV stations, two daily newspapers, and a fitness centre. This reconfiguring of the building’s purpose has resulted in a fragmented space where each generation occupies a different piece. ‘Hapesira’, a music collective, has begun hosting events on the building’s base floor, where the music dances and crashes against the upper office block. The transformation of the building, with blue panes lined next to grey tile, has erased its legacy and rendered the building unrecognisable to Georgi Konstantinovski, the Macedonian architect who was initially commissioned to design the building in 1971.
The buildings I mentioned have all seemed to have been born again in one way or another; however, this is not true for all former Yugoslav structures in Prishtina. In the halls of ‘Department Store Germia’, the looming brutalist idea of planning for the future seems to have been postponed to a later time.
The former department store is located in Prishtina’s city centre and was built in 1972 as a designated consumer space. A patterned block of concrete sat above rows of glass panes on the ground floor, behind which mannequins posed for those passing by, cramming utilitarian and fashionable. This trend for building department stores began in Yugoslavia in the 50s, a testament to the move away from the Soviet mode of socialism. The building was under collective ownership, and the pieces sold in the department store all hailed from Yugoslavian clothing manufacturers from the six republics; thus, their advertising worked to integrate Prishtina’s residents into the Yugoslav consumer economy. After the 1999 war, the building lay derelict in the city’s square. After becoming an asset of the ‘Privatization Agency of Kosovo’, the building was handed over to the government and was temporarily leased to various ministry offices. Once a space fully accessible to Prishtina’s residents, the building has lost its former function through a transfer of ownership and physical modifications. Plans were made for the space to be turned into a concert hall; however, in a continuation of the building’s history following Yugoslavia’s dissolution and Serb occupation, no major actions have been taken.
The future, as nurtured by its past
Architectural styles in Yugoslavia following the 1950s were the product of radical artistic expression, a blend of Soviet and international adjacent styles. Many of the former state’s buildings came about through launching competitions between architects, empowering their respective skills in the process and resulting in marvels of Euclidian form. Individual projects thus created a futuristic feel that realised Socialist tenets of modernisation; however, a number were built at the expense of the old, a significant loss to Kosova’s impaired historical heritage.
The Yugoslav slogan “Destroy the old to build the new” transformed Prishtina’s existing landscape, cascading into a blend of Ottoman and brutalist styles and giving the city a mixed identity. However, the collapse of Yugoslavia resulted in a disintegration of the social housing fabric, as well as care for public space and property. Postwar private informal developments of the last two decades have atomised the landscape, resulting in the degradation of urban quality. Despite new construction efforts, the lack of municipal land and limited land expropriation has created an imbalanced project cycle, and the number of finalised projects remains low despite the many initiatives by various stakeholders (NGOs, universities, private companies, the municipality, etc.)
The reuse of Yugoslavian-era buildings in Prishtina is contingent on a broader narrative of post-conflict transformation and cultural reformation, providing a microcosmic view of the challenges faced by post-Yugoslav states in the Balkans. While some structures have been successfully woven into the modern urban fabric, others have faced physical and conceptual alterations that disconnect them from their former selves and context. The challenge lies in resolving the tension between preserving historical architecture and accommodating the current needs of the people of Prishtina.
Sources:
- ‘The Socialist Modernization of Prishtina: Interrogating Types of Urban and Architectural Contributions to the City’
- ‘A review of housing policy in post-war Yugoslavia and Kosovo’
- ‘Interpretation of architectural identity through landmark architecture: The case of Prishtina, Kosovo from the 1970s to the 1980s’
- ‘A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Kosovo’
- ‘Brutalism is the architecture of democracy, it should guide forward-thinking culture today’
- ‘A Journey through Modernist Architecture in the former Yugoslavia’
- ‘Department Store Germia’
- ‘Kino ARMATA: The House That People Built’
- ‘RILINDJA and the Beginning of the Brutalist Architecture in Prishtina’