Contested Space, Mostar - Sophie Mitchell

REACTIVATION OF MOSTAR’S DILUTED URBAN FABRIC Sophie Alice Mitchell Darwin College 24.03.2012 Essay 4 Design Pilot Study An essay submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MPhil examination in Environmental Design in Architecture (Option B) 10,426 words

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION EXISTING LITERATURE & METHODOLOGY HISTORICAL, CULTURAL & POLITICAL BACKGROUND THE MANIPULATION OF CONFLICT THROUGH POST-DAYTON [RE]CONSTRUCTION CREATION OF A ‘NEUTRAL’ ZONE MOSTAR’S PHYSICAL REALITY EXTENT OF DAMAGE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITONS STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS EXPANSION OF THE PUBLIC REALM; RUINS IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT CONCLUSION DESIGN OBJECTIVES BLOCK SCALE BUILDING SCALE PROJECT MASSING STRATEGY MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT CONSTRUCTION DETAIL DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY THERMAL TESTING SPATIAL INHABITATION SEASONAL INHABITATION SPATIAL QUALITY FUTURE STRATEGY CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRPHY APPENDIX

ABSTRACT This paper explores the possibility for reactivation of Mostar’s desaturated, damaged urban fabric in the politically, socially and religiously contested city centre. It will investigate the unproductive rigidity of the Dayton Accords in its attempt to keep peace by means of segregation. Further more it will examine the subsequent effect of post-war reconstruction on the socio-political stability of Mostar and hence draw conclusions as to the role that the built environment plays in such highly contested territory.

The paper will study the physical reality of Mostar, its geography and how this affects the ruined buildings that dominate many of its streets. It will examine the microclimatic conditions of the ruins, their structural integrity and consequently how this dictates the ground condition and thus affects their use and relationship to the public realm.

The paper concludes by suggesting the reactivation of Mostar’s central ‘neutral zone’. Guided by an understanding of the aggravating nature of construction, the design proposal is grown from essential needs. The design primarily focuses on bringing people to this diluted area of the city by making it safe, comfortable and desirable with the idea that overlaps in everyday routine can begin to initiate a mutual understanding between the contested communities.

INTRODUCTION The city of Mostar, torn apart by the ethno-national war that devastated the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, has become stagnated in its rehabilitation. The ruins of bombed out buildings dominate the city’s former social nodes. Mostar received more international aid than any other Bosnian city in the decade following the war (1994-2004) and has consequently regained its historic ottoman core and iconic Stari Most. However, Mostar’s city centre and infrastructure of everyday life remain largely in their war-torn state. These ruins have become so ingrained into the fabric of the city that the ground condition defining the private spaces they once were and the public spaces that surround them has merged.

‘When such structures are no longer used for open warfare, they may be occupied by vigilant and suspicious victors and once abandoned are constant reminders of physical and political violence. But to say that the scenes of war are reminders, which of course they are, is to underestimate the way in which they continually assert the past upon the present. Sites of conflict become potent representations because of their materiality and archeology. They contain traces of the dead and indicate the patterns of violence. They are contaminated in the anthropological sense of the word.’ (Purbrick, Aulich, & Dawson, 2007) With the broader aim of reactivating derelict pockets of the city my research will addresses the following questions: Can the reactivation of damaged urban fabric, 1. based on fundamental structural needs, contribute to the reintegration of contested communities?

This question requires a close examination of the socio-political responsibility of architecture, as such an underlying trajectory will ask: 2.

What role has the built environment played in the conflict and continued social segregation of Mostar?

Before I expand on these further, it is useful to understand how these questions bridge two noticeably different areas of academic research.

EXISITING LITERATURE/ METHODOLOGY My research negotiates two distinct trajectories of academic discussion. My analysis of the way in which architectural intervention can aggravate conflict stems from the broader debate over the way in which the built environment is politically charged, particularly so in contested territory.

Authors such as Jon Calame, Esther Charlesworth, Liam O’Dowd, Milena Regenera, Louise Purbrick, Jim Aulich, Daniel Monk and Scott Bollens argue that the temporary solutions used to end violent conflict

become so permanently engrained within a city’s urban make-up that they themselves become the cause for future conflict. By dividing people it creates a fear and ignorance of the ‘other’ and provides this paranoia with a physical realm within the city. Calame and Charlesworth suggest that ‘the right thing…is to remove the barriers and replace them with new openings for dialogue and exchange.’(Calame & Charlesworth, 2009) The strategic attitude I will be taking in this paper is fundamentally rooted in the idea of intervening in the abandoned core (a physical barrier in itself) with opportunities for overlaps of social exchange between segregated communities. However, it also recognizes the capability for these places to aggravate conflict in due to the highly sensitive nature of construction within disputed territory.

Emily Makas and Amir Pasic describe in great detail the controversy surrounding post war reconstruction in Mostar and suggest that architecture is even used as a tool to continue the unfinished business of war. Segregated groups ‘have used architecture to reinforce distinct identities and manipulated it to accentuate national differences and clearly mark national territory.’

(Makas, 2007) The rift between polarized communities means that new construction is always perceived with suspicion and thus interpreted to be an act of on going violence. Makas suggests that it is not only the bold architectural gestures that stir up tension but the on going restoration of particularly sensitive building types such as mosques. Makas’ argument infers that wherever there be the suggestion for a programme that is associated with either Croat Catholic values or Bosniac Muslim ones then there will be controversy however small the project. It is also the accumulation of small-scale interventions that spark conflict in Mostar.

O’Dowd and Komarova who make a case that ‘urban regeneration by its very nature exposes, illuminates and often reproduces the very antagonisms that are materialized when space, place and territory are intensely contested’ support this idea. (O’Dowd & Komarova, 2009) The paper (Regeneration in a Contested city: A Belfast Case Study) questions whether ‘ urban regeneration [has] the potential to transform the logic of deep-rooted ethno national division in cities – in particular antagonistic ideas of place and territory which fuel such divisions?’. However, the exploration is limited to specifically programmed environments which in themselves represent the underlying political objectives of conflicting groups. My research will explore if being discreetly ‘un-political’ and working from essential physical ‘need’ can be more productive and less provocative.

Wendy Pullan argues in ‘Contested Mobilities and the Spatial Topography of Jerusalem’ that the infrastructure of everyday life can play a much more important role than the areas of great historical, religious and architectural significance. This line of reasoning is further supported by Calame and Pasic (Post-conflict

reconstruction in Mostar; Cart before the horse) who describe the failure in Mostar to address the issue of the neglected city centre, and instead focusing on the romantic aura of the crumbling historic core, as a huge over sight that has lead to the stagnation of progression in the socio-political domains thus leaving opportunity for a resurgence of conflict.

My research method aims to marry the attitude presented by the majority of literature in this field that the built environment is an instigator of conflict in unstable political and psychological climates with an understanding of how so much of the city of Mostar has been reconstructed without creating an uprising of violence.

The conflicts instigated by the built environment most frequently discussed in the academic debate surrounding contested territory are focused on specific structures of cultural, political or religious value. It is the institutions that represent a nationalist idea that then manifest these in architecture that are the subjects of aggravation and conflict. Over three quarters of the city of Mostar was severely damaged in the 1990’s conflict and more than half of this has been restored without question.

By addressing the methodology used in the primary post-war reconstruction it becomes clear that the reason that it caused little controversy was because of the essential, undisputable need for inhabitable spaces to be rebuilt. John Yarwood’s recollections of planning the city in the immediate wake of the conflict have provided an insight into how the necessity of the reconstruction overrode any political objectives. This can be carried forward into today’s condition where there is still an essential need for structural stabilization.

Here the dialogue of contested territory can intertwine with methods of post disaster relief used in environments where political provocation is not a primary objective or concern. The methodology used here steps completely out of the domain of socio-political conflict and focuses on the primary need to prop up ruins. I will be conducting structural analysis on the conditions of the ruins using expert knowledge and experience in the field of post earthquake reconstruction. I will draw on local precedents and vernacular traditions in order to design with an appropriate attitude and understanding of cultural values.

This combined methodology will take in hand the challenging tendency for over politicising the built environment and the simplicity of structural stabilisation and weave them together to serve as the basis on which reactivation of abandoned ground can begin.

THE CITY OF MOSTAR KEY Confrontation Line/ Divide between East and West Mostar Central Zone

1. Bulevar Narodne Revolucije ‘Boulevard’ 2. St.Peter and Paul Francisian Church 3. Portacabin marked ‘Synagogue’ 4. Stari Most (The Old Bridge) 5. Gymnasium, United World College 6. Site of the Demolished ‘Hit’ Store & Abandoned Construction Site of the Croatian National Theatre 7. Santica Street 8. Abandoned Construction Site of the Catholic Cathedral 9. Construction Site of the New Shopping Centre 10. Liska Street Cemetery 11. Spanish Square

HISTORICAL/POLITICAL BACKGROUND Architecture may be seen as the physical manifestation of an idea. The idea is immediate in its expression due to the permanence of its physical character.

Consequently, where these ideas clash with the beliefs of a section of society then construction may occasion conflict within that society. In Mostar, a city torn apart by its ethno-national division, few ideas are shared between its Croat West and Bosniak East and therefore much of its post war reconstruction has aggravated deep-rooted antagonisms. Given the extent to which urban space is manipulated by the topography of conflict, contested space is inevitable.

The divisions shaped by war have become engrained within Mostar’s urban fabric because the war was not set in a distant battlefield but in the arena of everyday life. This chapter aims to explore the role in which the permanence of the built environment can manipulate territorial divisions and manifest underlying political tensions.

The reconstruction of a city is often perceived as a transitional phase between war and peace. ‘Urban regeneration contains the potential to ameliorate and perhaps substantially modify the basis of ethno-national division.’ (O’Dowd & Komarova, 2009) However, this idea is founded on the presumption that the

physical regeneration of a city goes hand in hand with the rehabilitation of the political and social domains.

Where this is not the case, such as in Mostar, then the reconstruction of institutions, social space and residential areas ‘exposes, illuminates and often reproduces the very antagonisms that are materialized when space, place and territory are intensely contested.’

(O’Dowd & Komarova, 2009) The existence of socially ‘neutral’ places was dissolved during the war that segregated Mostar’s East and West. All sites in the city suddenly developed political, national or religious identities and thus were targeted on this basis. The war that raged through Mostar was one of urbicide as well as genocide, as is well documented in ‘Mostar ’92 Urbicid’ written by a group of architects living in the city during the war. The urbicide that the city was subjected to has manipulated the topography of the conflict. Before the 1992-1995 war Mostar was not a divided city, the divide is a result of war; the city’s urban grain has been defined by the organised execution of specific structures. Many of the buildings damaged in the war were not merely a consequence of the genocide inflicted upon the Muslim community but were specifically targeted for what they represented. (Coward, 2002) The most famous example of this is the Stari Most (The Old Bridge) the destruction of which, as the last bridge to fall, disconnected two parts of the East endangering the stranded people stuck on one side or the other. What the destruction represented however, was much more significant. The Bridge was targeted, not only due to its crucial role in connecting the parts of the Old City but because of its Ottoman heritage; it was seen as the physical expression of the Bosniak identity.

