(b 27 Dec 1900; d Zagreb, 26 Dec 1980). Croatian architect. From 1920 to 1922 he worked for the architect Rudolf Lubinsky and, after 1927, in his own practice in Zagreb. He also studied architecture (1927-31) at the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb, in the studio of Drago Ibler and in 1931 joined the progressive group founded by Ibler, Zemlja (The Land). Planic was a protagonist of the social ideals of modern architecture as well as the aesthetic, and he had a special interest in social or low-cost housing. Ironically, however, he became a sought-after specialist in the design of luxury villas in Zagreb. His office and residential buildings in the centre of Zagreb are characterized by simplicity and functional planning; examples include the residential buildings in Draskoviceva Street (1932), Marinkoviceva Street, Bogoviceva Street (1937) and Marticeva Street (1938). In 1942 he converted the circular Arts Pavilion, Trg Hrvatskih Velikana, Zagreb, designed by the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, into a mosque by adding three free-standing modern minarets around the body of the central cylinder and designing a new interior richly decorated with arabesques. The mosque, a monumental and somewhat bizarre addition to the Central European appearance of its surroundings, was demolished in 1945 for political reasons.
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