Naslov
Building the Cultural Capital of the New Nation - Zagreb's Museum Buildings at the Turn of the 19th to the 20th Century

Autori
Dulibić, Ljerka ; Pasini Tržec, Iva

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
Museum Envisioned. Architectural Competitions 1851-1914. Museumsvisionen. Architekturwettbewerbe 1851-1914.

Mjesto i datum
Berlin, Njemačka, 02.07.2015. - 04.07.2015

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters; Museum of Arts and Crafts; Trade and Crafts Museum; Art Pavillion; National University Library; Green Horseshoe; architectural competition; Zagreb; 19th/20th Century

Sažetak
Within the context of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, high culture was one of the few realms in which alternative social and political visions could be articulated. The idea of ‘having a culture’ had become crucial to nationalist and politicized ethnic discourse, and was taken as a mark of being a bona fide ‘people’ who should have the right to at least some degree of self-governance. The institutionalization of the arts and sciences was perceived as a guarantee for a stable, free society. Concurrently, 'having a museum’ was itself a ‘performative utterance’ of having an identity. The first structure built specifically as a museum was the one to house the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters. However, from the very outset, the building was used as a home to several institutions. Afterwards, the Museum of Arts and Crafts and the Trade and Crafts Museum (today the Ethnography Museum) were built. For neither of these buildings was there an architectural competition put out (an architectural competition was organized only for the National University Library in 1909). This is an expected omission for the time considering that the architectural competition is an established practice for situations in which the design itself is thought of as a „step up“ towards better quality, functionality, higher prestige, etc. Knowing that „competitions are driven by the desire to go beyond what already exists“ it is clear that a competition was unnecessary for the current context, when the „first step“ had yet to be done. However, the erection of new museum buildings was preceded by several years of construction endeavours, whose key moments, as well as their protagonists, could be reconstructed on the basis of various archival and published sources. In all its stages of preparing for, and the building process itself, the wishes, ambitions and initiatives of different individuals and institutions can be discerned. Thanks to its positioning, surroundings and outer aesthetic, museum buildings erected from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in today's core of the center of Zagreb, make a multifariously representative space of the city and a powerful sign of its urban identity. These buildings still dominate the urban landscape of Zagreb, which was particularly defined at this time.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest umjetnosti

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