The Central Post Office is a remarkable building located in Skopje and represents the modernist Brutalist architectural style of the post-war era, built in 1974. The building’s exceptionally powerful structure is made of reinforced concrete, in the shape of a lotus flower – symbol of the reconstruction of the city of Skopje after the heavy destructive earthquake in 1963. The building survived a massive fire in 2013, at which the original glazing of the dome and the murals, were completely lost or suffered serious damage. As the building still has no roof, it suffers from direct exposure to atmospheric influences with rain and snow penetrating its interior.
The inclusion of the 7 Most Endangered 2021 List is important for the building in order to conserve and functionally redesign the building as a Center for cultural and social activities with a focus on both local and international audiences, which will deepen the understanding, knowledge and awareness of the cultural heritage as a key source for sustainable community development.
The main objectives of the project are urgent preservation measures on the building, in order to preserve unique building and raising awareness publicity of the actions planned by the international experts’ group is urgently needed, so that a large scale funding can be organized for the sake of the overall preservation actions needed. The main goal of the project is the conservation and sustainable transformation of the Central Post Office of Skopje into a sustainable functioning organism, which will be an active part of the urban fabric of Skopje, as well as venue for cultural, educational and political events on national and international level.
Target groups: The target group consists of building itself and representatives working in Post Office, national and governmental bodies, public institutions, business and non-profit sector, who are willing to contribute to conservation and redesign of the building of Central Post Office.
Project results
- Conserve the building of Central Post Office in Skopje;
- Make urgent safeguarding actions on covering the missing roof space and supporting mobile structure of the building;
- To raise awareness for the exceptional value of the building of Central Post Office in Skopje;
- To disseminate the programme of 7 Most Endangered and Europa Nostra;
- Institute for Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy, North Macedonia – https://www.iege.edu.mk/
- Georgi Georgiev Consultant Planning, Preservation, Innovation & Policy, Germany – https://www.georgiev-consulting.de
- Post of North Macedonia, North Macedonia – http://www.posta.com.mk
- Conservation of the building of Central Post Office in Skopje (Urgent safeguarding actions on covering the missing roof space and supporting mobile structure);
- Promotional activities and raising awareness for the exceptional value of the building of Central Post Office in Skopje;
- Dissemination Plan and Strategy for future activities in transformation of the building;
The Central Post Office is one of the strongest landmarks in Skopje, a lotus flower floating on the Vardar river, which embodies earth-spiritual influences in architecture, from Aalto in Scandinavia to Japan’s Kenzō Tange. Unfortunately, the flower is withering from neglect. A stirring heart in Germany has rallied support to save it.
This symbol of national resilience, portrayed upon a European canvas, is cultural significance at its purest and most fragile. This is why the Central Post Office has been included in the shortlist of Europe’s most endangered monuments and heritage sites for 2021.
Graham Bell, member of the Advisory Panel of 7 Most Endangered
Implementation period
June 2021 – June 2022
Project keywords
7 Most endangered 2021Brutalist architectureCentral Post Office SkopjeConservationCultural heritageEuropa NostraSustainability
