Croatian Archipelago New Lighthouses (CANL) is a joint project by Berlage Institute Rotterdam and Croatian Architects’Association focusing on the process of development of the cities and landscape along the Croatian coast, part of the Mediterranean which is still considered rather “virginal”. In the past few years, exceptional natural beauty and local culture and values have witnessed accelerated pressure form the global capital. Mass tourism is an important aspect of the global market place and will radically affect future coastal development.
In order to investigate alternative models of development, CANL realized urban redevelopment projects for seven concrete locations along the coast, carried out in a co-operation with local municipalities. The projects CANL undertook differ in size and scale, ranging from small-scale projects to more complex projects of urban regeneration merging the fields of architecture, urban planning, education, art, tourism and socio-cultural programmes.
Specific projects were developed through the new method of the territory research, of public discussion and public presentation of urban development plan proposal, the method of survey of potentially interested future users and of public opinion in direct communication with the local authority, thus reinforcing the process of bringing the agreed concept of plan (to be transformed into legally obliged spatial planning document) of the specific location development.
The first of several two-year activities covered by the project was the participation in the Second International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (2005), where the project received a special mention of the jury for "presenting an interesting example that shows how an untouched coast can face the growing pressure of capital". After one year, architectural concepts presented in the initial phase of the project at the Biennale have been modified in relation to the outcomes of research on real urban conditions in seven locations and presented within a single publication. Pilot projects presented in the publication and exhibition in Zagreb would function as base for a delineation of discussion on locations’ development potentials with an aim to develop agreed draft plan proposals that would finally be included into legally obliged spatial planning documentation for the specific location.
