The Academy of Music in the center of Zagreb is finally complete. It took at least four years to build. Located on the square graced by the Croatian National Theater, which was built in a year and opened by the Austro-Hungarian emperor in 1895, the new building was opened by the president of the now independent country, a professor of law who dabbles in music. There was a modernist building in its place, and all that remains of it is the façade grid, which was rebuilt and rendered in white. There is another and freestanding grid in front of it, which is rendered in black. A tall, undulating veil in all the colors of the spectrum adds a gay touch to the top of the building. In front of it, there stands a monument composed of a huge orange ball standing on the ground and a surging spike placed at an acute angle that cuts across the grid. The new architectural wonder is emblematic of the Croatian capital. Preposterously pathetic pretense. Or contemporary kitsch writ large. As such, it is worth visiting and contemplating with due care from every which angle. Congratulations to the architect worthy of Zagreb!