The “Art Fortress” as a Responsible Approach Model for Regeneration of Skopje's Spatial Identity

Abstract

The City of Skopje, repeatedly fragmented throughout its history, is in constant need for redefinition and reconstruction of its spatial identity in relation to its cultural heritage. With recent developments that have rendered the urban fabric’s historical and memory layers completely unrecognizable, the question of Skopje’s spatial identity has reemerged in terms of responsible methodologies and approaches. One of the activities within the ROCK (Regeneration and Optimization of Cultural Heritage in Creative and Knowledgeable Cities) Project was called “Art Fortress”. It treated the urban and architectural development of the Kale Hill in Skopje, with an aim to transform it into an attractive and vibrant city part with all of its cultural, educational and recreational functions. Two important cultural monuments dominate the Kale Hill: the medieval fortress - Kale and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The exceptional historical and contemporary significance of these two imposing structures for the City of Skopje, their symbolic voltage juxtaposed to the natural morphology of the terrain and cultural diversity of the surrounding, have been largely diminished due to many years of neglect of the broader location of the Kale Hill. This paper elaborates the activity “Art Fortress” in detail and summarizes the conclusions that have the potential to create a responsible approach model for regeneration of Skopje’s spatial identity, concerning inter-institutional collaboration, academic and professional inclusion, public awareness, international competition and exhibition. Most of all, this paper elaborates the qualitative lessons learnt of how we should treat a valuable city fragment in spatial terms, through the medium of public space and a series of both “soft” and “hard” architectural procedures as a long term strategy and management plan for treatment of this national cultural site, an approach that we can surely rely upon confronted with our city’s spatial identity in crisis.