Napier – the small New Zealand city where my travelling partner Phillipa was born, suffered a similar fate. The great quake of Napier in 1931 occurred right at the peak of the Art Deco movement. Napier was destroyed, and then rebuilt, all in the early 1930’s. As a result, the city can rightfully claim the title of “art deco capital of the world”. Back in Skopje, 1963, the architectural trend wasn’t art-deco, it was modernist, with a particular focus on concrete brutalism. Unlike Napier, Skopje has yet to capitalise on its architectural heritage. I would suggest a new tourist slogan – “Skopje – Brutalist Capital of the World”. Perhaps it’s not as catchy.

Examples of brutalist architecture – a style typified by geometric themes and raw concrete – occur all over the formerly communist area of Yugoslavia. In Zagreb, in Belgrade, and in nearly every small town, exist examples from this era. However, it is the legacy of Kenzo Tange, that makes Skopje so special in this regard. Locals are indifferent about memories of the Yugoslavia communist-era in general, however most people I have spoken to when visiting these buildings are familiar with Kenzo Tange. And whether they are particularly a fan of this style of architecture or not is beside the point – it’s clear that the positive impact Kenzo Tange had on the community of Skopje, in the wake of a devastating natural event, will not soon be forgotten.

And this is the part of the article where we deal with some problems of terminology. Macedonia, officially “The Republic of Macedonia” or “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” depending on which international body you are speaking to, declared independence from communist Yugoslavia in 1991. The naming issue is telling, for a country whose government is seemingly hell bent on rebuilding its history (some people would say rewriting history), even the name of the country may not be final.

Due to a dispute with Greece, and in particular the Greek region just across the shared border also known as Macedonia, The Republic of Macedonia was admitted to the United Nations only with the provisional name of FYROM. But this soviet-esque abbreviation is already out of favor with many UN members. Apologies to Greece, but it appears the name FYROM will be going the same way as Rhodesia, The Dutch East Indies, and Upper Volta. To most people around the world, Macedonia, is Macedonia.

brutalist, modernist, but not communist architecture?

Macedonian naming issues aside, there is another problem when referring to this style of architecture. Of course, it isn’t “communist architecture”. Kenzo Tange was certainly not communist, for a start. However, the fact remains that all of the architecture featured in this article, was indeed constructed during a period in which Macedonia was a part of “communist” Yugoslavia. I should also add that the Yugoslavian leader Tito ruled his nation seemingly benevolently, and was a much loved politician. There was no Iron Curtain in Yugoslavia, despite that this is the very region where the term originated. Much like China today, or the United States for that matter, Yugoslavians were encouraged to be capitalist consumers. They didn’t suffer restrictions on leaving the country, as was occurring in much of the rest of Eastern Europe during this period. So the issue of “communism” is complex in the case of Yugoslavia, and beyond the scope of this article.

Kenzo Tange and his Japanese team aside, the other architects of these structures may or may not have identified as communists, or socialists. The term is used these days, simply to denote a period in time. For westerners, the term communist architecture has come to denote the stark, efficient, cosmic, brutal, distinctive and unique style of Balkans area architecture that was often decidedly different from what was being built elsewhere. Personally, I think it’s a beautiful style. A venture into the interiors of any of these buildings will show that both form and function were frequently mastered.