In the second half of the 19^th century, popular architecture in Macedonia entered its rich, original, and mature stage and found its specific expression in the residential houses of Ohrid, Krusevo, Veles, and Kratovo. The European influence on the architecture of Macedonia, particularly strong in the late 19^th century, is visible in the urban architecture of Bitola and Skopje.

The period after 1944, when the country was renovated and rebuilt, was marked by intensive construction and Macedonian architecture was internationally recognised. Buildings constructed at that time, subject to urgent construction programs, are marked by rational and unpretentious architecture. Towards the 1950s, however, a group of architects emerged whose creative sensibility was formed under direct influence of contemporary European and world architecture. Members of this group include Tomovski, Cakelja, Boris Cipan, Aleksandar Serafimovski, Krum Tomovski, Slavko Brezovski, Risto Galic, and Dusko Pecevski, as well as younger Petkov, Kjosevski, Tomic, and Sekerinski. Architects from other former Yugoslav republics participated in the rebuilding of Macedonia as well, such as Urlih, Mihevc, Ancel, and Rankovic, as did the Czechoslovak architect Ludek Kubesh.

After the 1963 earthquake, Skopje was a centre of new urban plans and architectural activity. A number of architects of international reputation -- Tange from Tokyo, Van der Broeck and Backem from Rotterdam, Pinzinatto from Rome, teams of architects from Warszaw and Athens, Ravnikar from Ljubljana, and Venzler and Misevic from Zagreb -- worked on the new urban plan of the stricken town and stimulated the extension of architectural views characteristic of the Macedonian capital. During the renovation of Skopje, some established architects acquired additional recognition, and new names emerged as well: Ladinska, Smilevski, Gjuric, Kjoseva, Bogacev, and Simoski.

Towards the middle of the 1960s, a group of Skopje-educated architects was formed, a new generation which marked its presence with a number of modern buildings inspired by contemporary architectural theory. Among this post-earthquake group are Ljubinka Malenkova, Georgi and Janko Konstantinovi, Petar Mulickovski, Blagoja Kolev, Trajko Dimitrov, Ljuben Najdenov, Radomir Lalovic, Kiril Muratovski, Zivko Popovski, and Zivko Gelevski; later joined by Vladimir Nikolovski, Ilija Gerasimovski, Miroslav Sidovski, N. Bocieva, Kiril Zarov, P. Mitkov, S. Hadzievi, M. Hadzhievi, V. Nikolikjeva, Nikola Kartasev, Mihail Grankov, T. Paskali, V. Zarcevi, D. Zarcevi, and P. Balabanov.

From Macedonia Yesterday and Today by Jovan Pavlovski & Misel Pavlovski (www.mian.com.mk)