The architecture of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
is largely influenced by four major periods, when political and social changes determined the creation of distinct cultural and architectural habits of the region.
Medieval period
![Jajce – St Luke tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Jajce_%E2%80%93_St_Luke_tower.jpg)
The
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
period in Bosnia lasted until the invasion of
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. The social organization of Bosnia of that time developed into a system known as ''
Zadruga
A zadruga (, ) refers to a type of rural community historically common among South Slavs.
The term has been used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to designate their attempt at collective farming after World War II.
History
Originally, gene ...
''. In Zadruga, the community was organized such that a few families with common interests would live closely together in housing clusters. The leaders of the community were selected according to their age and high ethical standards. The Zadruga system was primarily found a rural
agrarian communities that is greatly dependent on natural resources. As the community grew, segments of families would collectively move to another area forming a new cluster or a village. The continuing links between these related clusters stimulated both trade and economy. Individual families lived together in houses known as Dinaric houses. These were simple structures build of natural materials (usually timber and
wicker
Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...
work). Interior space was organized around the
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
in a central room with separate private quarters for men and women.
Even though military
fortresses
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in Bosnia and Herzegovina date from the era of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
rule, most of them were built between the 12th and 15th century. The structures were built out of rough cut stone on hills overlooking a river, route or town. Today there are around 300 of them but most of them are in ruins. The most beautiful and well preserved are:
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
,
Srebrenik
Srebrenik ( sr-cyrl, Сребреник) is a city located in Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Tuzla. As of 2013, it has a population of 39,678 inhabitants. The t ...
,
Blagaj
Blagaj is a village in the south-eastern region of the Mostar basin, in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It stands at the edge of Bišće plain and is one of the most valuable mixed urban and rural built environments in ...
,
Jajce
Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...
,
Travnik
Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 201 ...
,
Tešanj
Tešanj ( sr-cyrl, Тешањ) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 43,063 inhabitants, while the town o ...
,
Počitelj,
Doboj
Doboj ( sr-cyrl, Добој, ) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Bosna river, in the northern region of the Republika Srpska. As of 2013, it has a population of 71,441 ...
,
Vranduk,
Bobovac
Bobovac ( sh-Cyrl, Бобовац) is a fortified city of medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located near today's Vareš and the village of Borovica. It is protected site as a National monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History
The city wa ...
,
Stolac
Stolac is an ancient city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Herzegovina. Stolac is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia and Herzego ...
,
Maglaj
Maglaj ( sr-cyrl, Маглај) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, south of Doboj. It ...
,
Gradačac
Gradačac ( sr-cyrl, Градачац, ) is a city located in the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, roughly south of ...
,
Ljubuški
Ljubuški is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the West Herzegovina Canton, a unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Kravica cascades lie within the municipality, near the settlement of Studenci ...
,
Sokol
The Sokol movement (, ''falcon'') is an all-age gymnastics organization first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of " a strong mind in a so ...
,
Sokolac na Uni
Sokolac ( sr-Cyrl, Соколац) is a municipality of the city of Istočno Sarajevo located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 12,021 inhabitants, while the town of Sokolac has a populat ...
Dobor,
Ključ,
Bihać
Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina ...
,
Bosanska Krupa
Bosanska Krupa ( sr-cyrl, Босанска Крупа) is a municipality located in the Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 29,659 inhabitants.
It i ...
,
Ostrožac,
Oštrovica,
Velika Kladuša
Velika Kladuša ( sr-cyrl, Велика Кладуша, ; lit. "Great Kladuša") is a town and municipality located in Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the far n ...
,
Višegrad
Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality located in eastern Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav river. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,668 ...
,
Zvornik
Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in Republika Srpska, on the left bank of the Drina river. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants.
The town of Mali Zvornik ("Little Zvornik") lies ...
, etc. The court in
Kraljeva Sutjeska
Kraljeva Sutjeska (sometimes Kraljevska Sutjeska, or just Sutjeska or Sutiska, historically Trstionica (river), Trstivnica, in local tradition ''Naše stolno misto'') is a village in the Municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, municipality of Kak ...
was even richly engraved in Gothic style. An example of medieval Gothic and Romanesque tower is the
Tower of St. Luke located in
Jajce
Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...
and created in the 15th century.
