The National Library in Prishtina was designed by academician Andrija Mutnjaković in 1971 and opened in 1982, at a time when Tito had already passed away and the federation was led by Milka Planinc.
It was an architectural composition made of the continuous repetition of squares and domes—up to 99 domes, all covered with an aluminum lattice, like lace from Hanuma’s chest.
The building was both a vision and a memory: a memory of an ancient, Mediterranean, almost biblical city in which a cluster of small houses was pressed together; even today, Mediterranean tourist cities resemble such places.
Rated as the ugliest library in the world, for the 96-year-old architect Mutnjaković, this is actually good publicity.
“I am grateful for this recognition because it is serving as publicity for me,” the Croatian academic said humorously.
