Zadar's residential arhitecture of the 1950's and 1960's

Galić, Anđela. (2017). Zadar's residential arhitecture of the 1950's and 1960's. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Art History. [mentor Galjer, Jasna].

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Abstract

Postwar reconstruction of Zadar represents a unique example of Croatian and European conservation practice when it comes to defining specific methods of reconstruction for a war-torn town. Those methods are based on methods of preservation of an existing town grid and of rebuilding using modern architectural ideas without historical reminiscence, but still in the pre-war perimeter. In that aspect, the principle applied in the reconstruction of Zadar preceded similar conservation principles used in European practice by a decade. In the period between 1945 when the first regulatory plan was produced and 1959 more than a dozen conceptual solutions were made without even one being fully accepted. Instead, the rebuilding was done partially, hence the result of reconstruction is somewhat underwhelming considering what was originally imagined. Interpolation of modern architecture in the town of picturesque ambiance and long historical significance was imagined by a number of Croatian architects, some successful and others not. Architectural solutions by Ivan Vitić, Zvonimir Požgaj, Vlado Bartolić, Alfred Albini, Neven Šegvić, Juraj Denzler, Božidar Rašica, Bruno Milić, Dragutin Boltar, Ninoslav Kučan, Aleksandar Dragomanović, Igor Skopin, Slavko Šimatić, Mladen Kauzlarić stand out as the most efficient interpolations done on the Zadar peninsula, while there are many others which defaced its picturesque contours. The end of World War II led to an increase in economic and population growth, which resulted in a strong residential crisis, the sudden expansion of city borders and the increasing housing fund. During the 1950’s several smaller housing projects were made on the outskirts of town while in the 1960’s the building intensified on the land surrounding the peninsula. Expansion and building had mostly been done without regulation plans, considering that the General Urbanistic plan wasn't adopted until 1973. Voštarnica, Jazine, Relja and Stanovi city quarters, where construction was most intense, were facing problems arising from the uncontrollable erection of family houses. Construction outside of the peninsula was in most parts done without any regulation plans or thought-out urban guidelines which resulted in a somewhat chaotic situation where roads and housing quarters are illogically structured. City quarters like Relja II and Voštarnica III can be seen as exceptions because they were planned and constructed adhering to the principles of then contemporary regulatory basis of urban planning. Considering that the most attention was paid to interpolation activities and the reconstruction of the peninsula, construction on the land was carried out by local construction companies which were given no incentives in the form of a general plan from urban planners. This ultimately resulted in illogical traffic solutions and the lack of any kind of social and cultural aspects and green areas being incorporated in the urban tissue. Considering that Zadar is a town with rich cultural heritage and is geographically very attractive, its sprawl and reconstruction during the 1950's and 1960's should have been more done more thoughtfully and with much more care and planning.

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