Utopian Brutalism

“Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980” runs through Jan. 13 at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

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National and University Library of Kosovo in Prishtina, Kosovo, by Andrija Mutnjaković (1971–82, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

National and University Library of Kosovo in Prishtina, Kosovo, by Andrija Mutnjaković (1971–82, photographed in 2016)

Covering projects ranging from Niko Kralj’s Rex Chair to Uglješa Bogunović and Slobodan Janjić’s Avala TV Tower, a new Museum of Modern Art exhibition highlights design in Yugoslavia. Open through Jan. 13, “Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980” includes roughly 400 photographs, models, films, and drawings. The show features archival material from museums and personal collections as well as a modern-day perspective, like a 2016 shot of the Avala TV Tower—which was rebuilt in 2010 “to much public enthusiasm,” says guest curator Vladimir Kulić, after the original was destroyed by NATO in 1999.

Avala TV Tower in Mount Avala, Serbia, by Uglješa Bogunović, Slobodan Janjić, and Milan Krstić (Originally built in 1960–65, destroyed in 1999 and rebuilt in 2010, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Avala TV Tower in Mount Avala, Serbia, by Uglješa Bogunović, Slobodan Janjić, and Milan Krstić (Originally built in 1960–65, destroyed in 1999 and rebuilt in 2010, photographed in 2016)

Monument to the Battle of the Sutjeska in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Miodrag Živković (1965–71, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Monument to the Battle of the Sutjeska in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Miodrag Živković (1965–71, photographed in 2016)

Telecommunications Center in Skopje, Macedonia, by Janko Konstantinov (1968–81, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Telecommunications Center in Skopje, Macedonia, by Janko Konstantinov (1968–81, photographed in 2016)

Šerefudin White Mosque by Zlatko Ugljen in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1969–79, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Šerefudin White Mosque by Zlatko Ugljen in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1969–79, photographed in 2016)

Braće Borozan building block in Split 3 in Split, Croatia, by Dinko Kovačić and Mihajlo Zorić (1970–79, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Braće Borozan building block in Split 3 in Split, Croatia, by Dinko Kovačić and Mihajlo Zorić (1970–79, photographed in 2016)

Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija by Berislav Šerbetić and Vojin Bakić in Petrova Gora, Croatia (1979–81, photographed in 2016)

Valentin Jeck

Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija by Berislav Šerbetić and Vojin Bakić in Petrova Gora, Croatia (1979–81, photographed in 2016)

Poster for a retrospective exhibition of architect Janko Konstantinov (1984)

Personal archive of Jovan Ivanovski

Poster for a retrospective exhibition of architect Janko Konstantinov (1984)

This article appeared in ARCHITECT’s August 2018 issue.

About the Author

Sara Johnson

Sara Johnson is the former associate editor, design news at ARCHITECT. Previously, she was a fellow at CityLab. Her work has also appeared in San Francisco, San Francisco Brides, California Brides, DCist, Patchwork Nation, and The Christian Science Monitor.

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