Ottoman period
![Stari Most 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Stari_Most_2006.JPG)
In the late 15th century, the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
came to the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. They addressed the need to develop urban areas and cities. From this emergerged the basic form and organization of urban areas which are still distinctive today.
Dušan Grabrijan, an architectural theoretician, defined the primary organization of typical Bosnian cities. He recognized that cities had five authentic components defined by a set of "unwritten laws": surrounding hills defined the form of the city, the main road is the spine, "Čarsija" is the heart, vegetation are lungs, river is the spirit.
Juraj Neidhardt
Juraj Neidhardt (; 15 October 1901 – 13 July 1979) was an Austro-Hungarian and then Yugoslav architect, teacher, urban planner and writer.
Biography
Neidhardt was born in Zagreb on October 15, 1901. He studied architecture at the Academy of F ...
, another theoretician, described a typical Bosnian city in one of his books as follows:
The fact that people used river as a main element of urban life led to construction of
Stari most
Stari Most ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stari most, Стари мост, Old Bridge), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two ...
in 1566 in
Mostar
Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is sit ...
in
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
. At the time it was built it was the longest single span arch stone bridge in the world. Its meaning had however rather more profound power. It symbolized the connection between eastern and western civilization. In addition to
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, architecture of Bosnia has emerged with a bit clearer architectural vocabulary.
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
however was organized around a set of unwritten architectural laws including:
human scale
Human scale is the set of physical qualities, and quantities of information, characterizing the human body, its motor, sensory, or mental capabilities, and human social institutions.
Science vs. human scale
Many of the objects of scientific in ...
, unobstructed views,
geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
, open and flexible spaces, simple furniture, spatial links to nature and use of local materials and traditional building techniques. In addition design philosophy favored heterogeneity of materials. In other words, each material had a particular intrinsic function given to it by social perception of the people involved in the architectural process. Juraj Neidhardt described this perception as follows:"
Hence foundations were built out of stone, ground floor out of
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, unburnt
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
and wooden ties, first floor out of wooden frame and roof almost always out of wood. Organizationally, a typical Bosnian residence from the 17th century consisted of five main elements: a fence that faced and defined the street and clearly differentiated private from public, a courtyard usually built of pebble or flat stone pattern for easier maintenance, an outdoor fountain (''Šadrvan'') for
hygienic
Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
purposes, a lower level "semi-public" private space called the ''Hajat'' where the family would gather, and the ''Divanhan'', an upper-level semi-private/private space used for relaxation and enjoyment.
Austro-Hungarian period
In 1878
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
fell under
Austro-Hungarian rule which in 40 years had an immense influence in future urban planning and architecture. Some of the changes introduced by Austrian influence included introduction of new building code regulations such as required building permits, life safety and fire protection requirements, regulated wall thickness and building heights. Some changes in urban planning involved classification of street types and consequent building regulations, requirement for harmonious design with immediate surroundings and compliance with overall regulation plan. There were also changes in a general design philosophy. Stylistically, Bosnia was to be assimilated into the European mainstream (hence the use of
historicist
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...
architectural styles), save for the appearance of the Orientalist style (also
Pseudo-Moorish style). The aim was to promote Bosnian national identity while avoiding its association with either the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
or the growing
pan-Slavic movement
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...
by creating an "
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...
of European fantasy".
The new architectural languages added to diversity of already complex urban composition in Bosnian cities. These and other changes caused certain other consequences in Bosnia. For example, building life safety was improved however local building contractors and architects become obsolete due to new regulations and construction methods. This caused immigration of skilled labor from Central Europe that further doubled and diversified the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina which in the turn stimulated the economy.
Finally, cities began changing their character. The majority of projects during the time of Austrian influence dealt with administrative building designs. The post office in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
for example follows distinct formal characteristics of design like clarity of form, symmetry, and proportion while the interior followed the same doctrine. The
National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NUL) (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Национална и у ...
in Sarajevo is an example of Orientalist architectural language using Moorish-Mamluk decoration and pointed arches while still integrating other formal elements into the design.
