A Manifesto of Pure Architecture

architects Boris Magaš, Edo Šmidihen, Radovan Horvat
project Revolution Museum, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
written by Stjepan Roš

 

The competition for the urban renewal of Marindvor in Sarajevo was held in late 1954. Marindvor, part of the center of the town, was only partially built and the intention was to develop it into an administrative and cultural city and state center. The first prize was awarded to Juraj Neidhardt and his colleagues. 

 

The award-winning design provided for individual buildings “without schematism, located along the park border so as to create an ornamental image. Thus the city would become a Carpet City.” The plan anticipated buildings for the National Library and the Liberation (later Revolution) Museum alongside the building of the Parliament and the existing City Museum. Only some parts of the award-winning competition design have been built in the Marindvor city center. The municipal government put up buildings while at the same time fierce professional polemics were never still.