The public space of the entire “Mother Teresa” Boulevard from beginning to end, including the public space of the university campus, should be treated comprehensively through a genuine international architectural competition. Through a professionally prepared design task, which would be the basis for announcing the architectural and urban planning competition for the central public space of the capital, this competition should address: the urban design of the entire boulevard, the landscape architecture and, in particular, the historical past of the resistance for freedom…
Written by: Arianit Bytyçi
It has been said and written by many creators, writers, philosophers, architects and people of knowledge that the way a society treats public space speaks volumes about the values that society represents. Moreover, something even more important has been said and written: the way a society treats its historical past testifies to the vision of how that society will build its future.
The way public spaces have been treated in our capital, Pristina, to put it mildly: leaves much to be desired. Squares and boulevards have been built mainly without proper urban and architectural concepts, and even without the announcement of proper architectural competitions, which should have been preceded by design tasks with clear architectural objectives and vision. As a result of this institutional approach, these public spaces have been treated partially, without adequate urban design, where proper treatment of landscape architecture is also lacking, where there is no connection of urban design between these public spaces and where the buildings and other contents that surround those public spaces are not adequately treated.
Recently, the government of the capital has decided to implement the regulatory plan for a part of the center of the capital, which foresees that the street space from the “Mother Teresa” Cathedral building to “Zahir Pajaziti” Square will be a public square. In this way, a genuine public space will be created in Pristina from the Cathedral building to the Kosovo Parliament, with the aim that after the construction of the underground road on “Agim Ramadani” Street, this public space will continue to the old part of Pristina. There will also be a possibility for the boulevard to continue to connect with “Garibaldi” Street to the building of the Central Bank of Kosovo. And, together with the green park of the University Campus and the National Library of Kosovo, Pristina has the extraordinary opportunity to create a genuine public space, where original architectural and urban values, landscape architecture, and the contemporary treatment of our historical past would be integrated.
Above all, in the public spaces of our capital, our historical past has not been properly addressed. Pristina, as the capital of the free and independent state of Kosovo, for which state he sacrificed himself along with his family and fellow countrymen, still 23 years after liberation, lacks the memorial of the legendary commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Adem Jashari, the Jashari family and all those who fell for freedom on March 5, 6 and 7, 1998 in Prekaz. As I said in July of last year through an authorial article, this memorial, in addition to revealing the figure of the legendary KLA commander, Adem Jashari, should be a comprehensive monument where the sacrifice of all close family members, other members of the Jashari family and fallen comrades in the KLA Epic on March 5, 6 and 7, 1998 in Prekaz should be presented.
The greatness of the Jashari Epic lies precisely in the fact that three generations have fallen heroically: the legendary commander, his brother, his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers' wives, the commander's uncle, the parents of the first fighters of the KLA, Musa and Sahit Jashari, and other comrades-in-arms have fallen heroically. Therefore, there must be a monument to all the Jasharis who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of Kosovo. It is a unique case in history when the legendary commander of a liberation army falls heroically fighting in a battle together with his family. Therefore, this entire history of sacrifice and self-sacrifice must be immortalized as it happened, in a true manner.
In my opinion, the memorial of the legendary KLA commander, Adem Jashari, his family and comrades should be planned and built in an adequate urban location within the area of the “Mother Teresa” boulevard, in the area of the beginning of this boulevard. Building the memorial at the location of the “Brotherhood-Unity” monument is not a good idea at all, and even a very tendentious idea, because that monument is evidence of an anti-historical concept on the basis of which the genocide of the Serbian regime in Kosovo also occurred. The three-column “brotherhood-unity” monument, as proposed by the former political representative of the KLA and activist for the national cause, Bardhyl Mahmuti, should be transformed into the Memorial of the Serbian state genocide in Kosovo.
The construction of the memorial of Adem Jashari and his family in that public space is an insult to the history of the sacrifice of Commander Adem Jashari and his family, it is an insult to Kosovo. Therefore, the memorial of Adem Jashari should be built at the beginning of the “Mother Teresa” Boulevard, in a central location that will be determined after a comprehensive analysis through an international competition.
Furthermore, I think that within the space of the main boulevard of the capital and the public space of the university campus, the square and the statue of the symbol of our national resistance, Adem Demaçi, the memorial of the distinguished activist of our national movement, Jusuf Gërvalla and his collaborators Kadri Zeka and Bardhosh Gërvalla, the statue of the distinguished national activist, Professor Ukshin Hoti, the statue of the historical rector of the University of Pristina, Ejup Statovci, should be planned, as well as the location of the building of the “Xhevdet Doda” gymnasium in Pristina, which was unjustly demolished, destroying a collective memory of a history of education in the spirit of resistance for liberation, should be adequately identified, and the wooden memorial plaque where the distinguished leader of our national movement, Hydajet Hyseni, addressed the demonstrators of 1981, should be identified, as well as the subsequent events that occurred within the space of "Mother Teresa" Boulevard, such as the demonstrations of the late 80s and 90s. It should be emphasized that the recently promoted idea of the sculpture of special resistance by Mr. Faik Rexhepi in the space of "Zahir Pajaziti" Square is to be welcomed. However, care must be taken in the originality of the sculpture, in order to build the sculpture in the most professional and original way possible.
In summary, I would like to propose that the public space of the entire “Mother Teresa” Boulevard from beginning to end, including the public space of the university campus, should be comprehensively addressed through a genuine international architectural competition. Through a professionally prepared design brief, which would be the basis for announcing the architectural and urban planning competition for the central public space of the capital, this competition should address: the urban design of the entire boulevard, the landscape architecture and, in particular, the historical past of the resistance for freedom. The design task of the competition also includes the request for the design of the memorial square of the legendary commander Adem Jashari, his family, other members of the Jashari family and fellow fighters who fell in the KLA Epic on March 5, 6 and 7, 1998 in Prekaz, the request for the design of the memorial square of the symbol of our national resistance, Adem Demaçi, the memorial square of the prominent leader of our national movement, Jusuf Gërvalla and his collaborators Kadri Zeka and Bardhosh Gërvalla, the square of the historical rector of the University of Pristina Ejup Statovci and other events of historical and cultural importance for Kosovo.
After selecting the winner of this architectural and urban planning competition for the entire central public space of the capital, this competition should also lead to special architectural competitions for the Memorial of the legendary commander Adem Jashari, his family, other members of the Jashari family and fallen comrades in the KLA Epic, and other competitions for the leaders of our national movement, Adem Demaçi, Jusuf Gërvalla, Ukshin Hoti, Rector Ejup Statovci, etc.
It is important to emphasize that in all memorial competitions, the objective and vision for contemporary memorials should be emphasized, with the aim of presenting the sacrifice, the offering and the contribution to freedom in the most humane way possible, and to design and build memorials with original architectural, artistic and sculptural values, which would be unique in the history of world architecture and sculpture, that is, memorials that would survive time and that would increase the value and meaning of public space. In no way should the approach of the megalomaniac Skopje statue project, which has been widely criticized by the world media as a project of distortion of history and kitsch, be copied.
It is high time for Pristina to have the right public space with genuine architectural values, which would finally give Pristina the seal of a contemporary capital.
edition
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