Historicist styles
During its reign, the Austro-Hungarian authorities sought to impose and build architecture of European styles in Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus to show the meaning of their mission in the occupied country. Initially, it offered historic styles that built the most representative buildings of the second half of the 19th century in Vienna. In Bosnia, too much was built in foreign building styles, primarily
historicism
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...
, and too little appreciated, respected, and used the vernacular Bosnian methods of building.
Moorish Revival architecture
Confronted with the multinational population structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the government realized that it was necessary to have a political ear when choosing one of the historical styles. For construction in areas where the Bosniak population was predominant, architects used the
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
style.
This style drew its inspiration from the
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
and
Mudéjar
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
architecture of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
as well as
Mamluk architecture
Mamluk architecture was the architectural style under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were proli ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, as exemplified by
Mostar Gymnasium
Gimnazija Mostar ( sr-cyr, Гимназија Мостар) is a gymnasium in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Formerly called Gimnazija "Aleksa Šantić" (Гимназија "Алекса Шантић") in honour of the eponymous poet, it is no ...
. This included application of ornamentations and other "
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
" design strategies neither of which had much to do with prior architectural direction of indigenous Bosnian architecture.
Art Nouveau and Secession style
Bosnian Style in architecture
The Bosnian style can be compared with
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n
National Romanticism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
.
[About Art Nouveau]
/ref>
The Bosnian Style was championed by a younger generation of architects, like Czech architect Josip Pospišil
The Bosnian style in architecture is a specific architectural expression at the beginning of the 20th century, which evolved from the traditional architecture of Vienna Secession and from the awareness of the fact that the work originated in Bosnia ...
, Slovene architect Rudolf Tönnies
Rudolf Tönnies was an Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav architect and politician (councillor of the Drava Banovina), son of the famous Swedish industrialist Gustav Tönnies.
Together with the Czech Josip Pospišil and the Austrian Ernst Lichtblau ...
, and Austrian architect Ernst Lichtblau
Ernst Lichtblau (24 June 1883 in Vienna - 8 January 1963 in Vienna) was an Austrian architect and designer.
Biography
Born in an assimilated Jewish family (the father was managing director of a factory for Meerschaum pipes), Lichtblau graduated ...
, who all studied at the Art Academy in Vienna with Karl von Hasenauer
Baron Karl von Hasenauer (german: Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer ) (20 July 1833 – 4 January 1894) was an important Austrian architect and key representative of the Historismus school.
He created several Neo-Baroque monuments, many around near ...
and Otto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...
. The style was, however, named by Sarajevo's senior architect, Josip Vancaš
Josip Vancaš (22 March 1859 – 15 December 1932) was an Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav architect who spent most of his career in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, where he designed over two hundred buildings. He also designed important buildings in p ...
, for whom many of these younger architects worked.
The Bosnian Style architects wanted to retrieve the vernacular architectural elements proper of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as opposed to the imported scripts of both historicist and Moorish Revival styles. The Bosnian Style may be "best understood as within the tradition of national romanticism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
", although its designers were not from within the nation they aimed to represent. Yet, Bosnian Style architects also made reference to historical rather than contemporary sources, and mainly to the Islamic component of the vernacular Bosnian architecture, thus resulting in "the substitution of one historicist
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...
collage for another" (Gunzburger-Makas and Damljanovic-Conley)[Emily Gunzburger Makas, Tanja Damljanovic Conley (eds.]
Capital Cities in the Aftermath of Empires
/ref>
File:Sarajevo -Zgrada Zemaljskog vakufa.jpg, Building of the Land Waqf
File:Sarajevo, Stari Grad Hotel (Gazi Hotel).jpg, Hotel Stari Grad in Sarajevo, by Josip Vancaš
Josip Vancaš (22 March 1859 – 15 December 1932) was an Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav architect who spent most of his career in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, where he designed over two hundred buildings. He also designed important buildings in p ...
(1909)
File:Sarajevo Fire Brigade barracks 1912.jpg, Sarajevo Fire Brigade barracks, by Josip Pospišil
The Bosnian style in architecture is a specific architectural expression at the beginning of the 20th century, which evolved from the traditional architecture of Vienna Secession and from the awareness of the fact that the work originated in Bosnia ...
