ZAGREB, March 2, 2020 - "The World as a Pavilion. Vjenceslav Richter" exhibition, dedicated to the Croatian architect and artist established also on the European scene, opens on 4 March at the Centre for Fine Arts Bozar in Brussels on the occasion of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Organised in cooperation between the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) and the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts Bozar, the exhibition contains around one hundred of Richter's works, with synthesis as the starting point of his work in architecture, art, theory and experimentation.

The art piece "Man standing in a museum looking at something" (2017) by Marko Tadic will also be included in the exhibition.

Richter was one of the central figures of the Croatian art scene in the second half of the 20th century, and he left an important mark in the European art history as well. He was one of the founders of the EXAT-51 art group, an active participant in the New Tendencies) exhibitions, he designed many residential and public buildings, and authored several conceptual designs in urban planning.

The exhibition will be on view until 19 Apri.

A series of Croatian cultural programmes in March across Europe

As part of the Croatian presidency of the EU cultural programme, an intensive presentation of Croatian culture and heritage continues in March, starting with screenings of Vlado Kristl's films on 2 March at the Goethe Institute in Paris.

Among larger exhibitions, three stand out: the Miroslav Kraljević exhibition opening on 3 March in Budapest, the exhibition of posters by Boris Bućan opening in Krakow on 31 March, and the Lumbarda Psephisma exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum of Greece in Athens.

As for theatre, two plays will be performed on 11 March in Brussels: "Staging a play. Tartuffe" by Matija Ferlin and "Love will tear us apart", a dance play by the theatrical troupe De Facto.

The orchestra of the Lado national folk-dance ensemble will give a concert in Sofia on 19 March, and the "Three Winters" play from the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb will be performed on 21 March in Brussels.

Croatian writers will present their work at book fairs in Leipzig (12-15 March) and Paris (20-23 March).

More culture news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

The Zagreb suburb of Dubrava will be getting a new indoor pool and construction is set to begin in 2020. Here is what the massive complex valued at HRK 42.9m (5.77 Million EUR) will look like.

“We are compensating for the lack of natural light and ventilation of the building by dividing it into three pavilions, which are created by introducing two atriums, where trees will be planted,” the Dubrava pool architects explained to Petra Balija/Večernji List on December 11, 2019.

Zagreb Based Radionica Arhitekture Submits Winning Proposal

The pool complex will be nestled between two tall buildings. On one side there will be a 12-story residential skyscraper, and on the other a church with a bell tower that pierces the sky. The location of the future swimming pool in Dubrava, at the corner of Aleja Blaž Jurišića and Križni put ulica, helped dictate the appearance of the building. It was designed by the Radionica arhitekture (Architecture Workshop) team headed by renowned architect Goran Rako. Thirty-three proposals were received in less than two months; the duration of the competition announced by the City of Zagreb. The second prize went to the BIRO Architectural Office and the third to Hrvoje Njirić, Marko Gusić and Irma Šmuc. Construction is expected begin next year, according to reports from the city. The time of year for laying the foundation will be determined in subsequent planning meetings now that the winning proposal has been selected, officials from the Gornja Dubrava district added.

Dubrava Pool Complex Will Have Three Pavilions

Considering that it will be surrounded by taller buildings, the pool building should be as close to the ground as possible, the Radionica arhitekture team thought. Therefore, they designed a low elevation building which will be nestled among taller structures. They will erect "dams", or walls without openings facing east and west, to prevent neighbors from looking in at bathers in the swimming pools.

The Radionica arhitekture team included a "double" cafe on the ground floor of the building, where guests can enter in shoes from the lobby, and bathers can enter through the atrium barefoot or with flip-flops.

“We compensate for the lack of natural light and ventilation within the building by dividing it into three pavilions, which are created by introducing two atriums, where trees will be planted,” the architects point out.

Pool and Locker Room on Subterranean Level

They also wanted to place the pool and locker room on the same floor. Since there wasn’t any space on the ground floor, they solved the problem by lowering both to the subterranean level. In addition to a large sports and recreation pool and a smaller educational and rehabilitation pool, the complex will house a sauna, ballet and choreography hall, 250-person capacity theater, fitness center, breastfeeding area and children’s changing room.

