Exhibition Holidays After the Fall - Transformations of Socialist Holiday Architecture on the Croatian Adriatic opened in Vienna’s Architekturzentrum, introducing  some of the best examples of Croatian 1960’s and 1970’s modernist architecture in tourism to the Austrian public. The exhibition is curated by Austrian architect Michael Zinganel and supported by a leading Croatian tourism company Valamar Riviera.

Visitors to the Architekturzentrum can see a number of prominent examples of Croatia’s architecture heritage in tourism such as Hotel Kristal in Poreč – now Hotel Valamar Crystal 4*, Hotel  Rubin – now Hotel Valamar Rubin 3* as well as the Dubrovnik hotels President – now Hotel Valamar Dubrovnik President 5* and Plakir – now Hotel Valamar Lacroma Dubrovnik 4*. One of the central pieces is a model of the Hotel Kristal, one of the five Poreč projects designed by the famous architect Julije De Luca between 1968 and 1979. De Luca won a special diploma at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1973 for his design of the Hotel Kristal. Hotel Kristal, now Valamar Crystal 4* was fully renovated in 2007 in such a way its original architecture was preserved.

"From the point of view of an architectural historian from Austria the big hotels and resorts built between the mid 1960s and early 1970s on the Croatian Adriatic coast represent a significant difference to what had been realized in the Austrian Alpine tourism landscape at the very same period of time, by using  explicit modern style of regional planning, architecture, interior design and modern art. Architects had a great time then and created projects of world class quality which certainly should be preserved as part of the cultural heritage of Croatia”, said the exhibition curator Michael Zinganel at the opening ceremony.

“We are very happy to support the exhibition which introduces Austrian and international audience to some very important parts of the Croatian cultural heritage and at the same time examines the relationship between holiday architecture, space and community through time, since this is something Valamar always takes into careful consideration when renovating and reconstructing hotels. We should balance conserving and showing respect for the heritage with needs of modern holiday makers and the market, and achieving this balance is a common goal of architects and investors“, said Ivana Budin Arhanić, Vice President of Business Development, Performance Management and Corporate Affairs in Valamar.

The Architekturzentrum exhibition is just one of outstanding culture and art programs supported by Valamar Riviera. Special mention should go to Art Colony Valamar has been supporting since 1983 and the „Artist on Vacation“ in Valamar project,  which welcomed some of the world’s leading avant garde artists to Croatia.  

For more information please go to http://www.azw.at/event.php?event_id=1574