Choreographing architecture

Abstract

‘Man is Space: Vitić Dances’ is a multiyear community art project in a 10-storey condominium building in Zagreb, Croatia. Built by the architect Ivo Vitić, the building, considered a masterpiece of modern architecture, and registered as a national monument is now in a deteriorated state that threatens the lives of its 256 inhabitants. The project started in 2003 when Croatian artist Boris Bakal (Shadow Casters) moved into the building and became deeply acquainted with its history, its tenants and their everyday hardship. The artist aimed to raise the awareness of the tenants and local community to restore this iconic building though a complex interdisciplinary endeavor that combined permanent artistic and social interventions and programs, in and around the building. This ‘artivism’ project re-created and socialized a commonly shared space through intensive artistic presence by unifying tenants to collaborate for its preservation. It allows us to move away from a notion of the building as a whole to a notion of the building as multiplicity, from the study of the urban neighborhood to the study of urban choreographies of architecture. Vitić Dances has also secured funds for the restoration of the building’s facade and for the recording of a documentary film about this project and the building. Indeed, restoration started in February 2016 and will constitute a major investment, funded in part by the City of Zagreb, in residential housing in Croatia.