Energy Efficient Design and Water Reclamation System

Putting part of the building underground will enhance energy independence and efficiency, so that building warms up more slowly during summer months and cools down more slowly in winter. In addition, they will install photovoltaic panels, underfloor heating, and a ceiling cooling system. High-efficiency LED lighting will be controlled automatically by the amount of available daylight. Rainwater will be collected from the roof. The complex will also recycle wastewater from showers, washbasins and mechanical structures and use it for flushing toilets and maintaining external surfaces. The estimated cost of the project is 42.9 million HRK (5.77 Million EUR), excluding VAT. This investment will add value and a fresh perspective to the neighborhood, says Damir Oniško, the mayor of the district.

For more information on upcoming architecture competitions and building projects in Croatia, follow our Lifestyle page here.

ZAGREB, August 19, 2019 - Five professional associations of architects, urban planners and landscape architects have called on Zagreb City authorities to organise another round of public consultation on the proposed general city plan (GUP).

In a letter to the city administration, the associations said that they have called for amendments due to the "obvious discrepancy between the proposed GUP and the Law on Physical Planning (ZSU) as well as a series of technical irregularities and discrepancies between various part of the plan."

The architects and urban planners warned that a round of the public consultation held between 31 July and 14 August had not been announced in the physical planning IT system which is a legal requirement.

Recently, Construction Minister Predrag Štromar expressed satisfaction with the great interest of citizens in the public consultation on planned changes to the Zagreb city plan, noting that city services should now analyse the proposals submitted for likely amendment of the proposed changes and then forward the plan to the City Assembly for adoption.

On the other hand, Mayor Milan Bandić dismissed criticism that he was ignoring the opinions of experts and of a general public in connection with the planned changes of Zagreb's city plan.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 9, 2019 - International university professors and experts for urban planning have sent an appeal to members of the Zagreb City Council urging them to reject the proposed amendments to the city's general spatial plan that envisage the implementation of the so-called "Zagreb Manhattan" project on the banks of the Sava River.

INURA presents itself as "a network of people involved in action and research in localities and cities" and the network "consists of activists and researchers from community and environmental groups, universities, and local administrations, who wish to share experiences and to participate in common research". INURA, founded in 1991 in Salecina, Switzerland is a network with a self-organizing, non-hierarchical, decentralized structure.

The network expresses concern over the information that Zagreb may follow the example of cities that have privatised and partly damaged their belts along coasts or river banks.

They also warn that the project was being agreed to behind closed doors and that the general public has not been provided with sufficient information.

In March this year, the city authorities said that Eagle Hills, a group of investors from Abu Dhabi, was the likely strategic investor in a possible development project colloquially called Zagreb's Manhattan.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, April 3, 2019 - Croatian associations of architects, urban planners, landscape architects and art historians sent an open letter to Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić on Tuesday, saying that the recently published plans for the implementation of the Zagreb Manhattan (or "City within the City") project were unacceptable from several points of view.

The plans ignore the legal procedure and are completely disputable from a professional point of view, the organisations said in the letter, noting that the project had not been put to public consultation.

The project is not in line with the Urban Development Plan or with the Master Plan, they warned, stressing that procedural and professional conditions should be met for the implementation of the project.

The purpose of the "City within the City" project is to transform the area of 1.1 million square metres covering the Zagreb Trade Fair complex and the Hippodrome horse racing venue into "a new innovative mixed-use urban zone for various complementary purposes," according to a call for expression of interest.

The call for expression of interest said that Novi Zagreb, the part of Zagreb south of the River Sava, does not have sufficient public, social, cultural, entertainment, commercial, sports and recreational facilities to meet the needs of its 120,000 residents, and that the planned project would improve the overall quality of life in the city.

Eagle Hills, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, has been selected as a possible partner for the "City within the City" development project, the Zagreb mayor's office said in a press release early in March.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Another award for Croatian designers and architects.

A major part of the exhibition is dedicated to Croatia.

ZAGREB, May 26, 2018 - The Croatian Pavilion was formally opened in Venice's Arsenal on Friday as part of the 16th Venice Biennale, an international architecture exhibition.

ZAGREB, May 6, 2018 - An exhibition called "Cloud Pergola/The Architecture of Hospitality" by several Croatian authors will represent Croatia at this year's Venice Biennale which will take place in the Italian city from 26 May to 25 November.

ZAGREB, February 4, 2018 - New York's Museum of Modern Art has recently announced an exhibition about most distinctive examples of Yugoslav socialist architecture in the period from 1948 to 1980.