IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section B
Abstract
The second half of the 19th century in many ways defined the subsequent development of Zagreb, Croatian ethnical and cultural centre within the Habsburg Monarchy. Abolition of serfdom and industrialisation of production slowly uplifted the middle class which relied on architecture to envision and design spaces of a new society. No other building type better embodied this aspiration then the late nineteenth century historicistic villas, whose domestic architecture did not only incorporate certain function, but also strived to materialize cultural identity, concept of morality and the idea of modernity in a moment of profound economic, social, and cultural change. Consequently, architects experimented with various architectural styles and elements which redefined the relationship between the villa and its closer or wider environment. One element stood out in particular – the tower, which was often dismissed as a mere romantical pursuit. However, when investigated within the spatial context of a late 19th century city, towers of Zagreb’s historicistic villas prove to be bold statements when verticality was reserved exclusively for the clergy (church towers) or the aristocracy / monarchy (rampart towers). This paper reexamines the architecture of Zagreb’s historicistic villas by focusing on its singular element – the tower, to fully understand the moment in city’s architectural history in which a new social class used new building type to challenge the existing visual expressions of power. In doing so, it created unique cultural landscape which is still not yet understood in all its complexity and unfortunately still not protected accordingly.
Karlo Seitz is a doctoral student at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Architecture where he also works as a research assistant at the Department of Theory and History of Architecture. His current research focuses on late 19th and early 20th century architecture in Zagreb and its complex role in the profound social and cultural transformation of the Croatian capital. He is particularly interested in architectural atmospheres, understood as specific emotional qualities of built environments, with which architecture can materialise otherwise immaterial sentiments such as cultural identity, co
Nataša Jakšić, Dipl.Ing.Arch., M.Sc., Ph.D. is an architect and architectural historian, Associate Professor of Architectural History at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture. Her work focuses on the history of architecture. She has broadly written on the history of Croatian architecture in the European cultural context.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday 17th July, 2024