Contemporary architecture Skopje

This public university (Универзитет Свети Кирил и Методиј/Univerzitet Sveti Kiril i Metodij, Universiteti Shën Kirili dhe Metodi) is the largest in the country with about 25,000 students. Founded in 1949, it is named after the two saints who evangelized the Slavs in the ^9th century. The visit is interesting for the brutalist architecture of the three main buildings (faculties of law, philosophy and economics) completed in 1978 and designed by the Slovenian Marko Mušič (born in 1941).

This concert hall, inaugurated in 2017 (Филхармонија на Република Северна Македонија/Filharmonija na Republika Severna Makedonija, Filarmonia e Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the only high-quality achievement of the "Skopje 2014" project. Its structure of giant black vaults echoes the beautiful design of the Cathedral of St. Clement in Ohrid. It stands on the site of the Ibni Pajko mosque, destroyed in 1947. See also "Going out" in Skopje.

Today rivaled by more modern shopping centers, the GTC or "city mall" (Градски Трговски Центар - ГТЦ) remains an emblematic Skopje building with stores, cafés, restaurants, cinema, rooftop terrace and more. Opened in 1973, it was designed by Živko Popovski (1934-2007) on the site of Mother Teresa's birthplace, destroyed in the 1963 earthquake. At the western entrance, a monument bears a quotation from the Catholic saint: "The world is not hungry for bread, but for love." See also "Treat yourself".

This impressive railway and bus station (Железничка Станица/Železnička Stanica) is the centerpiece of the reconstruction plan that followed the 1963 earthquake. Completed in 1981 and designed in a Brutalist style by the chief architect, the Japanese Kenzo Tange (1913-2005), it is set on a 1,400 m-long, 10.5 m-high bridge with ten railroad tracks. This symbol of Skopje's renaissance required 11,000 t of iron - more than the Eiffel Tower - and 70,000^m3 of concrete. See also "Getting around".

With its large spider-shaped hall, the Central Post Office (Главната Пошта/Glavna Pošta) is one of Skopje's iconic brutalist buildings. It is the work of the painter and architect Janko Konstantinov (1926-2010). Originally from Bitola, he worked in Northern Europe alongside Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, then in the United States, before participating in the reconstruction of Skopje after the earthquake of 1963. Completed in 1982, the hall houses brightly colored realistic paintings by Borko Lazeski (1917-1993). The back of the building is also remarkable.

This building evoking a white bird (Национална Опера и Балет/Nacionalna Opera i Balet, Opera dhe Baleti Nacional) has almost disappeared amidst the ugly constructions of the "Skopje 2014" project. Yet it was one of the most spectacular achievements of the reconstruction plan that followed the 1963 earthquake. Inaugurated in 1979, it was designed by the Slovenian collective Biro 71, largely influenced by Finnish organic architecture. The interior, with its complex geometric forms, is even more impressive. See also "Going out".