(1912)
File:Salomova palata.jpg, Salom Palace (Titova 34) by Josip Pospišil
The Bosnian style in architecture is a specific architectural expression at the beginning of the 20th century, which evolved from the traditional architecture of Vienna Secession and from the awareness of the fact that the work originated in Bosnia ...
File:Palata Musafija.jpg, Musafija Palace by Josip Pospišil
The Bosnian style in architecture is a specific architectural expression at the beginning of the 20th century, which evolved from the traditional architecture of Vienna Secession and from the awareness of the fact that the work originated in Bosnia ...
File:Sebilj in Sarajevo (8269348990).jpg, Sebilj
The Sebilj is an Ottoman-style wooden fountain (sebil) in the centre of Baščaršija Square in Sarajevo built by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753. It was relocated by Austrian architect Alexander Wittek in 1891. According to a local legend, visito ...
in Baščaršija
Baščaršija (Cyrillic: Башчаршија; ) is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-Beg Ishaković founded the city.
Baščaršija is located on the n ...
Royalist Yugoslav period
Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in 1918, whose official architecture became more and more dictated by an increasingly concentrated national authority which sought to establish a unified state identity.
Bosnia and Herzegovina remained at the margin of interwar architectural modernism in Yugoslavia.
Dušan Smiljanić and Helen Baldasar, who taught at the Technical High School in Sarajevo since 1924, were among the first to bring modernist ideas to Sarajevo in the 1920s. Later, D. Smiljanić became a municipal architect in a short time, and until 1939 he had his own architectural firm. Helen Baldasar designed buildings that represent the first built buildings of modern architecture in Sarajevo: the Bembaša Baths, the Red Cross Society building, and the Bratinska-Rašidagić building.
Several residential units were built in 1933-1941 in Crni Vrh by various architects from around the country: Dusan Smiljanić, Franjo Lavrenčić, Bruno Tartalja, Danilo Kocijan, Franc Novak
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th cent ...
, Mate Baylon. The Crni Vrh estate was built on a hill overlooking the urbanised centre, facing south and among greenery. The estate is protected since 2012, despite various status of conservation.
After having studied in Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, the brothers Muhamed and Reuf Kadić were active in Sarajevo in those years. Based on the achievements of cubism
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
and neoplasticism, strove to create a free and pure geometric architectural form. Their work was dominated by the ideas of healthy functionalism, advocating the synthesis of content and form, especially in the culture of housing. Reuf Kadić's main work, 1939 House Kopčić, reinterprets traditional elements (courtyard, facade erkers, eaves, hipped roof) in line with new modern conceptions. They also designed the ''Mekteb
A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, a ...
'' residential building at the corner of Ferhadija and Ćemaluša.[Adnan Zoranic 2019 "Heritage of Early Modernism in Residential Architecture in Sarajevo" IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 471 11204]
/ref>
In 1940 their :commons:Pension Fund building in Sarajevo, Pension Fund Building was opened, exhibiting "reduced forms geometrically 'clean' surfaces and volumes".
Within the limits imposed by the socio-economic conditions, the Vakuf institution had become a powerful investor, and thanks to these architects, Vakuf buildings are usually utilitarian and constructivist in concept:
* Vakuf Hadži Idriz Palace (D. Smiljanić)
* Vakuf Jakub paša building (D. Smiljanić)
* Residential and business building of Vakuf Čokadži Sulejman ( Muhamed and Reuf Kadić)
* Vakuf Hovadž Kemaludin's residential and business building in Ferhadija Street, on the site of a former ''mekteb'' ( Muhamed and Reuf Kadić)
* The Pension Fund building was built in 1943 ( Muhamed and Reuf Kadić)
Juraj Neidhardt
Juraj Neidhardt (; 15 October 1901 – 13 July 1979) was an Austro-Hungarian and then Yugoslav architect, teacher, urban planner and writer.
Biography
Neidhardt was born in Zagreb on October 15, 1901. He studied architecture at the Academy of F ...
came to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1939 from Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
's studio, and together with the theorist of architecture Dušan Grabrijan he worked on the synthesis of the universal and the local, always standing firmly in the positions of modern architecture. He designed workers' settlements in the area of Zenica
Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...
