Collecting memories, stories, facts, images, footsteps, whispers, radio and water waves, the chatter of students and children, the sounds of cars, birds, and nature, Hrvoslava Brkušić maps Cvjetno Naselje, creating a unique sound walk through the neighbourhood. In addition to gathering your stories, emotions, and memories from the community, the artist also researches the settlement’s history, listens to its present, and takes part in shaping its future. From this autumn, residents of Cvjetno Naselje and all interested visitors will be able to download the audio recording via QR code and embark on a sound walk through the neighbourhood, listening to its composition: children playing in the park, the artist’s piece Kockice, familiar and unfamiliar features of the settlement, its stories and secrets, hidden sounds and, at times, intrusive noise.

ABOUT THE SOUND WALK THROUGH CVJETNO NASELJE

How has the neighbourhood changed throughout history? How does it sound in summer, when students leave their dormitories and return home? How does it sound during the week, when the streets fill with the noise of fast cars avoiding the motorway? What would it sound like without the Vjesnik Tower – does it shield the neighbourhood from the unwanted noise of transit routes?

From 1939 onwards, following the vision of architect Vlado Antolić, the project of a housing estate for civil servants began to take shape. Family houses were assigned plots measuring 20 × 40 metres, positioned closer to the northern boundary in order to leave more space for a sunny southern garden. Did the birds settle in these gardens, and do they still live in Cvjetno Naselje today?

On the night of 25 to 26 October 1964, the River Sava broke through the embankments and flooded the streets of Zagreb. It was a Sunday night turning into Monday, and the entire southern part of the city – fourteen kilometres long and between one and four kilometres wide – lay under water. Do any of our neighbours remember that event? Traffic silenced by water, wheels replaced with oars…

The flood halted the construction of Vitić’s famous Kockica for several years; it was not completed until 1968 – the most important building in the state. It became the seat of the Central Committees of the League of Communists and the League of Youth, as well as the Main Board of the Socialist Alliance, the place where all major decisions were made and upon which the media’s eyes were fixed. Does anyone remember those voices? At night, can the sounds of Dušan Džamonja’s metal tapestry still be heard? Have you ever been inside it?

How many neighbours play an instrument, and what would it sound like if, for one hour, they all came out onto their balconies with their instruments and improvised together – accompanied by the noise of the children’s playground and Slavonska Avenue? Can we change our environment by paying attention to the sounds it creates?

Listen to the sound until it becomes word.
Listen to the word until it becomes sound.

JOIN US!

We invite neighbours who would like to contribute to the creation of the sound walk through Cvjetno Naselje to share with us their story, anecdote, memory, sound recording, photograph, thought … anything connected to our neighbourhood. You can also contact us if you would like to tell your neighbourhood story directly to the artist.

Please send your contributions to: zvucna.setnja.kontejner@gmail.com, no later than 25 September 2025, or deliver them to Odranska 1/1 (letterbox or info desk on the ground floor).