Reconstruction of Skopje 1963

{{Short description| Reconstruction of Skopje, Urban master plan of Skopje 1963}}

{{Infobox urban development project

| name = Reconstruction of Skopje 1963

| image = File:E73a14 176e383174c04c1780e630dc4ef60736 mv2.jpg|thumb|Plan of Skopje (model) by Kenzo Tange

| caption = Urban and architectural master plan for Skopje City 1963 by Kenzo Tange

| other_names = Plan of Skopje, Reconstruction of Skopje, Skopje Master Plan

| location = Skopje, Macedonia, Yugoslavia

| proposed = 1963

| coordinates = {{coord|41.9981|21.4254|type:landmark|display=inline,Plan for Skopje}}

}}

File:Skopje City Master Plan 0033 01.jpg

File:Skopje Cite Master Plan 0033 02.jpg

Plan for Skopje 1963 was the urban and architectural plan put forward to rebuild the city of Skopje following the 1963 Skopje earthquake. The plan was organised between 1963 and 1966 by the government of Yugoslavia and the United Nations.{{cite book |last1=Kultermann |first1=Udo |title=Kenzo Tange |year=1970 |publisher=Pall Mall Press |location=London, United Kingdom |isbn=0-269-02686-X }} The rebuilding of the city attracted large international attention,{{cite news

| url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2003/07/75482-40-years-after-skopje-earthquake-annan-recalls-global-solidarity-reconstructing

| title=40 Years after Skopje earthquake Annan recalls global solidarity

| year=2003

| publisher=UN

}} this led to the involvement of a large number of high-profile architects.{{cite web

|title=Skopje's 1963 Quake: From Ruins to Modernist Resurrection

|url=https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/post/skopje-s-1963-quake-from-ruins-to-modernist-resurrection

|author=Donald Niebyl

|year=2021}} The UN invited Kenzo Tange and his team to participate in an international competition for the urban design of the city centre in 1965; as one of several Yugoslav and international architecture teams. Architects that participated in the plan include Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis{{cite book

| last=Amygdalou, K., Kritikos, C. G., Tsiambaos, K.

| year=2018

| title=The Future as a Project: Doxiadis in Skopje

| publisher=Athens: Hellenic Institute of Architecture

}} and Polish architect Adolf Ciborowski.{{cite journal |last1=Foell |first1=Earl W. |title=Skopje – The Phoenix City |journal=The Rotarian |date=1968 |volume=112 |pages=30–31}} Dutch architects Van den Broek and Jaap Bakema. Luigi Piccinato (Italy) and Maurice Rotival (USA). Yugoslav participants included Aleksandar Dordevik, Slavko Brezoski, Edvard Ravnikar, Radovan Miščević and Fedor Wenzler.{{cite book

| last=Amygdalou, K., Kritikos, C. G., Tsiambaos, K.

| year=2018

| title=The Future as a Project: Doxiadis in Skopje

| publisher=Athens: Hellenic Institute of Architecture

| page=46

}}{{cite web

| title=Reconstruction Plan for Skopje

| url=http://architectuul.com/architecture/reconstruction-plan-for-skopje

| year=2021

| last=Bostjan}}

The plan is unique in its architectural focus involving Metabolism, Brutalism and Architecture of Yugoslavia on a total scale,{{cite book

| title=Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist Movement: Urban Utopias of Modern Japan

| author=Lin, Z.

| isbn=9780203860304

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhFWpAs7e6YC

| year=2010

| publisher=Taylor \& Francis

}} culturally relevant due to the international attention and collaboration backed by the UN and a rare example of Cold War unity between the superpowers of the 20th century.

The architectural plan has been revisited, theorised and discussed due to its impact on Brutalist architecture and art history of the 20th Century.{{cite book

| last=Stierli, Martino, Stephanie Emerson, Vladimir Kulić, Valentin Jeck, and Tamara Bjažić Klarin

| year=2018

| title=Toward a concrete utopia: architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980.

}} The impact of the plan effected urban, historical and cultural direction of society.{{cite web

| title=Curating the Yugoslav Identity: The Reconstruction of Skopje

| url=https://post.moma.org/curating-the-yugoslav-identity-the-reconstruction-of-skopje/

| author=Maja Babić

| year=2018

}}

The implementation of the reconstruction of Skopje is a historically unique instance of UN international collaboration, it is also the first examples of Japanese architects implementing metabolist theory and modern architecture methods on a metropolis scale urban project outside of Japan.