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Motel Trogir project: Protecting Croatia’s Post-WWII Architecture

The Motel Trogir project was launched in 2013 by Loose Associations – the association for contemporary art practices, and its associates (Nataša Bodrožić, Lidija Butković Mićin, Diana Magdić and Saša Šimpraga) as a civil campaign focusing on the motel built in Trogir in 1965, designed by Ivan Vitić, one of the most prominent Croatian architects of the 20th century. Vitić's motel is one of the rare examples of outstanding modern architecture in Trogir, a mid-Dalmatian coastal town with approx. 13 000 permanent inhabitants, of which approx. 1000 live in its historical centre that is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. The project consists of many activities and has developed a specific methodology which can be described as a combination of civic activism and scientific, publicist and educational work including curating and producing contemporary art projects. One of the main project goals was to ensure motel’s formal recognition and protection by the proper authorities, which was successfully obtained: the motel in Trogir was included in the List of Protected Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia in 2013, and in 2015 also the motel in Rijeka, a variant of the same original design by Vitić. By insisting on the qualities of this architectural concept and its significance for the history of tourism in Trogir and for the town’s community life, the project seeks to oppose the dominant media narrative which views the motel area strictly in the light of its present, dilapidated state, thereby implicitly advocating the radical solutions conforming to the appetites of potential investors. In this respect, Motel Trogir project also broached the subject of the social valuation of the still often stigmatised Socialist era’s tangible heritage - not only for the purpose of canonizing specific structures or architectural complexes, but also in order to preserve the cultural memory and social affirmation of Modernism and its influence and current significance.

Motel Trogir, Ivan Vitić, modern architecture, architectural heritage

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