Naslov
Adopting models, constructing values: The case of PRIMA department store in Split, Croatia

Autori
Matijević Barčot, Sanja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Modern Design : Social Commitment and Quality of Life : Proceedings of the 17th International Docomomo Conference / Jordá Such, Carmen ; Palomares Figueres, Maite ; Tostões, Ana ; Pottgiesser, Uta - Valencia : Docomomo International, 2022, 209-218

ISBN
978-84-19286-58-1

Skup
17th International Docomomo Conference

Mjesto i datum
Valencia, Španjolska, 06.09.2022. - 09.09.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
architecture ; socialism ; modernism ; department store

Sažetak
Sigfried Giedion considered the department store a merely utilitarian building type. According to him, the department store emerged as "a new building problem apparently governed solely by practical considerations." This paper presents the case of the PRIMA department store in Split and provides insight into the post-war emergence and development of department store typology in Croatia, where due to the unique socio-political context and contrary to Giedion's considerations, its utilitarian function was far surpassed. This paper analyses the architectural features and urban qualities of the PRIMA department store, as well as its socio-political meaning. By tracing the lineage of PRIMA's design influences, the paper explores how this utilitarian 'Western' commercial typology was appropriated and adapted to the local conditions of the then-socialist society. Namely, the local post-war emergence of the department store building type was strongly linked to the set of political, social, and economic reforms implemented in Croatia (which was a part of Yugoslavia at the time) during the 1950s, which induced the shift from state socialism and a planned economy towards a self-governing and so-called "market" socialism. In this political shift, department stores gained an instrumental role. They were planned and financed as part of the public infrastructure, just like kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and sports facilities. The PRIMA department store embodied all the modern trends in shopping architecture: fully glazed windows, lighting and air-conditioning technology, interior organization and display techniques, escalators, and the new treatment of the façade, but its design discourse and aspirations somewhat greatly from its Western model. The design of the PRIMA department store was unencumbered with the dictate of profitability of the commercial contents, which affected the design of commercial facilities elsewhere ; it was defined by an awareness of the department store as a project of social significance.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Arhitektura i urbanizam

POVEZANOST RADA