Skopje - the world's bastard

Abstract

Divided City Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, is a divided city. In the newly independent state the Macedonians (70%) and Albanians (23%), which earlier had been bound together by the Yugoslav "ethnic glue", rediscovered their distinctions. They are divided into two different worlds by language, alphabet, religion, values, political representation as well as systems of information and organization. Maybe the most crucial, but surely the most visible division is their segregation in (urban) space. The river Vardar stretches as a natural and historical division line from one end of the city to the other.<br />Construction of Identity After the dissolution of Yugoslavia and Macedonian independence in 1991 the new state and its capital Skopje were struggling to organize the new reality. The newly gained experience of an opposite (the exterior opposites of the neighboring countries, the interior opposite of the Albanian minority), for the first time truly posed the question of Macedonian identity. Searching and constructing this identity became the primary issue for politicians and planners. In this process two well known strategic elements are pursued: legitimization by connection with a long and glorious history and distinction from the others. Urban Development After the dissolution of Yugoslavia urban planning in Skopje merely existed for barely two decades. Meanwhile Skopje´s face has been steadily changing under the influence of the new forces of transition and migration. But unlike in other Balkan cities, these forces found a fruitful breeding ground in the already fragmented urban structure and population. Fragmentation and therefore segregation had historically evolved and was enforced by the earthquake of 1963 and the following development.<br />Earthquake On July 26th 1963 a devastating earthquake hit the city of Skopje.<br />Although seventy percent of the city was destroyed, the disaster was a great opportunity for the United Nations. Working together, (re)building a city was intended to be an exercise in cooperation for the divided world. During the Cold War, Skopje became a symbol of brotherhood and solidarity. Masterplan After only one year of surveying, analyzing and planning the Master Plan for rebuilding Skopje was presented. It comprised two main ideas: using the opportunity to rationalize the whole structure of the city and creating a totally new city center, which should become the essence of the "Open City of Skopje". The Plan proposed to meet the urgent need for housing and additionally the expected growth of population and parallel rise of living standards by building prefabricated one-storey and high-rise buildings. But in the process of implementation, the planners discovered that social realities among the different ethnic groups were very diverse and complex. The homogenization of the population and its housing types failed.<br />The Japanese architect Kenzo Tange won the competition for the new city center. Here the political and aesthetic utopia should become one. The core element of Tange´s plan was the "nucleus", a distinct zone along the river banks enhanced with numerous public functions. This area was to turn the natural and historical boundary of the river into a space of collectivity. But the only partially realized nucleus never became the intended unifying core - but rather an urban void. Even now it is still a buffer zone in the divided city, no one's and everyone's non-place.<br />A New Vision Now, in 2010, four decades have past since the devastating earthquake and Skopje has steadily been changing from the utopia of an open city to a divided city. For the last twenty years, after the break-up of Yugoslavia, its transformation was left to the new forces of transition.<br />Only after the turn of the millennium the state was strong enough to rediscover that it can make active political decisions to shape the urban space. And although the division of the city is regarded as problematic in public discussion, the authorities - instead of correcting the failures of the past - are willing to even widen the gap.<br />In 2006, the newly elected populist conservative government officially turned towards reinventing and reaffirming Macedonia´s separate, undeniable and glorified identity by the means of urbanism and architecture. For the first time since the 1960s a totally new Plan for Skopje's City Center was commissioned. The plan proposes a wide range of singular interventions such as fountains, sculptures, and churches.<br />Although this program may seem like a planning myopia it intentionally enhances the mechanism of populism. It aims at a certain pair of opposites: absence and presence. Absence of a critical public is accomplished by the mechanisms of amateurism, depolitization and commercialization. The Sculpture Project, which is part of the new Plan for the City Center, perfectly exemplifies this policy. The resulting void is filled by the presence of an unquestioned truth, achieved by trivialization of the self (as intended by the various projects of reconstruction and antiquization) as well as distinction from the others.