1 Ilica Street
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1 Ilica Street ( hr, Neboder u Ilici, Ilički neboder, meaning "Skyscraper in Ilica") is a
building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
located in Ilica Street overlooking
Ban Jelačić Square Ban Jelačić Square (; hr, Trg bana Jelačića) is the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after Ban Josip Jelačić. The official name is Trg bana Jelačića. The square is colloquially called ''Jelačić plac''. It is locat ...
in the
Lower Town Lower Town (also spelled "Lowertown" (french: la Basse-Ville) is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Vanier Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to the east of downtown. It is the oldest part of the city. It is bounded by Rideau Street to the south, ...
area of
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
,
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
. In Croatian, the building is colloquially known under the generic title ''Neboder'' (lit. "Skyscraper") as it was the first business skyscraper in the country.


History

The building, designed by the trio of Slobodan Jovičić, Josip Hitil and Ivan Žuljević, was built between 1957 and 1958 and was officially inaugurated on 22 August 1959, when
Većeslav Holjevac Većeslav Holjevac (22 August 1917 – 11 July 1970) was a Croatian and Yugoslav soldier and communist politician. Holjevac was born in Karlovac, at the time in Austria-Hungary. He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1939. Following t ...
was mayor of Zagreb. It was the tallest building in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
at the time of its completion, and it was the first building in the country which featured an aluminium
façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
(aluminium sheets for the building were manufactured at the
Utva Utva Aviation Industry (commonly known as UTVA) is a Serbian manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, subsidiary of Yugoimport SDPR, headquartered in Pančevo. History Utva was founded on 5 June 1937 in Zemun, since 1940 located in Pančev ...
aircraft factory in
Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on ...
). Other notable high-rises built earlier in Zagreb include the nine-story modernist Löwy Building built in 1933 and the so-called ''Wooden Skyscraper'' designed by
Drago Ibler Drago Ibler (14 August 1894 – 12 September 1964) was a Croatian architect and pedagogue. His style can be described as pure simplicity and functional architecture. Ibler was born in Zagreb. He gained his diploma in architecture at the Te ...
- but since they were both residential buildings which resembled skyscrapers in design but not in function or size, the sixteen-story 1 Ilica Street is regarded as the first "bona fide skyscraper" built in Zagreb and Yugoslavia. The principal investors were Končar and Ferimport, two large state-owned companies. The building later housed Ferimport offices, but it also featured an
observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed ...
and a restaurant on its top floor (later converted into a short-lived disco club in the early 1990s) and a small
shopping arcade A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...
which was built around the base of the building, connecting Ilica, Gajeva, Bogovićeva and Petrićeva streets. The observation deck was open to the public for decades, but it was fenced by security railings in 1967 after a man committed suicide by jumping off it and landing on a woman passing by, who was also killed. On 28 November 1970, the day before former Yugoslav
Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...
,
Julienne Bušić Julienne Bušić (; born Julienne Eden Schultz; September 20, 1948) is an American writer, activist, widow and co-conspirator of Zvonko Bušić. She was arrested with Bušić in 1976 after hijacking TWA Flight 355 and sentenced to life in prison, ...
used the observation deck to throw leaflets advocating Croatian independence, for which she was arrested, sentenced to one month in prison, deported, and banned from entering the country for three years. Ferimport later experienced a dramatic downturn in the 1990s after it was
privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
in the years following Croatia's independence and the fall of communism, and the building visibly deteriorated in this period. In 2001, three years after Ferimport had entered administration, it was sold for 6 million
euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...
to Peter Doimi de Frankopan, a British real estate investor who claimed lineage to the
House of Frankopan The House of Frankopan ( hr, Frankopani, Frankapani, it, Frangipani, hu, Frangepán, la, Frangepanus, Francopanus), was a Croatian noble family, whose members were among the great landowner magnates and high officers of the Kingdom of Croati ...
, a Croatian aristocratic family thought to be extinct in the 17th century. Frankopan had plans for a large scale reconstruction of the building, but the initial concept (which entailed a complete redesign of the façade and the addition of panoramic elevators, spiral staircases and a few extra floors), was rejected by the city's institute for the protection of cultural heritage. The project was then delayed for four years until a revised renovation plan was finally approved by city authorities in December 2005. Following the approval, renovation was finally launched in 2006 and was finished in early 2008. The project was designed by the Aukett Fitzroy Robinson interior design practice in collaboration with the Zagreb-based architecture studio Proarh, and the actual work was done by the
Strabag STRABAG SE is an Austrian construction company based in Spittal an der Drau, Austria, with its headquarters in Vienna. It is the largest construction company in Austria and one of the largest construction companies in Europe. The company is acti ...
construction company. The most significant change in the exterior was the replacement of the originally clear windows with dark gray glass. The building currently has 5,600 m2 of office space, and the observation deck on the top floor was closed to the public in 2007. It was reopened in 2013 as "Zagreb Eye".


References


External links


History of the building
at the City of Zagreb official website {{Zagreb Buildings and structures in Zagreb Donji grad, Zagreb Office buildings completed in 1958 Modernist architecture in Croatia Skyscraper office buildings in Croatia