Constructing resistance: Socially engaged architecture and civic activism in Croatia

Abstract

This article traces the emergence of socially engaged architectural practices in Croatia within wider civic mobilizations against investor-driven urbanism and contested spatial governance. It examines how architects, acting as civic experts, navigated post-socialist urban transformations by combining public critique, knowledge production, and institution-oriented engagement. Situating these practices within broader civil society, the article identifies three phases: early experimentation within the independent cultural scene, politicization of space through public protest and coalition-building, and recent efforts toward institutional reform and participatory governance. Conceptually, it formalizes architecture as civic praxis as a public-oriented configuration of expertise operating through three mechanisms: hybrid roles (pedagogy, organizing), knowledge infrastructures (civic tools deepening public understanding of spatial politics), and institutional repertoires (interventions translating civic claims into procedural change). The Croatian case widens what counts as civil society in CEE by showing how architecture “dirtied by many hands” can help organize communities, circulate usable knowledge, and influence decision-making.