The Red Kiosk: The Glory and Misery of a Modernizing Breakthrough

“Cities are not only destroyed from the outside and physically, but they can also be dismantled from within and spiritually.”
(Bogdan Bogdanović, The City of Cenotaphs, 1993.)

K67: The Symbol of Modular Design

The protagonist of our story is called K67, a type of modular kiosk still colloquially referred to as the “red kiosk,” even though it wasn’t necessarily red. There were also white, green, yellow, orange, and blue ones, but in the memory of former Yugoslavs, it remains red—just as they remember it as the place where hot dogs and sausages were boiled in large stainless-steel pots and served in stale buns with PKB yogurt in a Tetra Pak. However, it had many other uses, including selling newspapers, collecting parking fees, serving as a tourist info point, or functioning as a reception booth in front of various institutions.

Inspiration and Design

The kiosk was named after the year in which it was patented by young Slovenian architect Saša J. Mächtig, who had just graduated. His inspiration came from the cross-section of two pipes. Initially, the kiosk was intended to be exclusively red, ensuring visibility in a city where everything was gray. The idea was that when someone spotted a red dot, they would immediately recognize it as a kiosk. As production and sales expanded, different buyers requested different colors for various purposes.
The kiosk was manufactured by the Imgrad factory in Ljutomer, Slovenia, from 1968 until 2000. Its unique and recognizable design made it one of the most successful examples of Yugoslav industrial design.

Modularity and Urban Space

The primary concept was based on a modular system, allowing for assembly into more complex structures depending on the kiosk’s purpose and the needs of the business operating within it. It was primarily designed for urban environments with the option of connection to infrastructure networks (water supply, sewage, electricity, telephone). Connections could be made underground to preserve the aesthetic integrity of the module.
The kiosk was produced in separate industrially manufactured elements and arrived at its designated location fully assembled, requiring only connection to existing installations.

International Recognition

Due to the kiosk’s relatively easy transportability, there were instances where, in some cities with limited space and traffic access, K67 was delivered by helicopter. By utilizing new technologies and fashionable materials like reinforced polyester and polyurethane, it became an innovative and practical solution.
The British magazine Design featured the kiosk in 1970 as a cutting-edge and functional design. By 1971, it had been included in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). It also won a competition to supply kiosks for the 1972 Munich Olympics, but production never materialized due to a fire at the Ljutomer factory.
Beyond international acclaim, K67 achieved significant commercial success. Industrial design must pass a fundamental test to be considered good design, and K67 did just that.

K67 and Yugoslav Industrial Design

In 1987, design theorist Goroslav Keller compiled a list of the 25 best-designed Yugoslav industrial products for Start magazine. K67 ranked 11th on the list, described as “a unique example of designed public infrastructure and urban furniture.”
This exclusive selection included iconic Yugoslav designs such as the REX chair, the Iskra ETA 80 telephone, ELAN skis, TOMOS motorcycles, the YUGO car, DIGITRON calculators, FRUCTAL juices, ALPINA ski boots, and other symbols of Yugoslav design. Slovenian designers and manufacturers dominated the list, reflecting the region’s strong industrial design presence.
Such rankings serve an educational purpose: on one hand, they showcase what constitutes good and successful design to inform consumers, while on the other, they promote best practices, encouraging manufacturers to implement industrial design in their production processes.
Professor Keller’s definition of K67 brings us back to the key theme of this story—the urban landscape.

The Kiosk as a Paradigm of Failed Modernization

Architect Bogdan Bogdanović argued that people must learn about cities because those who arrive without a desire to engage in dialogue with the city pose a danger to it. He believed that cities were not destroyed by rural newcomers from organic villages or shepherds from highland regions, but rather by an in-between social layer—neither fully urban nor fully rural—originating from transitional zones. This group, he argued, harbored a fear of the city, yet aggressively conquered, altered, and renamed it, disregarding its traditions.

Societal Regression and K67 Kiosks

Observing these once-excellently designed yet now grotesquely altered kiosks in various Serbian cities reveals a societal regression. The kiosk, initially a symbol of modernity, has become a marker of urban disorder and unplanned development. Instead of being a step forward in modernization, it now appears as an abandoned legacy.
One pressing question arises: Was this perfectly designed modular system—capable of easy assembly and expansion—imposed from above, and thus rejected? As soon as the opportunity arose, was it adapted and modified to suit individual tastes and needs?
Mächtig’s vision extended to the integration of kiosks with underground infrastructure to preserve aesthetics, as well as the possibility of expanding single modules into complex structures. He designed additional components, including canopies, consoles, domes, windows, shelves, shutters, and storage compartments, to be configured based on intended use.
From today’s perspective, this level of detail seems astonishing, but also unnecessary—an unwanted legacy that was ultimately discarded.

The Kiosk as a Symbol of Chaos

We can trace the transformation of K67 from a symbol of thoughtful design and order to an emblem of unregulated urbanism, illegal construction, and chaos. The radical abandonment of modernist urban planning is a consequence of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the destruction of its way of life.
The end of socialism in Yugoslavia coincided with the collapse of the federal state and the rise of a new neoliberal society. The K67 kiosk, designed with workers in mind, raises questions about the status of workers then and now.
Under socialism, good design was seen as a tool for shaping the living environment of the “new socialist man.” The workplace was considered a marker of modernity and a symbol of a better future.
K67 can also be viewed through a gender perspective, particularly in terms of women’s emancipation, which was largely tied to workers’ rights in socialist Yugoslavia. Since kiosks—like much of the retail sector—were predominantly staffed by women, the fact that K67 offered amenities like a personal wardrobe, a sanitary unit, heating, and air conditioning meant that workers could feel comfortable and respected in their workplaces. In contrast, today’s kiosks often lack such considerations, impacting both productivity and belief in a better future.

Art Project: Visual Archive of Kiosk K67

We do not wish to look at the past with nostalgia but to turn it into a subject of study and critical reflection. The artistic duo consisting of art historian Ivan Manojlović and artist Aleksandar Zarić has traveled across Serbia, photographing K67 kiosks.

The project is expanding by inviting citizens to submit their own photos of these kiosks, marking the beginning of an inventory—a visual archive of K67 kiosks. Once recognized as symbols of a belief in a better future, these kiosks, now disfigured with crude additions, have become representations of post-transition Serbia and failed modernization.

Scars of the Past and Kiosks Today

These long-faded red dots scattered across cities in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia now stand as scars of a dying process. The kiosk craze of the 1990s did not spare the K67 model, which has since been modified with various, often inappropriate, additions. In times of economic survival, people follow market logic in an attempt to make a living, often integrating the K67 into larger constructions.

One striking example can be found at the end of Sarajevska Street in Belgrade, where a former kiosk, made up of two modules, has been built into a combination of a wooden shack and a brick structure. The roof now extends far beyond the kiosk, and the new construction is significantly larger than the original.

It is believed that the kiosk was used to obtain a permit or that a permit was never issued, with the owner simply assuming that additional construction would not cause any problems. This process erases the kiosk’s temporary and modular nature, transforming it into a permanent structure. Today, only the faded signage testifies to its former function as a small restaurant selling ćevapi.

This case raises questions about ownership, appropriation, and the privatization of public space. While illegal constructions in the past were initiated by citizens, today’s urban changes come from the top down, bringing far more serious consequences.