Classroom lesson · Pristina · 🇽🇰 Kosovo

Pristina

Kosovo's busy, youthful capital city

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Pristina is the capital city of Kosovo and one of the youngest, most energetic capital cities in Europe. It is home to more than 200,000 people and has wide pedestrian streets, lively cafés, and a very proud sense of its own culture. The city is full of young people, art and music.

Tell me more

One of the most famous landmarks in Pristina is a giant sculpture of letters that spells out NEWBORN in bold, yellow capitals. It was put up to celebrate a new chapter in the city's story and has become a symbol that Kosovars around the world recognise instantly. Artists repaint it every year with a new theme, so it always looks a little different.

The main walking street is called Nëna Terezë Boulevard, named after Mother Teresa, who had Albanian heritage just like many people in Kosovo. On a warm evening this street is absolutely packed with people strolling, eating ice cream and chatting outside cafés. Kosovar people are famous for being very welcoming to visitors.

Pristina has a huge university and is full of students. This gives the city a creative, fast-moving feel — new murals appear on walls, new cafés open, and music can be heard spilling out of doorways on weekend evenings. There is a great pride in Kosovar art, design and fashion.

The National Library of Kosovo is one of the most unusual buildings you will ever see. It is covered in small white domes and looks a bit like a giant honeycomb. Architects either love it or find it puzzling — but everybody agrees it is impossible to forget.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01The NEWBORN sculpture gets repainted every year with a new theme. If your class could choose the theme for next year's painting, what would it be?
  2. 02Pristina is described as one of Europe's youngest capitals. What do you think makes a city feel young and energetic?
  3. 03The National Library is a very unusual-looking building. Do you think buildings always have to look 'normal'? What would you design if you could build a library?
Try this

Classroom activity

Design your own 'NEWBORN' sculpture for your town or school. Choose a word that represents your community, decide what colours to use, and sketch the letters with a theme or pattern painted on them. Share your design with the class and explain what it means.