Ostrogović's Modernist City Hall in Pančevo

Abstract

Pančevo City Hall, an administration building erected in the city centre, is rarely accentuated in the oeuvre of the Croatian-Yugoslav architect Kazimir Ostrogović, despite the fact that it was the first Modernist building in this Vojvodina city. The City Hall emphasizes the spirit of Yugoslavia and the dominant Modernist architecture of the time. Its modern form, mass, structure, materials, constructive and technical details stand out from the ambience, which until then had mostly communicated aesthetic ideas of Viennese and Hungarian Secession. The author turned to Le Corbusier's principles combined with his own style. The building has great technical value and immense social, cultural, aesthetic and historical values. The goal of this article is to explore all its aspects by thoroughly reviewing literature, examining archives and interviewing employees. To date, the values of the building has not been fully recognized by experts, given that it has not been placed under any kind of protection, while changes made over the years led only to devastation.

Keywords

• ostrogović
• city hall
• yugoslavia
• vojvodina
• pančevo
• modernist architecture
• functionality