OHZ

FESTIVAL OHZ

Open House Zagreb aims to promote the city’s most attractive architectural works and set a meeting of citizens with architects, builders, investors, and owners of the buildings. The festival encourages consideration of the city’s value and the role of its inhabitants in its creation and encourages participants to advocate for a well-designed and planned architectural environment. By presenting urban landscapes of the Croatian capital, Open House Zagreb invites reflections on how architecture deals with environmental, social and economic sustainability.

The first Open House Zagreb will take place on 20-22 October and presents more than thirty public and private buildings including schools, churches, parks, ateliers, swimming pools, banks, and whole neighbourhoods. All programs are free and include a great deal of involvement by the organizers and volunteers. Open House Zagreb is led by the Association for the Promotion of Architecture and Design Zagreb Open House.

Open house worldwide

Open House Worldwide is a network of 54 organizations that organize festivals around the world. The goal of the network is to establish a dialogue about architecture and design in European and world metropolises. In 2019, nearly 1 million people participated in Open House events, and 2 million visits to buildings were recorded, enabled by more than 18,000 volunteers. Therefore, Open House Worldwide is the largest urban landscape platform in the world that enables direct encounters of citizens with architectural objects that determine the appearance of a city. The network was founded and is managed by Open City, a charity registered in the United Kingdom, the network includes cities such as London, New York, Athens, Lisbon, Stockholm, Prague, Rome, Melbourne, Oslo…

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

DUBRAVKA VRGOČ

She graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art and obtained her master’s degree from the Department of Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. She worked as a theatre critic and culture editor in “Vjesnik” and wrote for cultural magazines in the country and abroad. She was a Fulbright scholar at City University New York and New York University. She is the founder and artistic director of the World Theater Festival since 2003. From 2004 to 2014, she was the director of the Zagreb Youth Theater, and from 2014 to 2022, she was the intendant of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. She was the president of the European Theater Convention for three terms. She launched numerous Croatian projects such as Open Square Day, Open City Day, and HNK in your neighbourhood, as well as European projects – Spring Tour ETC, European Theater Lab, Prospero, and “Stage”. She received the City of Zagreb Award for exceptional international representation of Croatian theatre and the Order of the Croatian Morning Star with the figure of Marko Marulić for special merits in culture and its promotion in the Republic of Croatia and around the world. She was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy, which the Republic of Italy awards for an outstanding contribution to promoting friendship and cooperation, and for persistent advocacy for the development and expansion of theatre cultural exchange between the two countries. She is a member of the European Theater Convention and Opera Europe board.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

TOMISLAVA BLATNIK

She graduated in economics from the Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb. She further educated herself at the IEDC Bled Business School in Slovenia. Experience in managing family companies in the field of facility management in the countries of the region. She is involved in the production of exhibitions such as: “Egomania” by Jelena Proković, curator Jožica Brodarić, in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia, “Chairs” by author Nika Zupanc, curator Mika Cimolini, in cooperation with the Museum of Architecture and Design Ljubljana, in Zagreb, “Voyage” selected objects of Slovenian design from the Adorno collection, in cooperation with the Museum of Architecture and Design Ljubljana, curators Anja Radović and Urška Krivograd, in Otočec City, Slovenia, “Reflexions” by French artist Aline Dalglish, Otočec, Slovenia.

JURY