, Ilijaš
Ilijaš ( sr-cyrl, Илијаш) is a town and municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located northwest of the inner city of Sarajevo and was established in Ma ...
and the workers' settlement Majdan in Vareš
Vareš ( cyrl, Вареш) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is famous for the local m ...
(realized after the war)
Other works
* The Damić House at 10 Radićeva Street in Sarajevo was built according to a 1926 project by Helen Baldasar and Dušan Smiljanić.
* The building of the National Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Centralna banka Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Централна банка Босне и Херцеговине) is the central bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in t ...
was built in 1932 according to the project of the Belgrade architect Milan Zloković.
* The FIS Sports Center in Sarajevo was built according to the first-prize-winning conceptual design from 1936 by Zagreb architects Hink Bauer and Marijan Haberle
* Skyscraper of the Railway Savings Cooperative in Sarajevo, built in 1938, designed by Isidor Rice. 1* Social Security Building in Mostar (architect Drago Ibler
Drago Ibler (14 August 1894 – 12 September 1964) was a Croatian architect and pedagogue. His style can be described as pure simplicity and functional architecture.
Ibler was born in Zagreb. He gained his diploma in architecture at the Te ...
, member of the progressive Zagreb group "Zemlja", founded in 1929)
* Palace of the Defterder Pasha's endowment in Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
(Stjepan Planić
Stjepan Planić (27 December 1900 – 26 December 1980) was a Croatian architect. His style can be described as a synthesis of functionalist and organic architecture.
Biography
From 1920 to 1922 he worked for the architect Rudolf Lubinsky and, ...
, member of the group "Zemlja")
* City Savings Bank in Sarajevo ( Mate Bajlon, educated in Vienna, built numerous schools and apartment buildings)
* Sarajevo Stock Exchange Building, ( Mate Bajlon)
File:Centralna_banka_BiH.JPG, Mortgage Bank, later ''Narodna Banka'', today Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Centralna banka Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Централна банка Босне и Херцеговине) is the central bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in t ...
, by Milan Zloković, 1929
File:Zgrada Crvenog krsta.jpg, Red Cross building, by Helen Baldasar, 1928
Sarajevo_-_Radićeva_10.jpg, Damić House at 10 Radićeva, 1926
Sarajevo - FIS 1.jpg, Sarajevo - sportski centar FIS, 1936
Hotel hecco deluxe (3826498302).jpg, JAT skyscraper, Muhamed and Reuf Kadić, 1947
Džidžikovac.jpg, Džidžikovac complex, Muhamed and Reuf Kadić, 1947-1948
Socialist Yugoslav period
At the end of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Bosnia and Herzegovina became a republic in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
.
Immediately following the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Yugoslavia's brief association with the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
ushered in a short period of socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
.
This came to an abrupt end with the 1948 Tito–Stalin Split
The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...
. In the following years, modernist architecture came to symbolize the nation's break from the USSR (a notion that later diminished with growing acceptability of modernism in the Eastern Bloc).
With 1950s decentralization and liberalization policies, architecture became increasingly fractured along ethnic lines. Architects increasingly focused on building with reference to the architectural heritage of their individual socialist republics in the form of critical regionalism
Critical regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style, but also rejects the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of Postmodern architecture. The stylings ...
. A notable example of this shift is the Juraj Neidhardt
Juraj Neidhardt (; 15 October 1901 – 13 July 1979) was an Austro-Hungarian and then Yugoslav architect, teacher, urban planner and writer.
Biography
Neidhardt was born in Zagreb on October 15, 1901. He studied architecture at the Academy of F ...
and Dušan Grabrijan's seminal 1957 publication ''Architecture of Bosnia and the way into modernity'' () which sought to understand modernism through the lens of Bosnia's Ottoman heritage.
Growing distinction of individual ethnic architectural identities within Yugoslavia was exacerbated with the 1972 decentralization of the formerly centralized historical preservation authority, providing individual regions further opportunity to critically analyze their own cultural narratives.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Brutalism
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
began to garner a following within Yugoslavia, particularly among younger architects.
