Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2014.15
The Vranyczany Plateau in the Zagreb Upper Town – Projects and Controversies 1907-1970
Zlatko Jurić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of history of art, Zagreb, Croatia
Bernarda Ratančić
; Croatian Conservation Institute, Section for Immovable Heritage Documentation, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The Vranyczany Plateau is the name for a vacated plot of land between the Lotrščak Tower and the building of the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, at the southwest end of the Zagreb Upper Town. Until the late 18th century, this had been a site of old monastic complexes that passed into private ownership as the orders were disbanded. From that moment on, the site began drawing attention of both investors and architects and urban planners alike.
Even before the monastic complexes were brought down in 1944, several new construction proposals for the Vranyczany Plateau had emerged, ranging from interventions on the location to grandiose reconstructions of the entire south perimeter of the Upper Town.
The two earliest surviving projects are by architect Hugo Ehrlich, and differ completely in style and concept. The first proposal is a concept design from 1907, which envisioned a grandiose classicist reconstruction of the whole south front of the Upper Town into palaces for the Ban and the Parliament. Four years later, a project originated for a residential rental building on the Vranyczany Plateau, in the geometric Art Nouveau style.
The important and sensitive nature of introducing a modern structure to the Vranyczany Plateau was highlighted for the first time in the course of a debate between architect Bruno Bauer and art historian Petar Knoll. The debate over the Upper Town Regulation Plan (1938) ran in the newspapers, featuring two contrasting views on the relation between the old and the new. One side advocated the adaption of old parts of the city to modern-day lifestyle (Bauer), while the other underlined the value of the historical setting in its existing condition (Knoll).
Early on in WWII, the Ban’s Table (high court) decided to bring down decrepit complexes on the Vranyczany Plateau, calling for tenders for a new building of the Technical Department. This resulted in four projects by leading architects of the day: Juraj Denzler, Marijan Haberle, Mladen Kauzlarić and Vladimir Potočnjak. In all four projects there is a visible tendency for modern architecture to fit into the historical setting, by respecting the prior layout and disposition of volumes. With the shift in power in 1941, the projects were abandoned and the demolition of complexes brought to a halt. The new authorities initially planned for the existing buildings to accommodate a War Museum and Archive, however, the idea was dropped and all the buildings were eventually brought down.
The question of the Vranyczany Plateau and other vacant land plots in the Upper Town were the subject of a survey organized in 1960 by the Čovjek i prostor magazine. Taking part in the survey were Josip Ladović (from the Conservation Department), architects Zdenko Kolacio (director of the Urban Planning Institute), Ivan Zemljak and Vladimir Turina, as well as Stjepan Kolarić (secretary of the supervisory board of the Upper Town municipality) and Stanko Dvoržak (secretary of the Tourist Association). Although the participants’ opinions diverged and no final conclusion was reached, the survey did point to the complexities arising from introducing new structures to the Upper Town, the problem of musealization of a town quarter, and the possibilities of adapting an old part of the city to modern-day demands.
In the late 1950s, the urban-planning and conservation guidelines for new buildings in the Vranyczany Plateau were drawn up by architect Zdenko Kolacio, director of the Urban Planning Institute of the City of Zagreb. The key points were the need for the layout of a new structure to be modelled on the situation prior to the demolition and that it should ideally be two-storied. Following the set guidelines, architect Alfred Albini designed the residential and office building of the Executive Council of the Peoples’ Republic of Croatia. Although Albini’s 1959 project was noteworthy, it should be viewed as a precursor to projects for the Music Academy, which would occupy Albini for the following two decades.
The idea to build a Music Academy in the Upper Town also preoccupied architect Ivan Zemljak. In 1961 he published in the Čovjek i prostor magazine an article that featured an analysis of the plan for the south front of Grič. He stressed the importance of defining the cultural and tourist context of the Upper Town, into which a new structure on the plateau was to accommodate. Only after the wider context of the whole south front was established, should one move toward resolving architectural and urbanplanning issues.
There were altogether eight projects for the Music Academy building on the Vranyczany Plateau. The earliest concept design dates from 1960, while as early as 1962, Albini made one of the most influential unbuilt projects for modern architectural interpolation in a historical setting. Albini followed the layout and dimensions of the demolished buildings, designing an unobtrusive architecture that fitted into the setting, while being positively modern. Subsequent variants of the project for the Music Academy dealt with the need to increase the surface of the building. This brought about alterations to the layout of the interior and to the exterior dimensions of the building, which would eventually prevent the construction of the Academy in the Upper Town.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there emerged an initiative to revitalize the Upper Town by introducing new cultural and tourist facilities that would also translate into economic benefit. One of the proposals was to construct a luxury hotel in the Vranyczany Plateau, designed in 1970 by architect Neven Šegvić. The project provoked major debates in public and professional circles, later to develop into a discussion that dealt not only with the proposal for a new building, but also with the significance of the Upper Town historical setting, and the problem of traffic and the facilities on offer. Notable cultural workers took part in the debate, such as Vladimir Maleković, Žarko Domljan, Ivo Maroević, Lelja Dobronić and others. Despite numerous arguments and a project that was completed, the hotel in the Upper Town has never been built, and the Vranyczany plateau remains vacant to this day.
This paper aims to provide a short overview of published projects and proposals for new buildings on the Vranyczany Plateau. Apart from the architectural projects, the research traced the contemporary debates that these proposals had raised, in which a great number of architects, art historians and other experts from public and cultural spheres took part. The significance of these projects lies in the fact that their common feature was the use of a modern architectural expression with full respect, however, for the historical value of the setting.
Keywords
Vranyczany Plateau; architectural interpolations in Zagreb Upper Town; revitalization of Zagreb Upper Town; Bruno Bauer; Petar Knoll; Alfred Albini; Music Academy; Neven Šegvić
Hrčak ID:
133058
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2014.
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