Skopje: concrete vs fiction. From Internationalism towards ethnonationalism

If there is a place where East and West touch, collide, and influence each other, it is the Balkan Peninsula. This diversity has often led to conflicts, hindering the visibility of artistic and architectural production on the global stage. This is due to the interpretative stereotype of the region being a political and cultural "in-between" (Mrduljash, 2012), and the perception of the Balkan Peninsula as the «semi-periphery» of an industrialized West, resulting in an underestimation of its architectural and urban uniqueness. The recent resurgence of interest in Balkan brutalist architecture within the architectural discourse serves a dual purpose. It not only addresses a notable gap in historiography but also reflects a shifting perspective towards a heritage that continues to hold significant cultural and architectural value, particularly in the context of 1960s and 1970s urban and architectural development. This contribution focuses on Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, as an illustrative case study of the modernization efforts in former Yugoslav countries. The city's architectural and cultural legacy, from the post-1963 earthquake reconstruction guided by Kenzo Tange's master plan, currently faces the risk of erasure due to the transformative effects of the Urban Renewal Plan (SK2014).