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
INTRODUCTION
In times of constantly changing technological, socio-political and economic paradigms, traditional definitions of public spaces need to be reassessed. This makes addressing the concept of public spaces in the contemporary global context particularly challenging. The complexity increases when the subject of public spaces is explored within the framework of a society in transition, and its multifaceted historical background. This book researches public spaces in the city of Sarajevo, an atypical city that has followed a route of urban development different to those of other cities in the region. The scope of public spaces, the key research subject of this book, encompasses open (and some enclosed) spaces in the public realm, which foster social interaction and gatherings. Regardless of their ownership, the spaces targeted in this study were chosen for their public importance and their relationship with the broader context of the city. Public spaces in the (post-) transitional city of Sarajevo reflect its frequent and turbulent historical and socio-political shifts. The contemporary urban identity of these spaces has ambiguous and transient features, and should therefore be explored from a distinct, contextually sensitive research and design perspective. We recognised the ambiguity/inbetweenness/transiency of Sarajevo’s public spaces as a particularly captivating subject, and considered it in this book from a historical, sociocultural and urban perspective. This theoretical exploration culminates in 9
