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Architects of Zagreb: Careers and the Great War

The aim of this article is to present the professional and private life of several Zagrebian architects during the Great War from a political, national, economic, and professional perspective. The high quality projects of the first generation of Croatian architects educated Vienna and Prague were realised at the beginning of the 20th century, thus creating modern Zagreb. Since the realisation of these great architectural projects was dependent on the economic state in the country i.e. whether they could be ordered and paid, the recession of 1913 slowed down the construction of new buildings. There were no large orders placed after the beginning of the war, and this greatly influenced the work, careers, and lifestyle of the advocates of the new architectural style – Secession. By analysing unpublished archival material such as regulation grounds of the City of Zagreb created during the wartime period and registers of building, and occupational permits and comparing them to the published sources and contemporary daily publications, we can retrace the fate of individuals and their careers. Individual architects were, as one would expect, mobilized and decorated for their successes on the front. Others were discharged from military service and continued working in Zagreb, facing the reality of living behind the front lines. Their careers and everyday life could be quite different: some were politically active ; some were interned for being citizens of enemy countries ; others simply continued working on less demanding construction projects. During the war, the spatial planning of the city was performed on a significantly lower scale, while construction works were comparatively minor – usually adaptations and extensions plus a small number of modest new buildings and industrial constructions. Analysis of the archival material shows that those who ordered larger construction projects – banks, merchants and war profiteers – were those who gained the most during the war.

Zagreb, World War One, Architects

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