Little Zagreb: A magical miniature city beneath your feet

by croatiaweek
December 17, 2020
in Entertainment

Little Zagreb on the curb (Photo credit: Filip Filkovic Philatz)

“Life is really simple, you just need to look beneath your feet and see it,” says Zagreb film director and artist Filip Filković Philatz.

With the help of photo-manipulations, Filip has been turning curbs around the city of Zagreb into a beautiful miniature world which he has named “Little Zagreb”.

“I do them by taking photographs and 3D lidar scans of environments – this way I can get the composition right in post-production. I use whatever surrounds these environments, such as windows from a near building, doors, or even shop windows, and then compile it all together for this mystical and magical final composition,” Filip tells us.

(Photo credit: Filip Filkovic Philatz)

Filip says that through walking around Zagreb and observing the structures of the city, he was always fascinated by the foundations they were built on.

“I wondered what would happen if you connected those micro-architectural spaces with real living spaces and that is how the idea for the miniature edition came to mind.”

(Photo credit: Filip Filkovic Philatz)

Filip hopes he can one day create a real Mali Zagreb.

“My goal is to work out a deal with Zagreb Tourist Board to get proper clearance and their permission to actually do these miniatures in the city. I will do them properly with real miniature elements such as window and door frames, just so it looks as realistic as possible. It’s hard work to get it right and I really want it to look both inspiring and realistic (in small scale)” he explained.

(Photo credit: Filip Filkovic Philatz)

Filip’s creations have been a big hit already on social media.

“These works carry a warm message to me, and it seems to me to the observers as well. I’m glad that people can get a little out of this current difficult year and turn on their imagination while watching these works – that’s good,“ he concluded.