The exhibition 8th Floor combines the architectural heritage of Zagrebian skyscrapers in the district of Vrbik, popularly known as Rockets, and the introspective insight and visual poetics of photographer Jelena Janković. Vrbik Residential Towers, built in 1968 according to the project of the architectural bureau Centar 51, symbolise the urban development of Zagreb and combine brutalist aesthetics with functional modernist architecture. Even though this heritage is recognised by the wider public today as an influential creation of architect Vjenceslav Richter – hence the moniker Richter’s Skyscrapers – his collaborators on this project were also Berislav Šerbetić, Ljubo Iveta, and Olga Koržinek.
Many researchers state that, at the time, Richter was engaged to a greater extent in other projects, primarily the Zagorje Villa on Pantovčak, thereby bringing into question his creative share, while others point out that it is exactly here that the application of his idea of the ziggurat – a residential unit in a synthurbanist city – is evident. Despite the fact that most of this architect’s legacy has been brought together in his archive at the Richter Collection, the documentary holdings are absent in this case. Therefore, this exhibition is focused on the very “archiving” and interpretation of residential architecture from the perspective of its users – the multiple intimate perspectives as witnesses to the influence of spatial and temporal shifts on the duration of a construction around which life is organised and through which it proceeds.
Having moved from Belgrade to Zagreb, for a period of eight years Jelena Janković has been recording almost daily the transformation of a seemingly same architectural vista. By observing the changes in light, weather conditions and seasons from the same location – the 8th floor window of a neighbouring building in which she lives, the artist introduces the dimension of time into a fixed public space, whereby she visually explores not only the monumentality of the architectural structure, but also the permeation of spatial and temporal categories with the experience of the freedom of viewing and (self-)reflection.
The photographic cycle is accompanied by the author’s poetic inscriptions with emphasis on the feeling of loneliness caused by moving to a new city. The feeling of isolation and absence, even in the space in which many people dwell, reflects Richter’s thought on the alienation in urban environments in which closeness of the physical space does not necessarily coincide with social closeness.
The exhibition 8th Floor questions the role of architecture in creating personal narratives and manners in which a static, brutalist form such as the Rockets can simultaneously be viewed as a monumental work and as a symbol of personal introspection. The established dialogue between artist Jelena Janković and Vjenceslav Richter's architectural legacy examines the connection between architecture, individual histories and the dynamics of the course of time, documenting the subtle everyday changes which we often fail to notice due to the pace of life.
Jelena Janković is a Belgrade-born photographer who currently lives in Zagreb and is active in the wider area of the Balkans. She is focused on studying human nature and psychological aspects of relationships, nuances of movement and emotions in time, which she records in different photographic genres. She has photographed over 250 theatre productions across Europe. Jelena is one of the leading artists who has been following and documenting theatre life in a distinctive style for 13 years. In 2023, she became Programme Director of Sarajevo Photography Festival, which brings together authors of contemporary photography from across the world. Thereby she stimulates dialogue and presentation of different perspectives in the world of photography, and creates opportunities for connecting the artists, the curators, and the audience. Her works have been published in renowned publications such as Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Fisheye Magazine, Der Spiegel, Elle, Kosmos, LensCulture, GEO, Vice, and F-Stop. She has presented her works at many collective and solo exhibitions in Paris, Moscow, Ciudad de México, Istanbul, Berlin, Tokyo, London, Kuala Lumpur, Tbilisi, Siena, Belgrade, and Zagreb. She has won numerous international awards for her work.
The exhibition is a follow-up to the thematic presentation of the holdings kept at the Vjenceslav Richter Archive. Nada Kareš Richter donated in 2007 the valuable archival holdings and the library of Vjenceslav Richter to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Richter Collection. The Archive primarily contains architectural projects, manuscripts, drawings, sketches, as well as various business and private correspondence. Therefore, it is an unavoidable destination when studying the author's oeuvre and the period within which he was active. The archival holdings are systematically processed, and particular topics are occasionally presented to the public within the exhibition cycle "From the Architect's Archive."
Exhibition curators: Petra Cegur and Ivana Završki
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with a selection of photographs and curators’ text.
The exhibition has been made possible with support by the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.
