Memories of Rexhep Lucin are built on his love for the city and his profession. It was against the illegal constructions of those who spoil the image of the city. Narration in the documentary "What killed the Architect?" for the drafter of urban plans of Pristina is given through the memories of his family members, friends and associates. "The most appropriate answer to Rexhepi's murder can be found in what the city looks like today", says Luljeta Çejku-Sokoli in her confession.
The designer of Pristina and the architect of the first generation in Kosovo, Rexhep Luci, was found murdered on September 11, 2000. Six bullets had passed through his body, until he was shot in the back while he was returning to his apartment in Pristina. He had worked for 30 years in the urbanism of Pristina, giving the city a modern look. His brother, the archaeologist Kemajl Luci, a day after the murder had declared to the media that he had been killed by the "enemies of Kosovo". The story not told by the family members now 22 years after the murder was revealed in the documentary "Rexhep - What killed the architect?", on Sunday at "DokuFest".
The murder of architect Rexhep Luci is considered a consequence of his opposition to illegal constructions in post-war Pristina. It is suspected that his assassination was planned a long time ago. Luci was also the director of the Directorate of Spatial Planning, Reconstruction and Development in the Municipality of Prishtina, at the same time and leader of the "Community for Self-Government of Interest - BVI". He was 58 years old when he was killed. The narration in the documentary "Rexhep - What killed the Architect?" for the drafter of Pristina's plans is given through the memories of his family members and friends. The documentary was made under the direction of French director Mathieu Joufree and co-director Besa Luci, who is the daughter of Rexhep Luci's brother. He is in the "Balkan Dox" category competition of "DokuFest".
"The most appropriate answer to the murder of Rexhepi can be found in what the city looks like today"
Memories of Luci are built on his love for the city and his profession. He was extremely against the illegal constructions of those who spoil the image of the city. "The most appropriate answer to Rexhepi's murder can be found in what the city looks like today", says Luljeta Çejku-Sokoli in her confession.
Rexhep Luci belongs to the first generation of Kosovo Albanians who studied architecture. It had started in Skopje, and then moved to Belgrade. The documentary tells about the situation at that time and about the destruction of religious cult objects. In the documentary, it is narrated that Pristina became the capital in 1947, and the first city plan was drawn up in the years 52' to 53'. In 1961, the "Brotherhood-Union" monument was erected in Pristina's bazaar, which, according to the story, symbolized the doctrine of socialist Yugoslavia. The square had been part of the socialist project that had started the modernist plan of the time which was "destroy the old, build the new". "Prishtina lost its urban traces. A mosque, a Catholic church and a synagogue all collapsed. Today's boulevard was surrounded by new institutions", says the documentary.
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The murder of the architect
The documentary "Rexhep - What Killed the Architect?" tells about the different aspects of Luci's life, from the time of his studies and architectural activities to the last day of his life. Luci was educated at a time when Brutalist architecture was on the rise. Such were the National Library, the Youth Palace and many of the buildings for collective housing. Prishtina of that time is described in detail. "When he returned from Belgrade in 1969, Prishtina had already begun to expand. Ulpiana, the first neighborhood of collective housing was built, and the University of Pristina was being established. The urban plans for both of these were drawn up by the first architect in Kosovo, Bashkim Fehmiu. Rexhep Luci also joined his team. Especially the opening of the university had a special meaning. It brought urban growth to Pristina, it was becoming the dream of a new generation", it is shown in the documentary.
Persecution under the regime
An important part of his career was when he led the Self-Governing Community of Interest – BVI between the 70's and 80's. The explanations in the documentary say that BVI was engaged in the supervision of all constructions in the capital and that when Rexhep Luci was the leader, the collective housing projects in Pristina were frequent. Projects for collective housing had begun and with this the expansion of construction in new spaces had begun in the city. Luci had been the leader of modernist constructions in the neighborhoods of the city of Pristina.
The architect, whose name bears one of the main streets of Pristina, had been persecuted all the time by the Serbian system. Friends and family members remember that despite all the circumstances, he was dedicated to doing his job. The narrative in the documentary continues that he was fired from the BVI at a time when everyone describes him as being at the peak of his career and that the BVI is remembered as an example of a socialist organization that was supposed to serve the people.
His effort was to ensure that the funds allocated for housing projects did not go elsewhere, as had happened before. At the time when Luci was pushing the content of the precise rules of urban construction, according to the documentary, he was returned to the Municipality in the leadership of the Urban Planning Entity, and his position was taken by a Serbian leader. They had left him without a job in the BVI and without a place to live. "In the Municipality, he started leading the urban plan of the capital from 1987 to 2000", it is shown in the documentary.