Mostar has not only suffered from the deliberate attacks on its built environment but the city has also been subjected to several attempts to monopolize its public and shared spaces by means of the physical construction of political ideas. These projects have, arguably, worked in a similar way to urbicide, merely reversing the destruction of buildings associated with unwelcome identities into the construction of buildings intentionally destructive to the integration of Mostar’s East and West communities.

The effects of urbicide still resonate in the diluted social nodes of Mostar’s post war urban fabric. The fault line of Mostar’s division, Bulevar Narodne Revolucije or ‘Boulevard’ as it is more commonly referred to, is the place where east meets west. It is the main section of the confrontation line that divides the city and also a key social connection in a network of segregated territory. The cultural, social and economical domains of the city split along this spine. This division of territory is played out in the make up of the urban fabric; the west is dominated by a series of mass housing projects built between 1950 and 1990 in addition to numerous large commercial buildings and a scattering of Catholic churches. The east is characterized by its ruins, the dense Ottoman core and several mosques.

The area enclosed by the Boulevard itself exists as a neutral buffer zone made up of a four-lane traffic cor-

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ridor. Sites controversial for their national associations exist either side of this ‘no-mans land’ but none have attempted to reach onto it until the Spanish Square, where the fault line shifts eastwards.

Religious and nationalist projects have dominated the reconstruction of the Spanish Square, situated at the end of the Boulevard. Despite this, the area remains an impartial place in the conflict and has become weakened and unused as a consequence of its neutrality. In the term ‘neutral space’ I am referring to a place that is not associated with any particular group and is equally used (or in this case unused) by the citizens of the east and west. The open public space is where the sections of the front line link together and thus it is of key importance to the rehabilitation of the city. Before the war the square was know as ‘Hit Square’, named after a large department store situated there, which was damaged and ultimately, demolished. Outside of this store was a public space that was very popular in the everyday lives of Mostarians. (Žuljevic, 2011) The war, however, destroyed not only all the buildings on this square but also its socially positive role as a communal hub. Rather than being the human scale intersection of city zones and the meeting place that it once was, its key function now, is the major traffic junction of the city. The Spanish Square has become the mark of division. ‘After the war… the square remained a non-place, and clearly stood as a limit for the locals, who did not cross it’.

(D’Alessio, 2009) Its neutrality amplifies the segregation that the central zone defines.

The failure to regenerate the social nucleus of the Spanish Square and to take advantage of the natural overlap between East and West has, in my mind, been a key factor in the city’s failure to eradicate its social division. The area stands as the greatest opportunity for integration within the city as it does not require compromise from one side or the other on territorial grounds. The longer Mostar ignores the potential for integration in this area, the less the city can hope to overcome its division.

In considering the rehabilitation of the ruins centered around the Spanish Square one must bare in mind that the urbicide exerted on these structures was done so, because of what they represent as manifestations of political and nationalist ideas and values that are still contested in the almost enforced peace that Mostar is subjected to.

National and religious identities often attempt to venture into sites prescribed as neutral and are consequently pushed back into their polarized homogeneous communities. The central zone of the city, of which the Spanish Square is the core, has not been ignored in the rehabilitation of Mostar. Its appearance gives the impression of abandonment except for the restoration of the Gymnasium (now a school integrating both sides of the city and international students) however, although this is the case, it is the result of failed attempts of reactivation, rather than its decline of importance to the city. Positioned at the core of

Mostar’s central area, it is the heart of its segregation; the place where East meets West. Rather than being a place of chanced meeting and everyday overlaps in the routines of both communities, it has become a buffer zone, where neither community feels a sense of belonging. This has occurred for various reasons, all primarily concerned with the treatment of the permanent urban grain.

Since the rehabilitation of the city began in the years immediately following the cease-fire, there have been a number of projects proposed for the central zone.

Many of these have aggravated the fundamental antagonisms that resulted in conflict to begin with, and they have therefore been abandoned or shunned. For example the Croatian National Theatre ‘revealed the tensions between what some see as the public display of minority identity and others see as secessionist sentiments’. (Makas, 2007) The political agenda apparent in this project became a source of conflict because of its position within the urban fabric.

Issues concerned with the ownership of the land for the Croatian National Theatre, which was part of an allegedly, illegal deal completed during the war (Makas, 2007), played a role in the stagnation of this project.

However, the crux of its failure lies in the controversy it enraged within the local community. The nature of the project was clearly associated with the Croat West rather than the city as a whole. In this respect the very essence of the scheme ignored the conditions of the Dayton Agreement as it had a clear connection with one national group. In addition to aggravating issues of national heritage and identity, the Croatian National Theatre was highly contested because of its location.

It was argued that such a nationalist symbol did not belong in the buffer zone of the division that the Spanish Square represents. The perceived future for the central area of the city was one of a shared space. It was believed by many Mostarians that shared space meant neutral, rather than mutual, space.

Evidently, the core reason that this project failed was that the building itself was the physical manifestation of a contested nationalist identity. Because the Bosnian war was so intricately involved with questions of nationalism, religion and territory, all of these issues were deemed as extremist and it was consequently considered inappropriate to the successful regeneration of a multi cultural, peaceful city.

Attempted religious monopolisation of the urban make up of Mostar has played a significant role in post-war construction. The need to make a mark land in order to regain territory began with attempts to reclaim the central zone. Religious associations have not been welcomed in the central area as the two communities can be defined by their religious views and hence they magnify the divide. West Mostar is Catholic and East Mostar is Muslim. There were plans to build a new catholic cathedral in the central zone, just north of the Croatian National Theatre. (Makas, 2007) However, these plans also stagnated as controversy arose over the nature of the project; clearly a Catholic church

does not constitute neutrality. The very specific, proposed use for this site was contested, not only due to its position in the buffer zone, but also because the site had been previously a Muslim cemetery. The Muslim community felt that it was not only inappropriate but also insulting to remap a sacred Islamic place with Catholic memory.

The impact of this decision required the Catholic community to revert to their previous cathedral, a 1970s construction. This was a disappointment to the Croats and as it was not possible to assert this national identity in the shared zone, they decided to build a bell tower that would dominate the city’s skyline. The 107.2 metre cast concrete tower of the St.Peter and Paul Francisian Church is undoubtedly a potent physical manifestation of the Catholic and Croat identity and a possible mirror of the idea of urbicide. The vastness of this construction, hugely out-stretched the original tower it was replacing and enraged the Muslim community (Pasic, 2005), despite the tower being clearly within the west side of the city. Catholics commentated that it was a symbol for the multi-cultural heritage of the city (Traynor, 2004), this idea falls short when less than a hundred metres east, across the Boulevard, is the only Jewish site left in Mostar: a derelict patch of land with a portacabin marked ‘synagogue’.

The massively uneven distribution of wealth available to the segregated communities of the city is plainly visible in the areas just off the ‘neutral zone’. This may not have been the situation if the regeneration had been driven by the creation of common space rather than space void of identity.

Both the site of the Croatian National Theatre and the Catholic Cathedral remain all but empty. The basement of the theatre, which was completed before the construction was abandoned, functions as a theatre (when it can afford to do so), but its overall appearance is that of a fenced-off, neglected construction site. Clearly, both of these projects sparked hostile feelings within the divided communities of Mostar, however, the result of their failure has, perhaps, further enhanced the feelings of segregation within the city. By only allowing the construction of ‘shared spaces’ and ‘neutral’ projects, the opportunity for integration and common understanding has been lost; the area has become a semi-derelict buffer zone pushing either side further into their polarized communities.

Furthermore, the need for neutral space has impacted upon those areas that were functioning as truly shared spaces even after the conflict. For example the Liska Street Cemetery, not in the official central zone but a mere few metres west of the Boulevard, was once full of both Catholic and Muslim graves, for the people who died as part of the Croat-Bosniak coalition protecting Mostar when it was attacked by Serbia and Montenegro. It was one of the only areas in the city where chance meetings and an overlap of cultures and beliefs could occur peacefully. However, this space became a catalyst for the unresolved tensions between the two communities; ‘Instead of leading

to mutual understanding or the acceptance of commonalities in Mostar, this accidental sharing of space led to one of the most violent incidents in post-Dayton Bosnia-Herzegovina.’ (Makas, 2007) An unprovoked attack on Muslim visitors to the site

by Croat police instigated a series of violent conflicts in which one man died, several people were injured and all of the remaining Muslim residents in the West were forcibly removed from their homes. In the years following this incident, the Catholic graves have been gradually removed and reburied in Catholic cemeteries leaving this pocket of Muslim territory embedded in the Croat zone of the city, where even the dead are divided.

The division imposed on the city by the urban grain has affected many places not directly associated with nationalist or religious identity but which have been polarized by their regeneration or ruination. The city is made up of two very distinct areas; the restored Ottoman core with its gleaming Stari Most and the ‘rest’. The ‘rest’ is, naturally, a patchwork of conditions; all characterised by unmistakable marks of war and ambiguous public boundaries. The two situations work as different entities within the city, the historical part, occupied by Bosniak Muslims is dominated by the tourist industry. However, the impact of the ‘rest’ is inescapable. Few tourists stay more than one night, if at all. After seeing the Stari Most there is really nothing else left to do in Mostar, as a tourist, one is not expected to leave the historic centre, there is not even a cinema. (Demirovic, 2011) This is detrimental to the city’s economy but more significantly it means that the contrast of a tourist filled iconic UNESCO site is felt more greatly against the dirty disintegrating ‘rest’ of the city and this intensifies a further divide.

The striking contrast between the East and West highlights a bizarre imbalance; the city has regained its iconography, attracting tourists from all over the world whilst its social centre and infrastructure of everyday life remain largely in their war-torn state. ‘Picturesque cafés and discotheques came back to life along the banks of the Neretva while the apartment buildings along the Boulevard—the city’s real partition line and political fulcrum—remained dark.’ (Calame & Pasic, Post-conflict reconstruction in Mostar: Cart before the Horse , 2009) The focus on Mostar’s historic centre, it could be argued, has been detrimental to its progression from war zone to the multicultural peaceful city it was twenty years ago. Pouring so much money into a tourist hot spot but allowing the prolonged problem of displaced people without homes to return to, and the necessary infrastructure that would provide income, education and security, has aggravated the resentments of conflict amongst the largely unemployed, poverty stricken Mostarian people. ‘Not until some firms or some factories are rebuilt where those people could work will we need the Old City...if only the eyes are full and the pockets empty, then there is nothing.’ (Calame & Pasic, Post-conflict reconstruction in Mostar: Cart

before the Horse , 2009)The division of the city is played out in its treatment of public space. The restored historic centre, and to some extent, the areas of the west that were scarcely touched during the war, abide to the formal separation of public and private space. Private buildings stand, as in a normal untroubled society, open only to those who hold a key. Public space is characterised by bars, cafés and designated green space, carefully separated from the pavement. The ‘rest’ of the city, however, is much less defined. This contrast is manifested in the treatment of markets throughout the city. In the historic centre, individual stalls have been restored to create a formally designated street bazaar, the rest of the city however, plays host to impromptu vendors selling groceries or CDs and videos from the back of a van.

