Skopje's remarkable Modernist and Brutalist architecture

Our latest title, Modernist Skopje Map: Guide to Modernist and Brutalist architecture in Skopje is now available here. The bilingual map is edited by Skopje-based academics and architects Ana Ivanovska Deskova, Vladimir Deskov, Jovan Ivanovski and Ljubica Slavkovic (editor of our Modernist Belgrade Map); with original photography by Vase Amanito.

Skopje is one of the world’s great Modernist cities. Devastated after the earthquake in 1963, the city was rebuilt under the auspices of the UN in a process that defined solidarity and cooperation in a divided era. A team of international architects led by the Japan’s Kenzo Tange brought forth one of the world’s most powerful architectural statements of the 20th century. The various influences brought by these international architects resulted in an exceptional collection of architectural buildings, much of which is radical and visionary. Works by Tange (his Metabolist movement was introduced in Skopje with the plan for the city center), Janko Konstantinov, Marko Mušič and many others adorn the map.

Sadly, the past decade has seen a dubious rise of neo-classical nationalist architecture in the heart of Skopje’s Modernist centre. Ultra kitsch gold-trimmed facades have been erected on the face of many of Skopje’s finest Modernist buildings, and fears of destruction are not unfounded. This map seeks to identify the finest examples of Modernist architecture in Skopje before an international audience, and to help ensure the survival of one of the world’s great Modernists urban spaces before it disappears.

The map is available here.