From a vision of a museum to a new audience

What makes Begović unique is the fact that he was one of the visionaries and key initiators of the Academy's project to found a specialised national architecture museum.

It was important to found a museum dedicated to the field of architecture and urban design in Croatia, as a central institution to systematically collect, analyse, and present the life's work of renowned Croatian architects was lacking.

The idea to found the HAZU Croatian Museum of Architecture was made official on 9 December 1991 at the Academy's Department of Fine Arts; the museum opened in 1995. The museum's fonds were established during the directorship of Academician Miroslav Begović, the museum's first director from 1997-2004.

Across the years, through the scholarly and scientific interpretation of its collected architectural works, the organisation of numerous exhibitions, and extensive publishing, the museum attracted and created a new audience, especially from the fields of architecture, urban design, arts, and design. Through this process, Academician Miroslav Begović drew up the guidelines and mission of the HAZU Croatian Museum of Architecture—to present these collected architectural works as a part of the nation's general cultural heritage and preserve them permanently for future generations to help develop the national cultural identity.