Roman Bezjak
Skopje
Skopje has undergone two fundamental reconstructions in the architectural and historical sense in the past sixty years. After the 1963 earthquake, Skopje became a model of modernism. With the construction project “Skopje 2014”, the modernist cityscape was reshaped by buildings, monuments and sculptures in the ancient, neo-baroque and neo-classical styles. Antiquity and Christianity instead of Islam and communism. For the Macedonian government, the project was an opportunity to create “a tangible manifestation of Macedonian identity.” For opponents of the project, it is an attempt to rewrite Macedonia’s history from one side. This impression is reinforced by the fact that most of the new buildings are not reconstructions of torn-down buildings, but new buildings without any reference to the history of the city.
