Zoja Dumengjić

Architect

Renata Detka

Name:

Zoja Dumengjić 

Life Dates:

1904 – 2000

Country:

Croatia

Positions:

Atelier of I. Fischer

Hygienic Institute

State Medicine Production

APZ Studio

Architecture Office Dumengijć

Field of expertise:

Architectural design, architecture for health care facilities

Education:

Faculty of Technology, Department for Architecture, Zagreb (graduated in 1927)

Awards:

Viktor Kovačić Award (1979)

– Charter of the General Hospital in Split (1984)

– Vladimir Nazor Award for Lifetime Achievement

Short Biography

Zoja Dumengjić was the first woman to graduate in architecture from the Faculty of Technology in Zagreb in 1927. From 1928 to 1930, she worked at the office of the architect I. Fischer. In 1930 Dumengjić became a state administrator (kontraktualni državni činovnik) at the Institute for Hygiene at the School for Public Health, in the sanitary and technical department. In addition, Dumengjić worked on numerous competitions with her husband Selimir Dumengjić, whom she had met during her studies. In 1941, Zoja Dumengjić was dismissed from the previous position, but shortly after was hired by the State Medicine Production Institute (Državni Zavod za Proizvodnju Lijekova) as a private architect. From 1945 onwards, she worked at the Department of Medical Technology. In 1947, Zoja Dumengjić became the head of the Department for the Construction of Health Facilities. A year later she was transferred to the APZ – Arhitektonsko projektni zavod (Architectural Design Institute) in Zagreb, where she remained until 1955 as an independent designer and manager. In 1950, Zoja Dumengjić had the chance to travel to Switzerland for training in designing hospitals. After APZ split into thirteen separate studios, Zoja and Selimir Dumengjić founded their own architectural office ‘Dumengjić’, where Zoja worked until she retired in 1975.

Work

Most of the projects Zoja Dumengjić worked on were schools, hospitals and other educational and health facilities. Some of her well-known projects are the school for medical technicians in Zagreb (1938), the general practice hospital in Split ( 1951-1975) and the medical center in Zagreb (1953). In 1979 Zoja Dumengjić received the Viktor Kovačić award for her lifetime achievements and in 1984 she received the Charter of the General Hospital in Split for outstanding contribution to the development of this hospital in Firula. In addition to this, Zoja Dumengjić won the Vladimir Nazor award for her lifetime achievement in the field of architecture.

Fig. 1: Bolnica na Firulama (Hospital), Split

Sources

Illustration credits

Fig. 1: https://voxfeminae.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Bolnica-Firule_Foto-Sonja-Lebos-2019-1200×900.jpg (last accessed March 2022)

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