The separation of the two Mostars is further demonstrated by the behaviour of its people. In the historic core, old men spend their days gathered in cafes drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. In the ‘rest’ of the city, meeting places appear to be less clearly defined; old men huddle under the relative shelter of ruins to play chess or to drink. It is evident that the appearance of a place influences the way in which that place is used. In the historic core, some ruins remain such as on Ulica Onesukova (the main street leading from the Boulevard to the Stari Most). These ruins appear to be treated with a reasonable amount of respect; they are situated in the core of the tourist hub and seem to be nothing more than damaged, unused buildings.

However, drunks, drug-users and beggars, together with people stripping anything of value, frequently occupy the ruins situated on the Spanish Square and many individuals use these spaces as public toilets and shortcuts. This disparity in use, imposed by the treatment of the urban grain, creates further segregated communities that consequently increase the friction of contested ideas in Mostar.

CREATION OF A ‘NEUTRAL ZONE’ The Dayton Accords, despite being determined to allow for Bosnia and Herzegovina to flourish under a shared Bosnian identity have, in Mostar, caused further segregation of nationalist groups.

This is a result of its interpretation into urban planning; by allowing no alternative national identity (other than the shared Bosnian identity) to be manifested in ‘shared’ spaces it has effectively reinforced the divide between East and West Mostar. By enforcing a neutral zone in order to break up the fault line of the division, the urban regeneration of Mostar has, in effect, shifted the polarized groups further into their segregated communities. The land that belongs to either side, or rather both sides has become a wasted opportunity for the rehabilitation of Mostar, formerly an integrated multi-cultural city. Furthermore, by rejecting plans for national identities to be celebrated in the central zone of the city it has aggravated hostile resentment, resulting in deliberately provocative iconography, dominating less regulated parts of the segregated zones. The overall effect of this on Mostar’s urban grain is the dilution of its key social nodes that have been semi-abandoned thus leaving the city without arenas for the development of shared understanding. The evolution of wartime segregation is not as dramatic as the violence of the nineties conflict, it is merely a part of everyday life in Mostar.

The following paper will aim to tackle issues of segregation and conflict through design that creates potential for the reactivation of the neutral territory as a challenge to the unproductive rigidity of the Dayton Accords. The design will be based on a thorough analysis of the existing environmental, tectonic and cultural conditions that characterise Mostar.

PHYSICAL REALITY

GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS The city of Mostar is set within a valley formed by the Neretva River. ‘This massive amphitheatre is formed by high and steep-sided mountains, interrupted only by the river valleys themselves. It is one of the most dramatic physical settings for a city to be found in Europe.’

(Yarwood, 1999) These conditions dictate Mostar’s local microclimate. The temperature in Mostar is mild averaging 6°C in the winter months and 26°C during the summer. However, temperatures frequently drop below zero in the winter. These freezing conditions directly affect the levels of comfort and structural safety within the ruins which are largely unprotected.

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EXTENT OF DESTRUCTION 1994 (Pasic, 2005) Within the difficulties of this physical environment damaged buildings characterize much of Mostar’s urban fabric. The reconstruction of the city has been staggered and somewhat inconsistent thus leaving behind a degraded environment where temporary solutions have evolved into permanent characteristics of the city. Given the latent political symbolism these ruins encapsulate it is useful to understand where reconstruction has been most implemented. [see over page] West of the Neretva River it is only the former front line that resonates Mostar’s tainted past in its inescapable ruined fabric. The front line is made up of the ‘Boulevard’, the Spanish Square and Stantica Street. Although all along this fault line attempts have been made at reconstruction, any ambitious desires for reactivating this area to its formal social grandeur have failed leaving distinguishably damaged split through the city as a visible barrier between East and West.

EXTENT OF DAMAGE REMAING 2012

Footprint of Ruin Badly Damaged - No Roof Damaged - With Roof Damaged but Occupied Under Construction

EXPLANATION OF KEY

Footprint of Ruin marks where there is evidence of the existence of a building but there is no longer sufficient structure to be recognized as a building.

Badly Damaged – No Roof represents structures that are adequately recognizable as buildings but the extent of their damage makes them unusable.

Damaged – With Roof represents unoccupied structures that are badly damaged but have retained most of their structure including the roof.

Damaged but Occupied marks badly damaged buildings that have been partly occupied despite their dangerous conditions.

Under Construction represents various stages of unfinished construction, theses are: (a) Private residential buildings that have been left very unfinished, in some cases missing a section of roof or glazing. These buildings are occupied but exist more like shelters than habitable dwellings despite their occupation.

(b) Construction work that has been abandoned, these range from projects at the early stages of construction to those that have been neglected when they are all but finished.

(c) going.

Construction work that is incomplete but actively on

The unmarked buildings are those which have either been restored, newly built or survived the war undamaged. However, these range in quality. Many of the buildings left from the war, although occupied and in a reasonable condition are covered in bullet wounds and other scars of war. Others in this category have been rebuilt and occupied but lack the finishes one would expect form a fully restored building (see image).

BULEVAR NARODNE REVOLUCIJE ‘BOULEVARD’ The fault line separating East and West Mostar is the main road that cuts through the city from north to south. There are few buildings of any architectural significance but it is an essential piece of the fabric that dictates everyday life in Mostar.

‘Despite the self-evident functional, metaphorical and political significance of the Boulevard, it was consistently passed over as a project site by foreign donors more attracted to the tragic aura of the historic core.’ (Calame & Pasic, 2009)

Pavement is covered with bullet holes and craters

St. Peter and Paul Franciscan Church built in 1866, the church was almost completely destroyed in 1992 and was reconstructed in 2000. Its bell tower, at more than 200 meters tall, dominates Mostar’s skyline and is substantially larger than the original.

Residential soviet buildings of east Mostar remain as they were prior to the war. Although damaged they are habitable.

Numerous ruins line the street surrounded by reconstructed buildings

Jubilee primary School built in 1902, currently under reconstruction to its original form and use

The site of the proposed synagogue remains an empty plot filled with just a porter cabin as a make shift sacred space

THE SPANISH SQUARE Formerly Hit Square this was one the social hub of central Mostar, it is the natural point where east meets west and hence is a key place of integration. Today it is a major traffic junction dominated by ruins however, there are signs of progress such as the Gymnasium integrated school.

A theatre and islamic centre are planned to occupy this site, as of Decemeber 2011 there are no signs of progress.

Ruin of ‘The Glass bank’

Site of ‘HIT’ shopping centre built in 1972. The ruin of the bombed shopping centre was demolished directly afer the war and the site has remained void of any permanent structure since. It is closed off with temporary fencing. Before the war the area infront of the store was one of the most popular public spaces in the city, it has not been used for 16 years.

Footprint of ruined building used as a taxi rank/ mkae shift market and public space for activities such as chess matches.

Plans to restore the ruin to its former structure and use have yet to be implimented.

The Cross on Hum Hill

Under Construction (a new town hall)

Ruin of the old Privredna bank

Reconstructed housing block, completed in 2003 by the American Refugee Committee Ground floor contains shops, bars and the relocated Privredna bank

Gymnasium United World College integrating international students and those from both sides of the city.

SANTICA STREET Santica Street made up the second half of the confrontation line during the war. It was one of the most brutally damaged streets in the city, none of the buildings survived without severe damage. Residents reclaiming their homes despite their condition have occupied some of these ruins.

Much of the street has been reconstructed but left occupied, it is considered an undesirable part of the city to live in.

Finished residential reconstruction(?)

The majority of the residential projects on Santica Street are not occupied. Some are just shells, the exteriors are finished whilst inside they are inhabitable without water or electricity. Others are completely finished but are too expensive for the citerzens of Mostar (over 50% of whom are unemployed). Santica Street remains an undesirable place to buy a house; it is the former front line in a fragile and tense society, it is also the home of Mostar’s prison and is largely unihabited.

Reconstruction of typical 1950’s housing block (occupied)

Abandoned reconstruction work sits beside finished but unoccupied flats that are already baring the marks of neglect in the form of smashed windows and graffiti

Sitting beside new but empty housing a ruin has been occupied and refurbished on the upper floors. Whilst the ruins originally surrounding this block have been demolished this flat represents the small proportion of residents who lived in Mostar before the war and have been able to return to their homes in various states of ruination.

In the courtyards set back from the street are the ruined footprints of buildings and further abandoned reconstruction in additioned to occupied restored housing.

Primary school

RURAL EAST CONDITON As the terrain becomes steeper on the east side of the city the dense ottoman city fabric filters out into a suburban/rural environment. The buildings, most of them having been reconstructed by the residents themselves, are made up of various mismatched elements that have been added in a bit-by-bit process of reconstruction. Most of the buildings here have been restored (to a low standard) and are occupied.

The ruins that reside further up the steep ground tend to have been abandoned in the years before the war as people moved away form the rural areas and into suburbia.

RESIDENTIAL WEST CONDITION West Mostar is dominated by a series of mass housing projects built between 1950 and 1990.

Many of these buildings survived the war with little damage as the west was drastically less damaged than the east of the city. However, most of the buildings here are covered in bullet holes and cracks.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER Damp, dirty, and dangerous the ruins in Mostar have been left rotting throughout the city. Many of them are so badly damaged that they are merely piles of rubble, some hold on to their previous form retaining in some places ceramic tiles and scraps of carpet. Largely, they are used as dumps and hideaways for drug dealing. Stench contaminates the air and mountains of sandbags, rubbish, human waste and dead animals carpet the floors. Paper work left abandoned from the early nineties and office chairs rot in the corners marked by walls saturated in bullet holes. Water pours into the ruins constantly.

After the rain the buildings stay wet for days, water slowly sinks through the layers of concrete, brick, and stone eventually forming huge puddles in the ground floors and basements.

In some respects the ruins of Mostar are like the semi-enclosed spaces that can be found in most European cities. However, the majority of these spaces are well designed as buffer zones between inside and out creating an intermediate environment. Mostar’s ruins on the other hand, are not like the arcades and porticos of traditional semi-enclosed space because they have not been designed to be external and hence are not appropriately protected. Additionally they do not (in most cases) link with internal spaces and therefore do not benefit from the heat generated by theses spaces.

The information collected and analyzed in this chapter was collected on site during the course of one week. The information, therefore, does not provide average conditions for the buildings but does identify patterns that when used along side climate data can provide an informed understanding of how the buildings react to their local weather patterns. The following examinations were taken out on buildings occupying parts of the former front line. Although a different ruin is later selected for the focus of the design proposal, due to its potential in terms of location, the three buildings studied in detail here suggest the way in which this indigenous building typology of reinforced concrete and masonry ruins are manipulated by their climate.

