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On July 26, 1963 a disastrous earthquake destroyed large areas of the city of Skopje. This natural catastrophe resulted in a wave of international solidarity and united ideologically separate worlds in a humanitarian project. The erection of prefabricated houses provided a number of countries with an opportunity to contribute visible and clearly identifiable reconstruction aid. Over the last 50 years the imported houses from Finland, Mexico or the USA have steadily transformed and grown; today they are completely integrated in the city´s urban fabric. PRE/FABRIC undertakes a search for traces in the biography of these houses and their use.

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"I only have childhood memories of the French prefab. We all used to live in prefabs, and we called them ´barracks´, but in time they were reconstructed and became houses. However, people still call them barracks. They have been long gone now, but the colloquial name has remained."

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Milan Mijalkovic, architect and artist, creates space without limitations to a specific media. Born in Skopje, he lives and works in Vienna. (Also available: Skopje - the world´s bastard, Wieser 2011) Katharina Urbanek, architect in Vienna, integrates planning, research and university teaching in her practice. (Also available: Skopje - the world´s bastard, Wieser 2011)

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