Student Canteen: Demonstration of 1981

Aspiring to become more student-friendly, the University of Prishtina campus spread its services across the city. Nearby the student dormitories was the canteen that serves food and continues to be food for thought. Designed by Dragan Radulović in 1974, the student canteen obeys modernist principles, a dominant style at the time. On March 11, 1981, a plate was broken expressing dissatisfaction with poor student conditions, after which many students joined flipping tables. The event sparked a widespread student-led demonstration. The demands for better food and dormitory conditions was emblematic of the Albanian demand for equal treatment in Yugoslavia. Suppressed by a large police intervention, the demonstration of ‘81 was bloody and was followed by the arrest of many students who are leading political figures today.