Universal Hall in Skopje partially destroyed by fire

Common Corridor, a monumental 1965 cultural venue designed by Vladimir Jaroslav, Ljubomir Stankov, and Okay. Stankova-Mutafova, caught fireplace in Skopje, North Macedonia, on April 9. Repairs have been taking place on the midcentury constructing’s signature dome when a large fireplace broke out, destroying its roof. No person was injured, however the disaster has caught the eye of architects and preservationists.

Since Yugoslavia’s collapse in 1991, Common Corridor has been in a state of limbo. The constructing has modified possession a number of instances, and has been closed since 2015 for renovations by the Ministry of Tradition. The latest renovations have been being carried out to arrange Common Corridor for 2028, when Skopje would be the European Capital of Tradition. Now, this most up-to-date fireplace has positioned the essential cultural constructing in additional jeopardy.

In recent times, Yugoslav structure has acquired important consideration within the International West, with publications and exhibitions indebted to the topic. Definitely, Skopje’s Common Corridor is among the greatest examples of structure produced throughout this socialist epoch, and the revolutionary beliefs world leaders as soon as aspired to.

Common Corridor debuted in 1966, on the top of the Chilly Warfare. The design contains a multi-story dome that incorporates 1,800 seats flanked by a grand lobby on one finish and administrative areas on the opposite. A sculptural stair within the lobby related the higher and floor ranges. In part, the constructing recollects Étienne-Louis Boullée’s Cenotaph for Newton (1784), or Mikhail Barsch’s Moscow Planetarium, accomplished in 1929.

However what’s extra spectacular than Common Corridor’s structure is its story: Previous to its building, in 1963, a disastrous earthquake struck the mountainside capital of Skopje. The disaster claimed 1,000 lives and destroyed virtually 80 p.c of Skopje’s buildings. In flip, the development of Common Corridor was made potential due to contributions by virtually eighty nations from around the globe, which got here to embody Skopje’s reconstruction, based on historians Ana Ivanovska Deskova and Damjan Kokalevski.

After the earthquake, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito reached out to world leaders from the USA, U.S.S.R., and Non-Aligned Motion, which included liberated Asian and African nations, for assist and help poured in. Starting in 1964, copious quantities of prefabricated housing, hospitals, and colleges have been constructed all through Skopje due to beneficiant items by world leaders.

Common Corridor started internet hosting capabilities in 1965 earlier than it was formally accomplished, and formally opened in 1966. Three years later, in 1969, President Tito joined world leaders there on the annual Antifascist Meeting for the Nationwide Liberation of Macedonia, an essential occasion which was held for the reason that finish of World Warfare II.

Following Yugoslavia’s collapse, many city planning laws have been lifted in Skopje; and quite a few midcentury buildings have been demolished. Common Corridor survived the wanton purges, however suffered from years of neglect and possession modifications. For many years, the constructing was used for live shows, performs, and even Eurovision.

In 2013, Common Corridor was declared unsafe for utilization after years of deferred upkeep. By that point, the constructing had grow to be a logo of an “unfavorable” previous, Ana Ivanovska Deskova and Damjan Kokalevski mentioned. Two years later, in 2015, authorities officers proposed demolishing the constructing for a brand new auditorium, however that demolition was marred by a collection of stops-and-starts. Then in 2020, metropolis officers once more proposed destroying the constructing, however that concept was met with stiff opposition from the general public.

The Skopje Primary Public Prosecutor’s Workplace is now investigating the April 9 fireplace to find out if it was an accident or “brought on by a human issue.”

In response to native reporters, three building employees who have been current on the constructing across the time of the hearth have been detained.