THE MICRO-CLIMATE OF A RUIN The Glass Bank, an eight storey building nick-named ‘snipers nest’, was designed to be largely glazed however; most of its fenestration has been smashed or removed leaving huge gaps in the façade open to the elements.

Without it’s glazing the building is unable to trap any of the sun’s radiant heat making the building much colder than it was originally.

The reinforced concrete skeleton is damp and covered in pools of water. The atrium space has what appears to be a permanent pool of water.

During summer these pools will dry up. However, during Mostar’s cold winters the internal environment is very similar to the external conditions. After rain, the water that pools at the top of the building in the areas where there is no roof gradually pass down the building through the holes and cracks in the concrete floor plates.

The top floor of the building is half open, only the central section is covered. However, it is considerably more comfortable on this level than the one below (except when it is raining) as concrete walls, dramatically reducing the draught, enclose its edge. The level of draught at the seventh floor is extremely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous given the height of the space and the lack of walls.

Across the Sapnish Square from the Glass Bank is the Old Privredna Bank. This ruin is similar to hypostyle hall due to the form its degradation has taken; its footprint has been reduced to a series of columns supporting a disintegrating skeletal frame. This arrangement means that at ground level the space is protected from the rain to some extent. In addition, the structure that sits above the ground level shades the area from high summer sun but allows lower angled winter sun to penetrate the space. There is significant air movement in the upper floors of the building however, surrounding buildings and advertisement boards that line the southwest site boundary shelter the ground floor. Unlike a typical hypostyle hall, however, there is no controlled interior environment connected to the space and therefore it is not warmed by this proximity. The large holes in the floor plates and walls allow light to act slightly differently to a conventional space creating very well lit areas which originally could have been slightly dull.

Santica Street is composed of a miss-match of buildings some newly constructed and others still skeletal remains. There are a couple of buildings which despite their severe damage and continued disintegration are still inhabited.

The condition of theses apartment blocks is very unusual and yet, in Mostar, in is a common condition. In one apartment the upper two floors are refurbished flats whilst the basement, ground and first floors are still in ruination. The environment below the flats can be assessed similarly to a portico and unlike the previous examples it is paired with an internal space and therefore may, to some extent, act as a buffer zone between inside and out.

Excluding the refurbished areas, the building has completely lost all its fenestration. This has allowed the spaces to become very damp.

THERMAL STUDIES THE GLASS BANK

12°C

The top floor, being enclosed by high walls on each side, feels much warmer than the floor below, despite being uncovered at each end, as the cold winds are much less prominent.

13°C

Coolest Point: 18.4°C 14°C

The enclosed spaces in the centre feel warmer than their surroundings as they are sheltered from the wind.

However, these spaces are largely blocked from direct sunlight meaning that there is little radiant warmth.

15°C

16°C

At the centre of the building, the draught is very prominent due to the exposed stairwell. It is more sheltered from the sun at these points and is less able to utilize sunlight.

17°C

18°C

Warmest Point: 20.8°C 19°C

The ground floor, being most sheltered, feels warmer and does not suffer as much from the cold winds that penetrate the upper floors. It has a more stable temperature as its surface area is less exposed allowing temperatures to stay warmer.

20°C

TEMPERATURE (°C)

HUMIDITY AND DAMP THE GLASS BANK Figure 1

Figure 2

55%

The top floor is particularly damp during and directly after rain. It is dries fastest as it is directly exposed to the sky. The water, which collects in the exposed areas of the top floor, penetrates the concrete and falls through each floor as the damp spots on each subsequent floor correlate to these exposed areas.

60%

65%

Pools of water

70%

Location of plant (fig.1) 75%

Location of plant (fig.2) 80%

85%

90%

The atrium space is particularly damp; it is a tall space (approximately 7meters) and is surrounded by walls consisting of empty window frames. Therefore a large amount of rainwater is able to fall onto the concrete floor.

There is an almost constant feed of water into this space.

95%

RELATIVE HUMIDITY (%)

THERMAL STUDIES THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

12°C

13°C

14°C

Coolest Point: 12.1°C 15°C

16°C

The south end of the building admits more sunlight than the north and hence benefits from radiant heat.

17°C

18°C

The ground floor is sheltered at most of its perimeter and so feels warmer.

Warmest Point: 14.3°C

The basement is slightly warmer than the upper floors because it is embedded in the ground, stabilizing temperature fluctuations.

19°C

20°C

TEMPERATURE (°C)

HUMIDITY AND DAMP THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

55%

60%

65%

70%

Pools of water Location of plant (fig.5)

The enclosed spaces on each floor are very damp. Pools of water collect here and seep through the floor plates creating a pattern of puddles. These damp closed areas are next to a hole in the floor plate allowing a continual shower of water to fall through the building.

Location of plant (fig.4)

Location of plant (fig.3)

The basement is flooded from a broken pipe that feeds a constant flow of water onto the concrete floor.

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

RELATIVE HUMIDITY (%)

THERMAL STUDIES PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

12°C

13°C

14°C

15°C

The first floor may benefit from its proximity to the occupied apartment above.

Warmest Point: 16.8°C

16°C

17°C

18°C

The basement is cooler than the upper floors as it cannot warm up during the hours of sunlight as efficiently as the upper floors.

Coolest Point: 15.5°C

19°C

20°C

TEMPERATURE (°C)

HUMIDITY AND DAMP PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

55%

60%

65%

There are consistent areas of damp in the building that appear to be fed by the upper apartments. Wastewater from the part of the building in use is deposited into the ruin below creating large pools of water in concentrated points.

Location of plant (fig 6,7&8)

70%

75%

80% Pools of water

85%

Puddles gather in the basement as there little opportunity for it to evaporate.

90%

95%

RELATIVE HUMIDITY (%)

12°C

13°C

14°C

15°C

16°C

17°C

18°C

19°C

20°C

The temperatures recorded inside the buildings, although varying substantially from each other, do not differ to any great extent form the external temperatures recorded at the time of their testing. The buildings do not provide significant protection form external temperature fluctuations. It follows that the buildings will fluctuate to match the external temperature throughout the year, these reach subzero temperatures.

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

Variations in relative humidity follow the external averages; the buildings provide little protection from external humidity and collect pools of water worsening the situation. The internal humidity will fluctuate to match the external conditions.

90%

95%

25db

30db

35db

40db

45db

50db

55db

60db

65db

The acoustic levels rely entirely on the building’s position in the city. The Glass Bank and Old Privredna Bank suffer from substantial noise pollution as they are situated on the traffic junction where as the private apartment is on a quiet street. The averages show that the buildings do offer significant protection from external sound, in particular the central cores.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

The light patterns follow what would be expected; the buildings match their external conditions where they are largely exposed. The more enclosed spaces remain dark regardless of external variations.

AVERAGE EXTERNAL CONDITIONS DURING TESTING

YEARLY CLIMATE PATTERNS

TEMPERATURE (째C)

18.7째C

12.5째C

16.4째C

RELATIVE HUMIDITY (%)

80%

58%

78%

61db

35db

ACOUSTIC LEVEL (DB)

62db

LIGHT (1-10 HUMAN PERCEPTION)

5

5.5

5.5

DIRECT SOLAR RADIATION (W/m2)

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS Damage inflicted on buildings by means of shelling and gunfire in a war zone is difficult to assess. Over fifteen years of exposure to the elements will have lead undoubtedly to the rusting of the steel reinforcement causing it to expand and crack the concrete.

Many buildings, which retained their structural stability during the war but were made uninhabitable, have been left unprotected at the mercy of natural forces. ‘Erosion of surface through weathering exposes newer surfaces of the same material in its depth, at once the erasure of one surface and revelation of another’ (Mostafavi & Leatherbarrow, 1993). In the following chapter I will assess the structural stability by analyzing the surfaces for visual signs of deterioration.

The majority of the concrete structures left in ruination are of typical 1970’s reinforced concrete skeletal construction. This type of concrete is typically designed to permit cracking in the tensile zone with the steel reinforcement in place to support this load. However, as the reinforcement rusts it looses its ability to support such a load endangering the entire structure.

For example the Glass bank located on the Spanish Square, on first inspection, appears to be stable. It has lost its fenestration, which in itself is not damaging to the structure but leaves the building exposed to internal weathering. The construction method of layers of columns and slabs make the joints particularly sensitive to any type of impact that would cause movement in the structure. Nevertheless, it appears that this building was only attacked by gunfire hence leaving the structure without serious damage.

However, after such a long time being exposed to natural forces cracks have appeared in the concrete. This has been accelerated by the removal of piping and metal braces as these provided some protection where the concrete is most fragile.

As is evident in the photographs bullets have broken through the skin of the building leaving parts of the structure exposed and hence in prime position to decay. The corners of the concrete slabs are starting to crack and crumble suggesting that the concrete is dividing due to expansion of the steel reinforcement.

Although structurally the glass bank is not critically damaged, the dangers it presents to it users are severe. The building is very tall and the winds can become very strong on the upper floors, with the glazing missing there is no protection from being blown off or falling from the staircase that is completely open. The lifts have been removed so that vast are cavities exposed.

Other ruins occupying the Spanish square present far more pressing issues of structural safety.

For example thee damage inflicted upon the old Privredna bank was far more extensive. ‘Most of the reinforced concrete was standing, but the two left hand bays had collapsed into a big pile of rubble. Columns and floors were hanging down, attached only by the reinforcing bars’ (Yarwood, 1999). The building uses a typical slab and beam structure and due to the extent of the damage inflicted on the building the joints between the columns and slabs are very weak.

Because the building was subjected to movement during its attack some of the columns have failed completely. In this type of construction it is recommended to use shear walls in order to strengthen the structure, however, as is visible in the photographs the masonry walls no longer provide adequate support. The brick is crumbling away and rather than adding to the stability it is adding to the live load the building has to endure. In addition to this the reinforcement is severely damaged, most likely due to its long exposure to nature. This in turn will have caused further cracking of the concrete. The cracks in the concrete will have then allowed water to penetrate and then freeze during cold weather; this process will be gradually pulverizing the concrete so that it looses all of its natural strength.

This building presents obvious dangers in its structural make up however, the more immediate dangers are the pieces of concrete that have become wedged in-between the rusting reinforcement that could fall onto passing pedestrians at any time.

An apartment building on Santica Street presents a different structural issue that is even more pressing. Although the structure of the private apartment appears to be in a stable condition due to the fact that that it is inhabited there is no evidence to suggest that its elements have been at all protected or reinforced so that they will not deteriorate due to the forces they are exposed to and not designed to cope with. In addition the inhabitation of the upper floors is damaging the structure as the wastewater from above is deposited in to the lower floors increasing the likelihood of the disintegration of the concrete and reinforcement.

The supporting masonry walls are in various states of ruination, those that have been able to retain their form will benefit from the loads imposed from above as this strengthens them.

