Constructing the City of Solidarity: Alfred Roth’s Elementary School in Skopje

Abstract

In 1963 Skopje suffered earthquake of catastrophic proportions that left the city reduced to rubble. What followed afterwards was a case of immense international solidarity. For more than a decade, abundance of aid has been coming from the both sides of the Iron Curtain. In a short but high in intensity period of approximately 15 years, the city underwent a process of reconstruction that changed entirely its appearance and the quality of living. In this context, with a strong belief in the importance of a high-quality modern education, the Swiss government donated the design, financed the construction and equipped an exemplary school building, designed by Alfred Roth and named after the renown Swiss pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi.

Keywords

• modern
• education
• elementary school
• alfred roth