At the ceremonial opening of the ‘Annual Exhibition of Achievements by Croatian Architects 2008’, held at the City Lodge in Narodni trg in Zadar on January 19, awards were presented by the Association of Croatian Architects (UHA) for the most successful authored works by Croatian architects in five categories realized in the past year in Croatia and worldwide.
The ‘Viktor Kovačić’ award for lifetime achievement, as the highest recognition for an entire life’s work, was awarded to architect Duško Anti Rakić from Zagreb. From 1958 to 1966, Duško Rakić collaborated with Urlich on the realization of several important projects (the Vjesnik building in Zagreb, the Military Hospital in Split). From 1967 to 1991, he led the design studio Oblik, and since 1992, he has been teaching the history of architecture and urbanism at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Throughout his active life, he participated in architectural competitions, winning numerous awards, for example, for the Badel factory in Zagreb, for a residential building in Sijenjak in Osijek (with architect Vodička), for the Community Center in Zagreb (with architects Magaš and Vodička), and for the Memorial Park in Kragujevac (with sculptor Vulas). He has achieved numerous realizations, of which we highlight only a few: Thermal Power Plant Rijeka I in Urinje, the Inaprojekt building in Zagreb, the Press Center in Zagreb, the Obnova business building in Osijek, Kraša facilities in Zagreb, schools in Vinkovci, the Audiology Center in Zagreb, the water tower in Kistanji, the monument to the victims of fascism in Podhumi on Grobničko polje (with sculptor Vulas), and we particularly highlight the Auto-Hrvatska building in Zagreb, which many would gladly co-sign.
The annual award ‘Neven Šegvić’ for the most successful journalistic, critical, and theoretical work in the field of architecture and urbanism in 2008 was awarded to Bogdan Budimirov for the bibliographic edition of the book ‘In the First Person’ published by UPI2. The annual ‘Viktor Kovačić’ award in the category of the most successful architectural work in the past year was awarded to Idis Turato and Saša Randić for the Pastoral Center ‘Aula of Pope John Paul I’ in Trsat, Rijeka. In the category of the most successful achievement in the field of design and interior decoration in 2008, the ‘BERNARDO BERNARDI’ award was given to Prof. Nenad Fabijanić for the arrangement of King Tomislav Square in Opuzenu. The ‘DRAGO GALIĆ’ award for the most successful achievement in the field of residential architecture in 2008 was awarded to studio 3LHD, namely architects Saša Begović, Marko Dabrović, Tanja Grozdanić Begović, Silvije Novak, Irena Mažer, Mari Mikelić for House_J2, Čačkovićeva 9 in Zagreb.
This year, a total of about eighty authored works realized in the past year were submitted, categorized into several categories – individual residential houses, multi-family buildings, residential-business buildings, business and public buildings, reconstructions and extensions, interventions on historical architectural entities, interventions in public spaces, interiors, and architectural journalism. The exhibition in Zadar will remain open until January 27.
The decision on nominations and awardees for achievements in the past 2008 was made by the expert council of the Association of Croatian Architects consisting of: head Nenad Kondža dia (Zagreb), Maja Furlan Zimmermann dia (Zagreb), Nikola Popić dia (Split), Vedran Pedišić dia (Zagreb), Dubravka Kisić dia (Zagreb), Leo Modrčin dia (Rijeka), Veljko Oluić dia (Zagreb). (Ema Martinović)