However in some places the walls have been entirely destroyed and will no longer be providing support where it is needed. There is a high possibility of this building collapsing with it inhabitants at any moment. There is a high possibility of this building collapsing with it inhabitants at any moment. [see appendix]

The damage inflicted on the Glass Bank has largely been imposed after the war. The windows have been smashed and removed leaving the interior structure exposed to rain and damp.

The damage enforced on the structure by the damp has been exaggerated by the removal of pipes that have left holes in the floor plates allowing for water to easily penetrate the concrete and cause the steel reinforcement to rust and expand hence causing further cracking and pulverization of the concrete.

Damage on Glass Bank is evidently from bullets, this causes immediate damage to the concrete and often the reinforcing steel structure. These scars have been left exposed for over fifteen years and consequently any strength that they retained after the immediate impact of their damage will have had to endure a prolonged period of weathering and live loads.

Due to the severity of the damage inflicted by shelling in the Old Privredna Bank the structure has been left widely exposed to the elements. There is a distinct pattern in the holes through the floors that, probably, were made by something smashing through them. These holes have become more prominent as water penetration has caused further cracking and disintegration of the concrete. In some cases the concrete is left hanging onto the rusting reinforcement making for an extremely dangerous environment.

The primary skeletal structure of the building is still standing but is very badly damaged. The columns are all damaged to some extent, the least damaged show signs of the steel reinforcement inside of them starting to rust whilst the worst cases are no longer providing support to the building at all. The worst columns show evidence of what appears to be fire damage, the concrete is missing for large sections of the columns and the reinforcement is twisted and bent.

The walls of the building are covered in bullet holes exposing the concrete and allowing it to crumble and disintegrate. The water than pours into the building from the upper floors that are in use as habitable spaces collects and dampens the concrete causing further damage. Parts of the building have been badly damaged by shelling causing chunks of concrete to fall away and the reinforcement bent and exposed to the elements.

Many of the partitioning walls have crumbled and rather than strengthening the structure they add to the load the structure must support.

EXPANSION OF THE PUBLIC REALM A unique aspect to cities left devastated from war or natural disaster is the transient phase that they go through in the period of their reconstruction where previously private spaces are left abandoned and the clearly defined barrier between public and private space becomes increasingly ambiguous. Mostar, almost two decades since the Dayton Peace Agreement, is still only partly restored. Enough time has passed for the abandoned shells of schools, apartments and everyday infrastructure to be over grown with trees and wildlife. Some ruined apartments have been partly restored; people live amongst the destruction and have done for so long that the teenagers of today have never seen parts of the city in anything other than in a state of ruination.

Spaces left abandoned, part-inhabited, part derelict create a new opportunity in the public realm. In a more stable society war ruins would be destroyed, restored or at least fenced off.

However, in Mostar the fragile state of the political, social and economic domains leads to these derelict buildings becoming part of the pavement of the city. This highly unique ground condition has lead to the reclaiming of private space so that it is vaguely (and in some cases very much) part of public territory. The ruins have now become functional elements of the city’s infrastructure despite being dangerously unstable and uncomfortable environments. The former Glass Bank in the Spanish Square, for example, has become an open-air graffiti museum. Beggars from the Roma community use the ruins as a shelter. A taxi rank occupies a corner of the Spanish Square directly under a ruined building providing the perfect place to wait.

The extent of the destruction that these buildings have suffered added to the subsequent abandonment of these places has meant that they have deteriorated and weathered to such an extent that nature has, in some places, taken them over fusing the material boundary of interior and exterior.

PUBLIC/PRIVATE BOUNDARY THE GLASS BANK The form of the Glass Bank with large, low windows and multiple entrances naturally lends itself to being very open once the glazing has been removed. It is the most commonly used ruin in the city and is rarely empty. It is frequently used as a short cut between the two streets that encircle it. It is used as a waiting spot for taxis. It is used as a shelter, a public toilet, a hang out and a place of work. Teams of men work constantly stripping the building of any remnants of valuable material, mainly metal. Tourists visit this site, the most accessible of the ruins. It is also a make shift gallery for graffiti artists. Organizations, such as Red Bull have used the great atrium for events hence widening its image as a public space. Numerous broken bottles and damp blankets suggest it is used also as a shelter. Groups of youths gather in these spaces, teenage couples hide away in the enclosed core of the building. The top of the bank is used for television and radio transmitters shifting this ruin even further into the public realm. The Glass bank is effectively a place of work, shelter and play.

GROUND CONDITION: PUBLIC ACCESS THE GLASS BANK

temporary barrier

open onto residential courtard and parking space

easy access from pavement

unobstructed public entrance

unobstructed public entrance

taxi rank, waiting space

GROUND CONDITION: HAPTICS THE GLASS BANK

PUBLIC/PRIVATE BOUNDARY THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK The ground condition created by the footprint of the Old Privredna Bank is, in fact, very similar to that of a purposely-designed semi-enclosed public space.

Additionally its location means that it opens onto the Spanish Square, which is now a major traffic junction but was once a major meeting place in the city. However, the space occupied by the ruin is far from being a usable public space.

The ruin appears to be used a squat, a place where drugs are dealt and the homeless sleep. Beggars from the Roma community use this impromptu shelter as protection from the rain.

The building is open to the street, its ground merges into the pavement only a merged change in texture defines the two. The ground existing beneath the ruin has become overgrown with plants creating a green pocket just off the pavement. Nature’s impact on the building is dissolving the line that separates public and private space.

GROUND CONDITION: PUBLIC ACCESS THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

temporary barrier

public entrance

permanent barrier

unobstructed public entrance

pavement and boundry merge

entrance obstructed by ruble and overgrown vegetation

temporary barrier

pavement

GROUND CONDITION: HAPTICS THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

PUBLIC/PRIVATE BOUNDARY PRIVATE APARTMENT The condition of the private apartment is remarkable due to its cross between refurbished flats and derelict ruins. It is even more unusual because of the positioning of the refurbishment on the upper two floors.

If it were the other way around then the empty space would become private as it is separated from the public realm by means of the flats. However, as it is, it sits on the street as an enclosed public space. Despite this, the space is not frequently used; the damp is so severe it looses its potential as a shelter.

There is no doubt that this ruin is used for access as it is necessary in order to entre the other apartments.

However the section used to access the apartments is a locked private space. The position of this building on Santica Street (the former front line) is significant as most of the buildings on this street were completely destroyed in the war. These buildings have now been rebuilt and yet they are unoccupied. The juxtaposition of inhabited ruins and empty new flats is a reminder of the territorial division in Mostar.

GROUND CONDITION: PUBLIC ACCESS PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

unobstructed pubic entrance set back slightly from the street

overgrown land between building and pavement merges boundary

stones mark the barrier between pavement and ‘priavate’ land

perimenter used as parking space

sheltered entrance between street and semi-private courtyard

private entrance

open public entrance at the back of the building

GROUND CONDITION: HAPTICS PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

CONCLUSION: INDIGENOUS BUILDING TYPOLOGY Structurally the ruins present a huge problem of safety within the city. Through the analysis of their use it is evident that the ruins are being used on a regular basis despite their grim environmental conditions and structural weaknesses. Rather than to enforce restriction of their use by the general public I propose to keep these spaces part of the public realm and simply make them safe and comfortable.

The structural analysis of the ruins, although presenting an overview of the key issues, does not reveal the exact damage that the buildings have suffered.

Much of the analysis has been conducted by making informed assumptions based on the exterior condition of elements. With this is mind it is crucial that any intervention should be designed to a much higher safety factor than would normally be required.

However, Mostar’s problems are etched much deeper than the physical presence of ruined buildings. The social, political and religious differences dividing the city are rooted in all aspects of everyday life in Mostar. Architecture alone does not have the capacity to reintegrate the divided city. On the contrary it is likely to aggravate territorial conflict. Therefore any architectural intervention must grow from the fundamental need to make these ruins safe.

A SKELETAL PROP Given the intensity of the conflict in Mostar it is essential to reinforce the understanding that architecture is more often than not an aggravator of conflict in such a contested environment.

Equally leaving the city’s decaying fabric to become more and more degraded will not sit well with the people of Mostar. The city cannot reunite itself whilst it is still divided in two by the ruined buildings that mark out the former fault line of the 1990’s conflict. My attitude towards this dilemma will be to develop a strategy whereby every aspect is driven by need. This will begin as a simple structural prop.

As the ruins continue to disintegrate; the pulverized concrete flaking away like dust, the cracks penetrating further into the building’s core and the collapsing of deformed columns, a timber skeleton will grow from the inside as a new structure gradually taking over and manipulating the building.

As the concrete falls the timber will rise propping and supporting where it is needed. Enclosing over exposed, wind battered places into comfortable environments, reducing and controlling humidity, damp and temperature, this metabolism will enable key places of integration to be reactivated, expanding and transforming the public realm. The structure will evolve and spread throughout the city.

The strategy is flexible so that it is able to develop in a variety of ways over time as the economy, political stability and social tensions change. The following design proposals will suggest just one scenario of how these props may develop into inhabitable spaces. No specific programme will be dictated, however a range of environments and scales will be created to allow for varied activity.

REACTIVATION OF MOSTAR’S FAULT LINE Mostar’s former front line and the buffer zone extended around it is distinguished by the severity of its disrepair. The physical reality of this part of the city further enforces the divide between the contested communities of Mostar. It is here that I will begin my strategy of intervention as it holds the greatest potential for encouraging an overlap between different ethic groups because of its location. There is no question that it needs to be considered structurally and so the approach to build out of essential needs is completely appropriate – therefore aggravating as little tension as possible.

This part of the city has so far been largely ignored in Mostar’s post-war reconstruction due to its proximity to both sides and the regulations stated by the Dayton Accords for this area of the city to remain ‘neutral’. A series of projects that have been left abandoned have meant that the ‘no-man’s-land’ left in the wake of the conflict has resisted the two decades that have passed.

As this area of the city was a key social node before the war there is still a desire in many of the Mostarian people to reinitiate the bringing together of people in this area (Demirovic, 2011). Secondly if integration is going to occur it is most like to happen along the lines that have to be crossed for reasons of everyday routine in the city centre. There is a bar along this fault line on Santica Street where people from all ethnicities go; it is the only one in the city that is so boldly mutual territory.

LINKING SPACE By simply propping up buildings a dialogue of architectural language begins to develop between isolated buildings. The spaces that can be created inside the building will also initiate reactivation of the ground surrounding them, as these spaces will play a role in the sequential journey from exterior to interior.

Where there is an interior there will be an accompanying exterior space where causal overlaps in routine may occur.

My design objective is to bring together the necessity of structurally propping ruins with the broader aim of reactivating diluted space. This can happen when the props begin to manipulate spaces, when they begin to become shelters and meeting places. In some cases the ruins may support props that lean against each other hence connecting different buildings and creating routes between them.

