Architecture that brings urban transformation, the case of two buildings in the Montenegrin city of Nikšić (original) (raw)

The aim of this paper is to show the cultural phenomena created by the construction of two buildings in a socialist, industrial city that have influenced its urban transformation. In the case of the second largest Montenegrin city, Nikšić, two buildings marked the cultural and economic development, the Union house built in 1962 by architect Đorđije Minjević (1924-2013) and the Home of revolution unfinished building which construction began in 1977, designed by architect Marko Mušič (1946). The Union house was among the first in Montenegro built in an international style and among the first in ex-Yugoslavia with vertical brise-solei. The building contains several functions: a large cinema hall with 800 seats as well the library, classrooms and offices for the Worker’s University. For industrial city that was rapidly developing, the existence of the Union house as a place where film projections, concerts, theatre performances, and education took place was of great importance. In the context of architecture, this building brought new trends and contents that soon became focus of everyday urban life. In the former Yugoslavia during the seventies, it was common to build monuments and memorial buildings dedicated to victims of the liberation struggles in the Second World War. The biggest memorial buildings with more the 22,000 square meters of different functions and contents, called the Home of Revolution is located in the city of Nikšić. The building should present the economic strength of the city at that time but also the unity of all Yugoslav nations, since a large number of donation from all over the country were used for the construction. When Yugoslavia broke up in 1991, there was a suspension of construction of all federal projects including Home of Revolution. Today the building is completely abandoned.