U r b a n r o o m s o f S a r a j e v o : Tr a n s f o r m i n g u r b a n p u b l i c s p a c e s u s i n g i n t e r i o r d e s i g n t o o l s
From Socialist Yugoslav to contemporary Sarajevo
Context: During the last decade of the 20th century, the Cold War ended with the triumph of capitalism over socialism, commemorating the “end of history” (Fukuyama, 1989). After almost half a century, the socialist utopia was replaced by a threeyear dystopia. The 1990s war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was triggered by the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991, and the proclamation of independence by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. More than two decades after its official end in 1995, the consequences of the war are still present in the Bosnian reality, and are manifested in socio-political complexity, economic instability and cultural crisis. Because of this complexity, the contemporary era of Sarajevo’s development is often referred to as transitory. The 1990s post-socialist transition from the single-party system and centrally planned economy to a multi-party democracy and market-based economy affected more than 28 countries. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, unlike in other former Eastern Bloc countries, the transition from socialism to a liberal economy was blocked, and subsequently prolonged (Bolcic, 2003), by the war. The continuing state of transition can thus be described in relation to the previous condition as: 1) a post-conflict society, from a historical perspective; 2) a post-socialist society in political and economic terms; and 3) a postmodern society in philosophical and cultural terms. This transitory condition, or state of inbetweenness, is present in everyday life and can be perceived in quotidian speech. The citizens of Sarajevo often utilise the terms “pre-” and “post-” (pre-war and post-war), and “the now” is often 41