PROJECT

MASSING STRATEGY Within the ‘central zone’ of the city is the most severely destroyed territory. Marked in orange are the ruins and uninhabited buildings. The majority of theses structures require structural stabilization. The simple act of propping these ruins will change their position in the public realm. To allow for the props in many cases the ground will have to be cleared thus allowing many of the ruins to regain a more active position on the pavement of the street. The props, which stabilize the crumbling masonry and cracking concrete, will extend the footprints of the buildings enabling a closer dialogue between secluded sites. This strategy will reactivate the ground between forgotten spaces thus stimulating not just use of independent structures but of the entire zone as a whole.

By reactivating the ground surrounding Santica Street the buffer zone splitting the city in two will be narrowed and sandwiched between dynamic, functioning city blocks which should then support overlaps between east and west.

The large area of derelict land just north of the Spanish Square will not be discarded ground but a supporting open space to the intensity surrounding it. It is important to note here that the construction site (marked in green) is currently active and if completed will be a large shopping complex including a sports centre and Mostar’s only cinema. Mostar’s current lack of social facilities should mean that this construction should further support integration, as both east and west would benefit from these services. If this is the case then together with the reactivation of Santica Street the abandoned land at the centre of the city will be cocooned by active space and will therefore take on a very different role within the city fabric.

CREATING LINKS The extent of the destruction in the central zone of the city is so severe that a single structure could potentially weave in and out of the ruins without disturbing the reconstructed buildings.

This flow of new architectural language will define new paths through the city and open up previously discarded places. The need for the props to spill out filling a reasonable parameter, in some case, around the existing buildings means that not only will the ruins themselves be reactivated but so will the territory which the props encompass and frame.

CREATING LINKS The potential of a single interlocking structure would allow for a wide variety of environments to be created. The structure could enclose different size spaces that could be prescribed with a specific future occupation in mind. This way enclosure could develop over time according to when a specific facility was needed. However, the integrity of the subtle understated attitude I have adopted in response to the threat of instigating further conflict is somewhat over thrown when the structures begin to become individual buildings in their own right. The strategy is to reactivate the existing fabric, not replace it. Therefore the links between the buildings must rely on the essential need of the ruins themselves. This will, to some extent inhibit the creation of large-scale spaces, however, it will re-establish forgotten pockets of the public realm.

ESSENTIAL STRUCTURAL STABILSATION By simply propping the ruins new spaces will be created and these can then be added to in response to need and depending the sociopolitical climate of the city. The ruins can begin to be manipulated into comfortable, desirable environments.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT INITIAL PROPPING EXPERIEMENTS The most essential need that the damaged urban fabric presents is its inadequate structural integrity. As such the primary aim is to stabilize the ruins for future inhabitation. A simple strategy of timber props addresses the problem in a very understated and simple manner as required. Timber, being the material used in the few already existing props in Mostar is favorable due to its huge availability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its moisture absorbing properties.

Initial experiments tackled issues such as supporting the loads of unstable floor plates and holding in place large pieces of concrete that are critically damaged. The strategy worked in a simple manner of intersecting timber columns and beams thus creating a grid that was manipulated according to where there is more or less damage and in some places where it could navigate through the holes in the floor plates.

The simplicity of the grid structure is purposeful.

The props are providing a scaffolding support and through this the spaces immediately adopt a new environmental quality. They are no longer just potent reminders of the past but useable, functional spaces. The props are able to manipulate a more comfortable environment within the ruins, allowing for the enhanced bright spaces created by the gapping holes in the structure to coexist with more enclosed, sheltered space.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT INITIAL PROPPING EXPERIEMENTS

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT INITIAL PROPPING EXPERIEMENTS

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT SPATIAL QUALITY The build up of the props, although fundamentally structural in their purpose must be carefully considered to create desirable spaces so that pockets of stagnated places can be returned to the public realm.

It is important to consider here that the overall strategy of propping the ruins has developed out of a consideration of the most essential needs of the city. The language of propping and the use of timber immediately suggest a temporary solution. In effect the proposed strategy is a temporary solution however, in Mostar the temporary often becomes the permanent. Local residents using whatever materials were available completed much of the reconstruction on the east of the city. This has led to a mismatch of ad hoc solutions characterizing much of the city and rather than being charming it reinforces the underlying feeling that Mostar has not yet moved past its conflict. Consequently the appearance of the timber props must be careful to create a new distinct language so as to avoid being disregarded because of their temporary nature. To establish a sense of permanence the structures will, in specific areas, become more elaborate.

The decorative effect that the more intricate propping will have will allow a rich spatial quality to grow and thus will allow the structure to go beyond the realm of the temporary. Because the intricate propping will only be applied where necessary for structural reasons it retains its value as a useful intervention and thus reduces the risk of conflict that is often associated with ornate design in contested places.

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT USE OF TIMBER Timber will be used for the propping structures for several reasons.

1.LOCAL AVAILIBILITY – Timber is readily available in Mostar, 53% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is forest. Timber is the main export of the country.

2.EASE OF CONSTRUCTION – when suitably designed, very few people, allowing reduced labor costs, can erect a timber structure. The design can be simple enough to allow enable employment of potentially relatively low skilled workers.

3.ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS - The timber will reduce humidity levels, thermally insulate the space and block unpleasant draught.

4. COST 5. EMBEDED ENERGY

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH RUIN By propping walls so that they are stable structures there is potential to then use the structures as anchors from which new structures can grow. The fragile masonry walls can be supported both sides so that the props push against one another and then span out to the next wall where the relationship is repeated. This then allows the timber props to touch the ground at minimal points thus reducing the added complexity of negotiating the damp ground with the sensitive timber.

The material test shown on the right demonstrates a further development of the grid system where by a 600x600mm grid is made from intersecting pieces of timber allowing for standardized sheet material to be fixed to the grid to create enclosure. The structure leaves a space between the enclosure and the ruin so that water can drain away and air can circulate and dry the timber.

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT INTRICATE PROPS Following the same grid pattern but dividing up into smaller divisions, 200x600mm and 100x600mm the structure can begin to articulate more complex spaces. The smaller elements will be used to support the primary structure but will additionally begin to manipulate light, warmth and humidity. Perhaps more importantly through these details the props will develop the ruins into pleasant spaces where people will want to go.

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT MANIPULATING REPETITIVE ELEMENTS The same grid pattern can be used to explore how the props can grow within the ruins. Using the propped up walls of the ruins the structure can weave in and out of the holes and cracks creating a variety of different spatial experiences. This grid system, however, will begin to become over complex and expensive to build if it is so irregular despite its repetitive make up of identical elements. Therefore this strategy will be adopted where very particular support is needed. A more uniform structure will be used for areas needed general reinforcement whilst the highly adaptable strategy will prop irregular holes and falling walls.

MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT MANIPULATING REPETITIVE ELEMENTS

STRUCTURAL PROFILE UNKNOWN RUIN, SANTICA STREET BUILT: Between 1878-1918 STRUCTURAL SYSTEM: Stone & Brick Masonry OVERALL EXTENT OF DAMAGE: Severe Damage (deteriorating) The damage inflicted upon the building form the Austro Hungarian period was extensive.

The building is constructed of stone and brick masonry. The front faรงade has experienced the worst damage, a huge chunk of the wall has been subject to attack leaving a gaping hole that has unsettled the remaining masonry and left two rows of stones balancing between the gaps.

The roof of the building has collapsed along with some interior walls. The rubble has yet to be cleared and is likely to be preventing some of the walls from caving in. The west side of the building is in reasonably good condition. Many of the window frames have survived and are propping the surrounding bricks. Trees have had twenty years to grow from the rubble and have become a part of the buildings structure.

The movement that he building experienced when it was under attack has meant that the base of the stone walls are very unstable and are very likely to collapse. The live dead load of the building resisting on top of this unstable base may well be preventing the collapse, as the compression will stabilize the masonry.

STRUCTURAL DISECTION UNKNOWN RUIN, SANTICA STREET

A balcony resting on columns still stands on the west facade.

It is likely that this is providing some king of propping support to the building.

The masonry, at some points, has crumbled away so that only one think layer of brick is left supporting a heavy load form above.

The front facade is the most badly damaged having taken the main impact of a shell attack. The masonry, particularly around the base, is crumbling away.

A tree has grown in the central front area of the building. The roots of the tree are likely to cause problems to the structures stability.

The damaged inicted on the central part of the front wall is severe and will require intricate attention if it is not to fall down.

The effect of this large hole on the rest of the structure may be critical as it is at a central point where opposite forces meet.

The roof has collapsed leaving the remaining structure without this added stabilisation. (As it is a masonry structure is would be stabilised, to some extent, by a load resting on top of it).

The collapse of the roof has also allowed the remaining structure to be left far more exposed to the elements.

The upper windows of the front facade have retained their frames which may be providing some support to the bricks collapsing around them.

BUILDING SCALE STRATEGY Following on form the key design objectives I will be addressing the primary needs of the fragile buildings themselves and then developing a strategy to create a range of environments; 1.

SAFE EXTERIOR – This condition will be created by the space that is manipulated by the props on the exterior facades of the building. It will not be enclosed, just safe.

2.

SAFE INTERIOR – Here the environment will still be open to the elements but will exist within a ruined structure thus providing slightly more shelter than the exterior.

Once again there will be no enclosure or skin just a space that is safe to occupy.

3.

SAFE & DRY – Props will allow safe use of this space whilst a roof provides a degree of shelter. This environment will be protected from the immediacy of rain or snow but there will be no skin and will therefore be cold in winter.

4.

SAFE, DRY & WARM – This condition will be a sealed environment with an insulating skin. It will be both warm and dry. Windows will allow daylight into this space.

It is intended that these spaces develop over time according to needs and social/political and economic conditions.

The environments will all start out safe and gradually some will develop into dry and then warm spaces. However, the spaces will never all be warm it is important to retain a set of varied environments so that a range of inhabitations can occupy them.

The sketches opposite suggest how the props may articulate different levels of enclosure.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 1: MINIMUM MASONRY REPAIR Fundamental to my strategy is the idea that it can be carried at a low cost using local trade without specialist skills. For this to be achievable the construction sequence must take into consideration the limited equipment and workforce. This involves understanding the weight of the timber that two people can lift and the complexity of the construction joints. As the strategy is responding to basic need it follows that the first thing to do is to mend, patch up and fill in the crumbling masonry (by injecting a special mortar mix) where possible in order to stabilize the structure and prevent cracks spreading any further.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 2: FLATTENING GROUND The large heaps of rubble from fallen interior walls, the roof and a large section of the east faรงade occupy the interior space. This rubble is compressed into a rubble slab foundation and a drainage channel is cast at base level to make certain that water running down between the existing walls of the ruin and the new construction is directed to manageable drainage points.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 3: PRIMARY PROPPING To ensure structural safety the ruins are propped up using a very simple process of leaning timber against the ruin on both sides. The props will later become part of a more complex structure except in some cases such as large holes where the immediate propping can only provide a certain degree of support and will need an ad hoc solution when there are the resources available. The horizontal members will be drilled into the ruin in places where the structure is not fragile, the rest of the props will simple rest against these horizontal members and the ruin itself.

The timber members used will never exceed 5m in length so that no more than two people if necessary can always carry out the work. The timber will be fixed together using very simple butt joints with screws.

