Challenges and Strategies for Protecting Modern Heritage in a Changing Socio-Political Landscape
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https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.74.10Keywords:
Yugoslav Modernism, Modern Heritage, community space, Home of the ArmyAbstract
This paper explores the architectural and social significance of the Homes of the Army in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1992), a specific typology of objects, built and managed by the army, yet utilized by citizens across generations as community and cultural centers. The Homes of the Army represented the materialization of the doctrine of the Yugoslav People’s Army in strengthening the unity of the young multi-ethnic nation. In this sense, their design emphasized monumentality, while also promoting openness, following the trends of Western European modernist practice of the time. However, with the change in socio-political circumstances in the early 1990s, the disintegration of Yugoslavia, and the deregulation of public space in a corrupt system, in which political instruments are used to support the economic interests of private investors, the fate of these buildings—which had become focal points in the social and cultural life of cities—was, in many cases, left to the market. Preservation efforts, led by architects and cultural activists from the local communities, are focused on the potential of these buildings as spaces for culture and community interaction. The paper presents a case study of the protection of the Home of the Yugoslav People’s Army in Šabac, one of the seven most endangered heritage sites listed by Europa Nostra for 2024. By analyzing this example, the paper offers insights into current challenges as well as strategies for protecting modernist heritage across former Yugoslavia. Analyzing the pressure of the market on the one hand and the preservation of local identity on the other, this paper provides a critical analysis of the contemporary narrative on the rehabilitation and reuse of modernist structures that no longer align with contemporary economic frameworks. These insights offer lessons that can be applied to similar conservation efforts globally, making the case study relevant to the broader international context of modernist architecture conservation.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Marko Gavrilović
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