The Yugoslav break from Soviet socialist realism combined with efforts to commemorate World War II, which together led to the creation of an immense quantity of abstract sculptural war memorials, known today as ''spomenik''.
Political currents in Yugoslavia favored industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
that required an emphasis on development of public housing to serve migration of population from rural to urban areas. To overcome cultural conflicts anti-historicism with modern architectural vocabulary became a prevalent design strategy for the majority of architectural projects. Hence homogeneity of materials replaced traditional heterogeneity and concrete became a material of choice for construction. Such practices, however, caused several problems. Industrialization caused pollution of cities but more importantly it caused flight from rural areas that further caused discrepancies in production, which damaged the economy. There was insufficiency of infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, electricity, water and central heating to sustain new public housing development due to poor planning while residential skyscrapers inappropriately intermingled with existing architectural context. Poor construction methods and lack of quality due to lack of resources caused unhealthy living environments. All these issues led to diminishing cultural identity of Bosnia and Herzegovina while draining its natural and human resources.
On the other hand, there were few architectural projects that attempted to address issues of cultural diversity. Residential House "Dino" in Sarajevo built in 1987 by Amir Vuk and Mirko Maric was one of those attempts. It is the duplex residential house where one follows the oriental architectural vocabulary while the other has rather western European philosophy of the façade organization while they share a common entrance. Another example is the Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...
Hotel built in 1983 and the "Unis" Twin Towers built in Sarajevo in 1986 and designed by Ivan Štraus
Ivan Štraus (24 July 1928 – 24 August 2018) was a Bosnians, Bosnian architect.
Life
Born in 1928, in Kremna, Zlatibor county, Serbia, to a Slovenian father and mother from Herzegovina.
He identified as a "Bosnian of Slovenian and Herzegovi ...
. Among the people of the city, the twin towers are commonly called ''Momo'' (Serbian name) and ''Uzeir'' (Bosniak
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
name). There is no consensus among the people of the city which tower carried the Serbian or Bosnian name. This ambiguity of the names accentuated the cultural unity as its primary architectural quality.
War-time destruction and post-war reconstruction
During the Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
from 1992–1995, over 2000 civil and religious buildings of historical value were destroyed. Among those were the Ferhadija mosque of Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
(built in 1578) and the Stari Most
Stari Most ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Stari most, Стари мост, Old Bridge), also known as Mostar Bridge, is a rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina that crosses the river Neretva and connects the two ...
in Mostar
Mostar (, ; sr-Cyrl, Мостар, ) is a city and the administrative center of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina.
Mostar is sit ...
(built in 1566), both destroyed in 1993. They have been rebuilt true to the original techniques and styles.
In the years following the Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
, there has been a construction boom in Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
. It is among the cities with the most construction in South-East Europe. The UNIS Twin Towers, designed by architect Ivan Straus, were almost totally destroyed in the war, but have been renovated completely. In the Hrasno residential area, the Bosnian company Bosmal has constructed the "Bosmal City Center
The Bosmal City Center (BCC) ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Bosmalov gradski centar'' / Босмалов градски центар) is a business and residential tower located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Standing high, it is the ...
", one of the tallest twin towers in the Balkans at 120 meters each.
The new owners of the Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...
Hotel in Sarajevo, also designed by architect Ivan Straus, announced that they will start construction on a new 22 story tower. The so-called 'intelligent' tower is expected to cost about 50 million euros.
The Unis Twin Towers have been renovated completely. On the site of the former Oslobodjenje Towers, the Avaz towers have now been constructed as new headquarters for Avaz, the popular Bosnian newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
company.
It's located in Marin Dvor, Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
's business district which has recently been totally renovated with the plans for the Unitic 3 and Grand Media Center. The new tower went under construction in 2006 and it is expected to be completed some time in 2008. The Avaz Twist Tower will hold the record for being the Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
's tallest tower and one of the most interesting towers in Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It is made up of a twisting glass facade and will be 142 meters tall with a 30-meter antenna reaching a total height of 172 meters.
Most of the Olympic venues were destroyed but reconstruction has not yet taken place.
The Bosnian Parliament building (from architect Juraj Neidhart) is under re-construction, and the Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo's Marin Dvor area is totally renovated.