Where longer lengths of timber are needed multiple pieces can be fixed together with smaller members creating brackets. The repetitive truss system will allow for fast, cheap and simple construction and can rely on local trade without the need for complex equipment.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 4: SECONDARY PROPPING Now that the ruin is stabilized the more complex structural problems can be addressed. For example the large hole in the front faรงade of the building will substitute its basic primary props for an intricate prop customized for specifically that hole. The propping trusses will have timbers fixed on to that so that they provide the resting ground for a roof.

This stage is the most complex as it requires ad hoc solutions for the unique holes and cracks in the structure, however the uses of repetitive elements and simple joining techniques mean that the work can still be conducted by a group of two people.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 5: ROOFING In the spaces that are to be made sheltered rafters are fixed to the timber trusses and then wooden boards and slate tiles are fixed on. As all the members are small and regular the work can be conducted by a group of two. Now that the ruins are structurally stable ladders can be propped against the building to reach the roof level.

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE STEP 5: SKIN & FINISHES Now that the structure is safe and dry the prefabricated block of sawdust insulation can be fixed into the grid provided by the trusses. The interior walls and roof are insulated, sealed with a high-performance vapour control layer, and then lined with locally sourced timber panels to create a fully sealed timber box within the ruin.

DETAIL PRIMARY ‘SAFE’ CONDITON 1:50 1 Existing Stone Masonry Wall 2 120/30mm Horizontal Timber Member 3 Butt Joint (timber pressed together with

5 screws) 4 Timber Connection Piece (presses

together two long elements with a

double set of screws allowing for long spans) 5 2 x 120/30mm Timber Members (these

sandwich the third element extending its

height) (fig.1) 6 Drainage Channel

Rubble Slab Foundation 7 Steel Foot (fig. 2) Figure 1 Andaminos, Havana

Figure 2 Steel Foot, Spilt

1

2

3

4

5 6

7

DETAIL SECONDARY ‘SAFE’ CONDITON 1:50 1 Existing Stone Masonry Wall 2 120/30mm Primary Propping Truss 3 120/450mm Timber Beam (supporting

the remains of the balancing upper front facade) 4 50/10mm Vertical Timber Member (cut

to size to support falling masonry and

create entrance) 5 50/10mm Horizontal Timber Bracing 6 50/10mm Horizontal Bracing Connect

ing to Primary Truss

1

2 3

4

5

6

DETAIL ‘SAFE & DRY & WARM’ CONDITON 1:20 1

2

3

4 5 6

7

Roof Construction: 25mm Reclaimed Slate 25mm Timber Boarding 65/25mm Battens Roofing Felt Vapor Barrier 200mm Prefabricated Block filled with Sawdust Insulation Vapor Barrier Wall Construction: Existing Stone Masonry Wall 120/30mm Timber Propping beam 50mm Air Gap 10mm Overlapping Timber Boarding 25mm Timber Boarding 65/25mm Battens 200mm Prefabricated Block filled with Sawdust Insulation Vapor Barrier 120/30mm Timber Panels (Fig.4) 120/30mm Timber Frame Floor Construction: 30mm Timber Boards Vapor Barrier 200mm Prefabricated Block filled with Sawdust Insulation Steel Beam

Figure 4 96 Hands, Studio Tom Emerson

1

2

3

4

5

6 7

THERMAL COMFORT An important element to my proposed treatment of the ruins is the variety of sensory experiences they will stimulate. The need to make environments that are comfortable is a crucial factor in drawing people into these spaces.

As discussed previously the biggest comfort issue these ruins face are low temperatures in winter, as they have little to no barrier form the harsh external conditions. Secondly Mostar’s position in the Neretva valley lends itself to high relative humidity hence the unprotected ruins are very damp for much of the year.

To ensure an adequate level of thermal comfort it is important to consider the sealed environment of the ‘safe, dry & warm’ condition in terms of thermal comfort. This will depend of energy efficiency; in winter the fabric heat loss via conduction must be reduced, as should ventilation heat loss through convection. Passive solar gains should be increased where possible.

Naturally, in the summer a reversal of these strategies is required so that fabric heat gains are reduced, ventilation is controlled and solar gains are avoided.

As such it is important to calculate the comfort temperature (Tn) for the coldest and hottest times of the year so as to understand the parameters in which to work.

Tn = 17.6 + 0.31 Tave (+/- 1.75 °C) Tn (winter) = 17.48°C (+/- 1.75 °C) Tn (summer) = 24.33°C (+/- 1.75 °C) As shown in the graph the comfort zones can be stretched when accompanied by the effects of passive solar heating, thermal mass and natural ventilation.

Comfort Zone

AH

Summer Comfort Spring/ Autumn Comfort

30

Winter Comfort 25

Winter Thermal Neutrality Summer Thermal Neutrality Passive Solar Heating

20

Thermal Mass Effects Natural Ventilation 15

10

5

DBT(째C)

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

THERMAL LOSS In order to test the effectiveness of the enclosure I will calculate the U- Value (the heat that will be transferred through 1m² of construction when there is a temperature difference of 1K (1°C).

As can be seen in the calculation the U-value of the ‘Safe, Dry & Warm’ condition is 0.22 W/ (m²K), the ruin on its own without intervention has a U-value of 2.6 W/(m²K). Evidently a huge reduction in heat loss has been achieved.

Replacing the sawdust insulation (a by-product of the timber frame construction) with felt insulation or sheep’s wool can reduce the U-value to as low as 0.16 W/(m²K). However, felt insulation is much less readily available and so sawdust is more suitable in Mostar’s weak economy and vulnerable social conditions.

H E A T

A

B

C

Conductivity (K)

0.15

Resitivity (r) Material Thickness (d) Resistance (R)

0.18

D

E

F

0.06

0.15

0.15

1.7

6.7

16.7

6.7

6.7

0.59

0.03

0.2

0.03

0.01

0.45

0.20

3.3

0.20

0.07

0.18

Rtot = 4.38 m².K/W U = 1/R U = 0.22 W/(m²K)

G

0.12

H

0.27

J

0.06

ENVIORNMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS Assumptions can be drawn form the environmental analysis conducted on similar ruins within a 100m radius of the Austro Hungarian ruin that has been the focus of this study. The thermal environments of the ruins, for example, are completely dependant of the exterior environments. The ruins provide little to no protection from the cold; however, they are likely to provide reasonable shelter form the sun in the summer due to their thermal mass. The thermal mass is not effective in the winter as the ruins do not heat up enough to begin with as there is no supporting mechanical system and any heat is immediately lost to the external environment.

12°C

13°C

14°C

15°C

16°C

17°C

18°C

19°C

20°C

Perceived temperature is effected by the radiant heat from sunlight and wind. Sheltered sunny spaces feel the warmest.

Exposed spaces will be more sensitive to changes in external conditions.

Spaces underground or enclosed by a large thermal mass will by warmer due to less fluctuations in temperature.

Proximity to a heated building will create an warmer environment because of heat transfer and an extra buffer to the external conditions.

Lack of sunlight will cause a space to remain cold even if its temperature is stabilised by the ground.

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

Very exposed areas will be most sensitive to immediate damp but will dry out much quicker.

Where there is a lack of ventilation and more importantly sunlight puddles have little chance of evaporating.

Damp may increase from water falling from near by buildings.

Plants indicate damp but also provide opportunity for reducing moisture content.

SPECULATIVE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT 12°C

13°C

14°C

15°C

16°C

17°C

18°C

19°C

20°C

The thermally insulated and sealed environment will be a warm place. The low U-value of 0.22 W/(m²K) means that only minimal heat will be lost through the skin.

The top half of the middle ‘dry’ section has four windows which are left as open holes and will therefor increase heat loss. The U-value of the roof is 1.2. The perceived temperature could be higher than its actual temperature. The prefabricated sealed box below will loos its heat through the ceiling thus heating the floor of the ‘dry’ space.

The bottom half on the ‘dry’ section is very sheltered and neighbours insulated warm space on two sides.

The insulated timber box in the centre of the building will be the warmest point as its is a sealed environment with the additional benefit of being surrounded by structure (including the existing ruin) acting as a buss to its heat loss.

This ‘dry’ environment will fluctuate with the environment, the roof will provide protection form the immediacy of rain or snow.

The large area on the south east of the ruin will be almost external space and hence its thermal conditions will change with the climate. The U-value of the masonry walls is 2.6W/(m²K) suggesting they will retain little heat, especially without a roof.

SPECULATIVE HUMID ENVIRONMENT 55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

The sealed warm environment is protected with a vapour barrier and the exterior cladding is overlapped so as to avoid water entering the building. It will be a comfort ab el humidity.

The open nature of the ‘dry’ environment means that the relative humidity will change according to the climate. The roof will prevent pools of water forming.

In the base of the building where it is darker and less exposed it is likely that pools of water will start to form. The rubble slab foundation should prevent this by draining the water away.

The most exposed area of the building will be very sensitive to immediate weather however its exposure allows it to dry out quickly. With the use of timber and a tree some of the moisture will be naturally absorbed form the atmosphere.

0

Metres

1

0

Metres

1

INHABITATION SPAIAL QUALITY

0

Metres

1

SEASONAL INHABITATION SUMMER

0

Metres

1

SEASONAL INHABITATION WINTER

0

Metres

1

SPATIAL QUALITY SAFE EXTERIOR

SPATIAL QUALITY SAFE INTERIOR

SPATIAL QUALITY DRY

SPATIAL QUALITY WARM

FUTURE STRATEGY The next stage in the project will be to begin to encompass all of the ruins in the central zone of the city with the propping system. As the footprint of each ruin grows with its propping the buildings will start to interlink at create large, medium and small spaces for interaction on a continuous ground plane.

1

0 Metres

0

1

Metres

CONCLUSION The deep-rooted social segregation in Mostar will not be solved by an architectural solution however; the urban environment can play an important role in which the social and political domains behave. The design proposal sought to be as low key as possible and to react to fundamental needs such that an environment will grow from simple scaffoldinglike structures which would go unquestioned in Mostar as it is near impossible to argue against the need for stabilization of the very dangerous buildings that have become part of the public realm.

Due to the limited scope of this paper the design in constrained to a detailed analysis of one ruin. However the principles that have matured here have allowed the development of a strategy that will provide the basis for the continuation of this project so as to manipulate the entire ground condition of the central zone of the city.

Future expansion of this project will bring more rigorously into the discussion the opportunity for the adaptability of the structure according to the political, social, economic and environmental climates over time. Time will be a crucial factor in this project as construction in Mostar is often halted and then abandoned. The design must develop as a strategy that will always be useable and beneficial to the community where ever in its construction it is halted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abart. (2010). (re)collecting Mostar. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from Abart: http://abart.ba/?lang=en/ Baillie-Warren, B. The Wounded Church: War, Destruction and Reconstruction of Vukovar’s Religious Heritage. PhD Dissertation, University of Cambridge, Deoartment of Archaeology, Cambr.

Bieber, F. (2005). Local Institutional Engineering: A Tale of Two Cities, Mostar and Brcˇko . Retrieved January 10, 2012, from Kar.Kent: http://kar. kent.ac.uk/783/1/kt5n1k07130m1g48.pdf Bollens, S. A. (2000). On Narrow Ground Urban Policy and Conflict in Jerusalem and Belfast. New York, USA: State University of New York Press.

Brown. (n.d.). Mostar, Without Bridges, Without Light. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from Mostar 4: www.revues.msh-paris.fr/vernumpub/Brown.rtf Calame, J., & Charlesworth, E. R. (2009). Divided cities: Belfast, Beruit, Jerusalem, Mostar and Nicosia (illustrated ed.). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Calame, J., & Pasic, A. (2009). Post-conflict reconstruction in Mostar: Cart before the Horse .

Castellani, A. (Ed.). (1981). Construzioni in Zona Sismica. Milan, Lombardy, Italy: Masson Italia Editori.

Coward, M. (2002). Community as Hetrogeneous Ensemble: Mostar and Multiculturalism. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political , 27, 29-66.

Demirovic, S. (2011, December 9). (S. Mitchell, Interviewer) Mostar, Bosnia & Herzogovina.

D’Alessio, G. (2009, April). Politics of Identity and Symbolism in Postwar Mostar (1996-2005) . Retrieved January 10, 2012, from COST Action IS0803: http://www.eastbordnet.org/working_papers/open/documents/D_ Alessio_Spaces_of_Separation_and_of_Integration_090414.pdf Donais, T. (2005). The Political Economy of Peacebuilding in Post-Dayton Bosnia. New York, USA: Routledge.

Emam, M., Marzouk, H., & Hilal, M. S. (1997). Seismic response of slabcolumn connections constructed with high-strength concrete. Aci Structural Journal , 94 (4), 197-205. Žuljevic, M. (2011, December 8). (S. Mitchell, Interviewer) Feigs, F. (2006). Post-Conflict Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina The hindrances to local socio-economic development in Mostar . University of Joensuu, Deapartment of Human Geography. fgjhfgh, f. (1675). dftyftu. tftu. ny: grtr.

Fouskas, V. K. (Ed.). (2007). The Politics of Conflict A Survey. London, UK: Routledge.

Frieland, R., & Hecht, R. (1996). To Rule Jerusalem. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Gaffikin, F., & Morrissey, M. (2011). Planning in Divided Cities collaborative shaping of contested cities. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Gage, M. (1970). Guide to exposed Concrete Finishes. UK: Architectural Press.

Galloway, S. (2008). The Cellist of Sarajevo. London, UK: Atlantic Books.

Hammond, E. (2009). The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture Bosnia and Herzogovina. London, UK: Kuperard.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina Plan 2010/2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012, from Reliefweb: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/0D200 DEB32F25B918525766300715168-Full_Report.pdf Levitt, M. (1982). Precast Concrete Materials, Maunfacture, Properites and Usage. Barking, Essex, UK: Applied Science Publishers LTD. Makas, E. G. (2007, Janurary). Representing Competing Identities: Building and Rebuilding in Postwar Mostar. Retrieved Janurary 6, 2012, from

Emily Gunzburger Makas Urban and Architectural History: http://emilymakas.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=5&Item id=29 Monk, D. B. (2002). An Aesthetic Occupation the Immediacy of Architecture and the Palestine Conflcit. Lonodn adn Durham, UK: Duke University Press.

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Mostar City Profile. (2012). Retrieved January 10, 2012, from Conflict in Cities and the Contested State: http://www.conflictincities.org/ O’Dowd, L., & Komarova, M. (2009). Regeneration in a Contested City: A Belfast Case Study. Queens University Belfast, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work.

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ALL IMAGES BY AUTHOR Excluding: Figure 1 - http://barbacoas.org/ Figure 3 - http://sajkaca.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/lesson-2-in-traditionalserbian-rural.html Figure 4 - http://www.emerson.arch.ethz.ch/construction#_hs10

APPENDIX

ACOUSTICS THE GLASS BANK

25db

30db

The shelter offered by the tiled core of the central section is a quieter space than the surrounding areas.

35db

40db

45db

The area at the east point of the building is closest to the large road junction of the Spanish Square so the noise levels are high.

50db

55db Quietest Point: 40db Loudest Point: 60db

60db

65db

ACOUSTIC LEVEL (DECIBEL)

LIGHT THE GLASS BANK As can be seen in the heliodon studies of the atrium space (see next page), the amount of sunlight available is much greater during the winter when the sun angle is lower. However, the hours the space is day lit is substantially reduced.

1

The enclosed area at the top of the building is darker as it is completely blocked off from daylight.

Darkest Point 2

3

4

The enclosed areas at the building始s centre are darker than the surrounding spaces as they are partly blocked off from daylight.

5

The south-east tip of the building recieves the greates amount of light.

The building increases in darkness in the lower floors.

This is due to the increase in surrounding buildings blocking light and the plan becomes deeper on the ground and first floor meaning that light cannot reach the inner most spaces.

6

7 Lightest Point

8

9

10 LIGHT (HUMAN PERCEPTION 1=NOT ABLE TO SEE DUE TO DARK, 5= PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR READING 10= UNABLE TO SEE DUE TO GLARE)

ACOUSTICS THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

25db

30db

35db

The sheltered small rooms by the stair well are well protected from the road noise. The south west corner, surrounded by walls, is also well equipped to block out noise.

40db Loudest Point: 62db

45db

50db The north west corner of the building is the noisiest due to its proximity to the junction of the Spanish Square and the extent of its openness, no walls exist at any point to block the road sounds.

55db

60db

The basement is quiet, its buried position acting to block out sound.

Quietest Point: 45db

65db

ACOUSTIC LEVEL (DECIBEL)

LIGHT THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

1

2

3 The enclosed rooms are the darkest areas of the building (excluding the basement) as only a small window lights them.

4

The southeast corner is obstructed by a wall meaning that it becomes dark despite its position in many places.

5

Lightest Point

6

7 The building is well lit partly due to the state of its ruination allowing light to pass through much of the building unobstructed and also due to its positioning on the corner of a road junction meaning that only the east facade is at all obstructed.

8

Darkest Point

9

The basement is very dark except in the central area where it receives light from the hole in the floor plate where the stairs are and from the small windows on the east facade.

10 LIGHT (HUMAN PERCEPTION 1=NOT ABLE TO SEE DUE TO DARK, 5= PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR READING 10= UNABLE TO SEE DUE TO GLARE)

ACOUSTICS PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

25db

30db

35db

40db

The enclosure provided by the ruined bathrooms blocks out most external noise.

The south west corner suffers the most from external noise due to its proximity to the road.

45db

The east side of the building is very quiet as there are no roads, only a couple of residential buildings and ruins before the river bank.

50db Quietest Point: 29db

Loudest Point: 45db 55db

Enclosed beneath the ground the basement is very quiet, small windows on its upper perimeter allow some sound to entre.

60db

65db

ACOUSTIC LEVEL (DECIBEL)

LIGHT PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

1

2

3

4 The enclosure provided by the ruined bathrooms blocks out most light.

5 Lightest Point

6

Very little natural light can reach the corridor spaces.

7 The rooms on the road side (west facade) are all well day lit.

Darkest Point

8

Enclosed beneath the ground the basement is very dark, small windows on its upper perimeter allow some light to entre on the west side

9

10 LIGHT (HUMAN PERCEPTION 1=NOT ABLE TO SEE DUE TO DARK, 5= PERFECT CONDITIONS FOR READING 10= UNABLE TO SEE DUE TO GLARE)

STRUCTURAL DISSECTION THE GLASS BANK

The oor plates are characterised by their many cracks.

These have been cuased either by (a) impact of shelling or (b) where the concrete has been left exposed to the elements water will have penetrated and caused the steel reinforcement to expand and hence brake the concrete.

Concrete shear walls help to support the rusting structure.

There are no large hole in the oors plates however it is common to ďŹ nd holes that were once used for piping.

The metal that supoorted these holes has since been stolen ad the concrete, left exposed, has suffered form water penetration leading to rusting of the reinforcement and pulverisation of the concrete.

Although most of the concrete columns are not badly damaged, the columns in the atrium space are brick and are falling apart.

STRUCTURAL DISSECTION THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK

The concrete facade is hanging form the side of the building, in the south west corner it is fairly complete but there is little evidence of it in the rest of the building.

The concrete walls that enclose the staircase provide some shear support for the building. However, many of these walls are seriously damaged and on most levels the concrete has revealed the rusting reinforcement.

Many of the columns are disintegrating and revealing their rusting reinforcement.

This particular column is severely damaged, lumps of concrete hang to the twisted and deformed reinforcement.

At the bottom corner of the building this column is supposed to give crucial support to the structure, however, its deformation is so severe that it no longer gives any. The concrete rests on twisted, rusting lump of reinforcement.

A pattern of holes, in the same place on each floor, are being damaged even further as they are close to where pools of water collect.

Many of the masonry partition walls have either fallen into heaps of rubble or have large holes in. Theses no longer provide any shear support due to the impact of shelling.

Significant damage to the first floor plate; a cluster of holes breaking through the concrete floor and much of its reinforcement. This floor is very fragile and largely unusable.

Large holes in the ground floor are filled with rubble and overgrown weeds, these holes are just off of the pavement and so present a serious danger in the everyday life.

STRUCTURAL DISSECTION PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET

The walls are covered in bullet holes, the impact of these has drastically reduced the support provided by the brick partition walls.

The exterior brickwork is disintegrating, revealing its hollow interior, in some places plants have taken root - the growth for these will cause more cracking of the walls and floors.

Evidence of the building suffering form direct impact of shelling. The concrete has been blasted apart and then due to its continued exposure the reinforcement has rusted and expanded damaging the concrete to a further extent.

There is a hole in this floor plate, although not very big it reveals the fragile state of the concrete.

A lightly damaged column props up the cantilevered south side of the building.

The brick partition walls are very badly damaged. Some are piles of rubble on the floor, others are crumbling apart and some (the least damaged) are full of holes. This particular wall is missing altogether.

The steel frame of the former entrance glazing may be acting as a support to the fragile floor resting above it.

PUBLIC USE THE GLASS BANK KEY Social group

couple

Paser by short cut

tourist

Substance Abuse drunk evidence of alcohol use evidence of drug use

Poverty begging evidence of sleeping

Work stealing buildings parts

taxi rank

PUBLIC USE THE OLD PRIVREDNA BANK KEY Social group

couple

Paser by short cut

tourist

Substance Abuse drunk evidence of alcohol use evidence of drug use

Poverty begging evidence of sleeping

Work stealing buildings parts

taxi rank

PUBLIC USE PRIVATE APARTMENT, SANTICA STREET KEY Social group

couple

Paser by short cut

tourist

Substance Abuse drunk evidence of alcohol use evidence of drug use

Poverty begging evidence of sleeping

Work stealing buildings parts

taxi rank