Adding 'Germia Shopping Center'

[JoraKasapi]

Name: 'Germia Shopping Center'
Gërmia Department Store, as the first building of this category in the city, marks the transition from alla turka with open bazaars, with production (craft) and sales within the same space, to alla frënga with manufactured products industrially, which were only traded in these spaces.
The 'Germia' building was designed by architect Ljiljana Raševski in 1970 and its construction lasted until 1972. It is located in the most important square in Prishtina, 'Mother Teresa' square. It was known in the city because of its characteristic tectonic volume, with a characteristic wrap with steel panels, large windows and the use of escalators, as the first building to have them at the time in the country, a fact that made it most popular among the citizens of Prishtina and especially their children. "The geometric purity of the volumes that form the building, the extremely authentic structure of its facade represent unique architectural values, not only for that period of time, but also for today," says A. Sadiki. The building went through several interventions over the last twenty years, changes that transformed the building making it look different from what it looked like in the past. During the post-war period, it served as a home for the 'Ministry of Public Services' thereafter for the 'Ministry of Public Administration' and has recently been used by the 'Ministry of Infrastructure' and the 'Kosovo Tax Administration'. These transformations took place at different deadlines in 2001, 2004, 2008. Later, the government presented a plan to demolish it, proposing a project for the City Concert Hall, but this fact sparked a great deal of public debate among the citizens. The local organization DoCoMoMo Kosova through a request addressed to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, made it possible for the building, in October 2018, to be listed as a modernist cultural heritage among other cultural heritage buildings.
Coordiantes: 42.66359 21.16308