In Sarajevo's Ilidža
Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...
suburb many construction projects which could be considered large by even EU standards have been started. Examples include a project to build a cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems:
* Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable
** Aerial tramway
** Chairlift
** Gondola lift
*** Bi ...
to connect to the nearby mountains Igman
Igman ( sr-cyrl, Игман, ) is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of Sa ...
and Bjelašnica
Bjelašnica ( sr-cyrl, Бјелашница, ) is a mountain in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mount Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the mountain group got its name, rises to an elevation ...
; a sport complex with swimming pools worth 30 million euro; and the 'Gardens of Riverina' - city within the city which will cost more than 1 billion euro over a ten-year period.
Recently, one section of the future European motorway corridor 5C was constructed and opened for traffic near Sarajevo. Soon the Federal government will start construction on a new 40 km long motorway section from Sarajevo to Zenica
Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...
. The construction of the whole 330 km of 5C was planned to be started in spring 2006, and worth approximately 3 billion euros.
Bjelašnica and Igman Olympic Mountains are under plans to be privatized and reconstructed.
Reconstruction and preservation doctrine
Cultural preservation is under way in Bosnia and Herzegovina which can be seen with the most recent reconstruction of Stari Most in Mostar and many other structures of cultural and historical significance which were damaged or destroyed in the recent war. Many other projects, unfortunately, are still stifled by political disputes and lack of funds, due largely to corruption.
The doctrine that is generally followed in preservation was summarized by Italo C. Angle:[I.C. Angle, ''Education and Historic Preservation: some notes on the training of the specialists''. The issues of techniques in preservation of the historical city centers, Split, 1970]
See also
*Constructions and reconstructions in Sarajevo after war
The architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely influenced by four major periods, when political and social changes determined the creation of distinct cultural and architectural habits of the region.
Medieval period
The medieval period in ...
*List of tallest buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina
This list of tallest buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks Bosnia and Herzegovina's buildings that stand at least
The tallest building in Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently the Avaz Twist Tower in Sarajevo. It is tall and it was completed ...
* Sites of interest in Sarajevo
*Architecture of Yugoslavia
The architecture of Yugoslavia was characterized by emerging, unique, and often differing national and regional narratives. As a socialist state remaining free from the Iron Curtain, Yugoslavia adopted a hybrid identity that combined the archit ...
References
External links
"Principles and Methodological Procedure for Reconsolidation of Ferhat-Pasha Mosque in Banja Luka"
School of Architecture - Design and Research Center, Sarajevo
Sarajevo Construction and Architecture
Bibliography
* Juraj Neidhardt and Dusan Grabrijan, ''Arhitektura Bosne i put u savremeno'' (''The Architecture of Bosnia and the Voyage to Modern''), 1957
* Amir Pasic, ''Islamic Architecture in Bosnia'' (1994)
* Nedzad Kurto, ''Sarajevo 1462-1992'' (1997),
* Grabrijan, Dušan - ''"The Bosnian Oriental Architecture in Sarajevo - Architecture of Bosnia and the way owardsmodernity"''
* Kurto, Nedžad - ''"Arhitektura Bosne i Hercegovine - Razvoj Bosanskog Stila (Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Development of Bosnian Style)"''
* Štraus, Ivan – ''"Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1945-1995"''
* Ravlić, Aleksandar – ''"Banjalučka Ferhadija – Ljepotica koju su ubili (Ferhadija of Banja Luka – A Destroyed Beauty)"''
* Hadžimuhamedović, Amra - ''"Transnational Meaning of the Bosnia-Herzegovinian Architectural Heritage and its Post-War Reconstruction - Integrality of the Bosnia-Herzegovinian Architectural Heritage System"''
* Alić, Dijana - ''"From Ottoman house to Bosnian style: Neidhardt's design for workers' housing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1939 to 1942)"''
* Grabrijan, Dušan and Neidhardt, Juraj - ''"Arhitektura Bosne i Put u Suvremeno (Architecture of Bosnia and the way owardsmodernity)"''
* Pozderac, Damir - ''"Eco-cultural Approach Towards Sustainable Architecture and Urban Planning in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Case study on Integral Architecture"''
{{commons category, Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina