|
Ogurlic
'88
AN
ITERVIEW WITH OUR ARCHITECTURE'S
LEGEND
To
prepare for this interview, I even dug through the hardly
accessible archive of the Architectural University,
which deposit construction plans of our most ambitious
buildings. It was quite a surprise, when, searching
without authorization through the black folders I stumbled
over a few of his projects. Every folder was labelled
with the inscription 'unfit'.
This
almost completed the picture of him. The man who revolutionised
our architecture by building family houses and public
buildings from roofs down to the foundations was, mildly
put, thrown into the lumber-room of history labelled
a mad artist without a sense of structure.
His
most famous work titled 'Bridge That Does Not Touch
the Banks' that was positioned within the southern
archipelago, was proclaimed - by certain invidious persons
- to be a dark side of the architecture in general.
However, the true assignment of that bridge was only
ascertained later, when the area upon which the bridge
is located was proclaimed to be a nature park.
At
the end, one is compelled to feel respect towards the
whole network of the underground catacombs under the
city of Zagreb, projected by this doyen for the subterranean
creatures, which preserved them from decay in the best
possible manner. For instance, his houses made of asphalt
never lived to be realised, although this project brought
him the winning award in the contest of the anti-architects
in the spaces of the London subway.
However,
an interview was never performed. Two days before our
meeting, I was informed that our architect perished
in his newly built family house on the Istrian Punta
Verudela Cape. He fell into an abyss together with the
foundations, followed by the wall construction. Eyewitnesses
tell that only the roof remained hanging in the air.
|
Jurkovic
'88
AN
INTERVIEW WITH OUR ARCHITECTURE'S LEGEND
(Part of an interview published in a 'Focus' magazine
no. 274)
FOCUS:
So, you were pleading for all the monuments in Matulic
Street to be knocked down despite opposition from community
structures?
JERMANIS-NAKIC:
Yes, I did, and I plead it to this very day.
Foc:
For what reason?
Jer:
You see, the project planning to knock down all the
monuments in Matulic Street is the constituting part
of the revitalisation of the Old Town that desperately
needs its soul back. History, teacher of life, teaches
us that cities without citizens, without life, are actually
soulless cities. And then the city dies. It happened
to the numerous ancient cities with beautiful buildings,
but with no inhabitants, like for instance, Pompeii.
Those are the dead cities.
Foc:
It is interesting that you have already taken part in
a few similar projects within the country and abroad.
Jer:
It is indeed so. In San Pietro de Sugo Bolognese, a
picturesque town in northern Toscana, I commissioned
the demolition of the Municipality dating from the 12th
century and built a drugstore on that very same spot.
And so, life started to flow again.
Foc:
Let's go back to the question of the controversial monuments.
Is it really necessary to knock down all the monuments
in Matulic Street?
Jer:
Absolutely. During an interview at the Communist Committee
I was offered to demolish only the monuments that were
older than 1945, but I could not accept such a proposal
out of principal.
Foc:
Which ones?
Jer:
All the monuments are of a recent date.
|
