Constructing the world of equal opportunities: The case of architect Vladimir Antolić
Discourse in the field of architecture and urban planning remained essentially the same in Croatia from the 1930s until the Second World War, and then until the mid 1950s, despite radically changing socio-political systems. This should be credited to Zagreb-based ‘salaried architects’. In the 1930s, they pointed to a major social problem—the substandard living conditions present throughout the country. Questioning the implementation of projects and plans within liberal capitalism, some even entered politics. In post-war socialist Yugoslavia, the circumstances radically changed. Reviewing these pre-war and post-war stages as a single process, this article highlights to the contributions of architect Vladimir Antolić (1903–1981), one of the first trained urban planners in Croatia and a member of International Congress of Modern Architecture. It will demonstrate how his work on the Zagreb Regulation Plan helped to define key issues of urban planning practices in Yugoslavia and show the significance of the so-called European ‘periphery’ in the modern movement’s narrative.