engleski

Workers' University in Zagreb

In 1956-1961 Radovan Nikšić realized his Workers’ University in Zagreb (together with Ninoslav Kučan) – the masterpiece of Croatian post-war modernism, a paradigmatic example of ‘total plastic reality’ in the service of ‘Socialist enlightenment’. The building is an impressively pure and abstract spatial construct, wrapped in transparency, with space flowing freely trough it to connect the whole structure in a single spatial unity. In this article it is assessed through its evident proximity with Team 10 concepts and theories – the idea of flexibility (flexible ground plan in which units could change and enable redesigns according to the program) ; the issue of function and identity (political training of workers of the ‘Socialist self-management’) ; and the idea of city–building (cultural ambition of developing a new city district and overall community). Indicatively, Jacob Bakema invitated Nikšić to present this extraordinary work at the last CIAM meeting in Otterlo in 1959, threby manifesting the recognition of correspondence of this architectural concept with Team 10 ideas and Bakema’s own theories.

Radovan Nikšić, Workers’ University, Zagreb, Jacob Bakema, Team 10, post-WW2 architectural modernism

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