如同过去的几年一样，在2014年依旧能看到不少积极分子在街头抗议示威。例如中国香港的伞运动支持普选，而弗格森的警察暴行事件使这里一下子成为了种族示威活动的中心。从纽约到委内瑞拉再到巴勒斯坦及土耳其，各种就严重问题提出抗议的游行示威事件频频发生。但在马其顿，反对者们却在为一件相对轻松但却十分重要的事情进行抗议。       一大群市民聚集在斯科普里GTC现代购物中心，这里是这个城市最受欢迎的地方之一。GTC这类社会主义建筑如今正遭到政府项目的威胁，政府希望将它们的外立面改造成巴洛克风格。2014年斯科普里将新建20座新古典主义风格的建筑以及将近40座雕塑。这样大规模的整修工程打着美化城市形象的旗号，实则被指谪为民族主义退化的劣作。 As in the past several years, 2014 saw activists take to the streets in major protests around the world. Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement demanded open elections without new regulation by China, while Ferguson became the center of racially-charged demonstrations against police brutality. From New York to Venezuela to Palestine and Turkey, uprisings addressed serious issues. In Macedonia, however, protesters are taking on a more light-hearted — but not unimportant — cause. A group of citizens in Skopje have gathered around the GTC, a modernist shopping mall that has become a beloved part of their city. The GTC's Socialist architecture is being threatened by a government program to renovate it with a Baroque façade. The Skopje 2014 project would erect 20 new buildings in the Neo-classical style, in addition to nearly 40 statues. The overhaul is defended as a way to beautify the city, but it is decried as kitsch as regressive nationalism.

历史复兴运动在马其顿有很长的历史渊源，在它还没有从前南斯拉夫独立出来的时候就已经开始了。这个古老的城市在1963年的地震中几乎被完全的夷为平地，之后展开了疯狂的重建，新建筑主要以苏联风格现代主义为主。但自从苏联解体、共产主义衰败以及随之而来的政治影响，马其顿的各种族之间也产生了严重的政治矛盾，每一个种族都想用自己的风格来定义马其顿。希腊也同样影响马其顿的建筑风格及命名。       在动乱中，马其顿强大的民族主义精神被激发。这便是斯科普里2014项目背后的原始动力。政府希望通过修建凯旋门、博物馆、剧院，甚至是代表亚历山大大帝的骑马雕塑来尝试着重塑他们的民族文化遗产。“这是一次破坏公共空间、文化、城市主义以及艺术的罪行，其背离了城市和市民，” 城市规划教授，马其顿旗帜设计者Miroslav Grčev说道。反对者们认为这些建筑破坏了现代主义建筑，同时也指出修建这些建筑的巨大资金差异源于政府的腐败。还有人认为这是在伪造民族特色，比起马其顿，这里更像拉斯维加斯或者迪斯尼。 The historicist revival is rooted in the country's long history as part of former Yugoslavia. The ancient city was almost completely leveled in a 1963 earthquake, and the frantic rebuild was mainly Soviet-style modernism. However, since the fall of Communism and subsequent political fallout, Macedonia has had political strife between rivaling ethnic groups, each claiming different things about Macedonian identity. Greece also contests Macedonia and their use of the name. In reaction to these turmoils, a strong Macedonian nationalism has sprung up. This is the force behind Skopje 2014. It is an attempt to reclaim some of their national heritage through the built environment — triumphal arches, museums, theaters, and even a statue of a horseman believed to be Alexander the Great.  “This is a crime against public space, culture, urbanism, and art — against the city and the citizen,” Miroslav Grčev, a professor of urban design and the creator of the Macedonian flag said. The protests claim that these buildings are ruining the Modernist architecture, but critics also point to massive budget discrepancies that some claim are the result of corruption. There are also those who claim that this is a fake way to reclaim identity, and that it will be more like Las Vegas or Disneyland than Macedonia.

这是一场建筑领域的意识形态的经典战争。查尔斯王子一直以来都厌恶现代建筑。最广为人知的是，他认为英国伦敦国家美术馆的扩建计划是一个煞笔，并支持新古典主义而对RIBA和现代建筑师事务所感到失望。同样的，中国国家主席习近平最近也希望不要再修建那些由国际建筑师所设计的奇奇怪怪的建筑，这是站在民族主义的角度出发反对一些华而不实的建筑，他认为这些建筑会对正在快速城市化的国家带来负面的影响。 This is a classic battle of ideologies played out in architecture. For many years, Prince Charles has been hating on Modern architecture. Most famously, he called a scheme for the National Gallery extension in London a "carbuncle," and has championed Neo-classicism to the chagrin of RIBA and modern architects. Similarly, China's President Xi Jinping recently called for an end to weird architecture there, presumably a slightly nationalist claim against bombastic buildings by international architects that are bringing negative attention to the rapidly urbanizing country.

出处：本文译自architizer.com/，转载请注明出处。 编辑：vigo，范偲慧