"Engine of the plan"
Rexhep Luci was considered the "engine of the plan" for Pristina. On the day of the murder, in a statement to the media, his brother, Kemajl Luci, had declared that "enemies of Kosovo" had killed him.
"I hope that my brother is the last victim and Kosovo will move forward. At the entrance of the building, they killed him behind his back", says Kemajl Luci. At his brother's suggestion, he had studied archeology in Belgrade. The architect's wife, Donika Luci, says that he was constantly busy with work. In the last days of his life, he had noticed that he was more depressed.
"Lately I have noticed that he is not satisfied with something, but I thought that he was not satisfied with the workers", she says in the documentary.
Colleagues asked what will be done with the city. In the documentary, it is shown that he replied that he would make Pristina a flower. It was stated that there are many ideas for the central part of the city and others. Among the plans he had participated in was that of the "Grand Hotel".
Rexhep Luci's brother, Kemajli, says that they probably threatened him with his son, Lisi.
"I remember like today when we escorted Lisi to America. He was stunned, when he saw that he got on the bus to go to the airport, he was freed", says Kemajl Luci. As for Lisi, he received the news of his father's death suddenly from a surgeon, who told him completely unconscious that his father had been killed.
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"I saw a surgeon on the street, he told me they killed my father... He is a surgeon and people die in his hands, it's normal for him. He gave me the information in that doctor's way", confesses Lis Luci in the documentary. His daughter, Njomëza Luci, while confessing the moment when she received the terrible news about her father's murder, said that her relatives informed her and told her that she had fallen down the stairs.
"There is no chance, my father fell down." I had my eyes open, I closed my eyes, and I had an indescribable peace in me. There were many people around me. I have that picture every day, every time I close my eyes", she confesses. His wife had received the news after returning home and seeing the entire tollovina, while brother Kemajli was called by his sister's daughter.
Luci's testament - construction of neighborhoods in Pristina
He was found dead at 19:00. The protagonists in the documentary are surprised by what happened.
Architect Arbër Shita in his confession has assessed that the quality of his work was such that he was simultaneously involved in the design and development of urban planning projects and with them are now neighborhoods such as: "Bregu i Diellit", "Cendra" and " Dardania".
"All this surroundings you see, the whole 'Sunny Coast' is completely the work of Rexhep Luci when he was the director of the BVI", says Luci's colleague, architect Arbër Shita, in the documentary.
Luci is one of the hundreds of Albanians who were expelled from their jobs in public institutions. At that time, education took place in self-organized home-school settings. The movement in the city had changed for the residents of Pristina and Albanians in general. In the documentary it is said that at the entrance of the "Grand" hotel there was a sign that said: "Dogs and Albanians are prohibited from entering". The author and co-director of the documentary, Besa Luci, remembers him as loving and smiling. She is the daughter of Rexhep Luci's brother.
"The general died...and the general was left without an army"
His friends remember him as very visionary. They had realized that something was wrong with him. In fact, his concern had been greater than it appeared. "The general died, the city died and our general was left without an army", stated Luljeta Çejku-Sokoli in the documentary.
The screening of the documentary was interrupted when it started to rain in the "Kino Bahçe" cinema. After that, the projector inside "Kino Limbardhi" was turned on. The director of the film, Mathieu Jouffre, has thanked the entire audience and for the title of the film he has said that they tried to deal with "what" killed him and not "who".
"It was obvious why we have to open the memory boxes and say, we have to continue with this film. "What killed the architect?" we called it during the work process and then we really had to name it that way", said Jouffre.
The author of the documentary and the co-director, Besa Luci, expressed her happiness with the latest realization and expressed that she got to know her grandmother better with it. "For me, as I said in the film, there are parts of the story that we don't talk about in the family, but it has always been a barrier to talk and it was understandable to put them in that position," she said. .
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Now 22 years after the murder of the architect Rexhep Luci, no one has been convicted for the crime committed, even though it is suspected that he was killed by the construction mafia and the murder was planned for a long time. "Negligence is not only for Rexhepi. It is the negligence of all of us. If someone wanted, he would give the epilogue until today in the direction of clarifying the case and forwarding Rexhepi's order that has not been forwarded until now", said Arbër Zhita.
The prestigious "The Guardian" also wrote about the murder of Rexhep Luci. "Luc's duties included signing orders for the demolition of illegal buildings. At the time of his murder, the department was in the process of demolishing a hotel complex. Colleagues said that Luci had been threatened twice in the last ten days", reported "The Guardian".
