ENCOUNTER BETWEEN ALATURKA AND ALAFRANGA WORLDS IN BOSNIAN HOUSES

The arrival of Austro-Hungarian administration brought about great changes in the area of urban planning and architecture in Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to the encounter between two cultural-civilizational circles, which were not necessarily opposed categories but rather supplemented and built upon each other. The process of transformation affected by Central European matrices was multifaceted and stratified, and was reflected in the interior disposition of space and interior design, among other things. The anthropometric module, which used to be the main determinant of traditional building, was replaced by architectural solutions of representative character, buildings which had high ceilings, were monumental though not humane. Interiors began to include interwoven recognizable traditional elements, such as divans, škrabijas (narrow wood-carved cabinets at the ends of divans), peškuns (polygonal wood-carved coffee tables), and wood-carved showcases on the one hand, and stylish lounge and dining room furniture, masonry heaters, pianos and chandeliers characteristic of the European housing culture, on the other. The urban house of Oriental type was transformed in line with the new historical and social context. Each floor became an independent whole. Since large open areas, such as kamerijas (balconies) became luxury, they were closed. One such example is Despića kuća (Despić House) in Sarajevo. The appearance of European bathroom introduced the water supply system in the house, which resulted in the devastation of the wooden structure and endangered physical stability of the building (Hadrović, 1993:42). The essential difference between Oriental conceptions of interior design, of flexible nature, and Central European models is the relationship between the function of space and furniture in it. The connection between the traditional fixed furniture in the Bosnian house and the space defined by it was stronger. Divans can be described as the raised part of the floor, and musandaras as a built-in part of the wall. European organization of the housing culture is characterized by a space defined by suitable furniture, without the possibility for transformation and adjustment to different functions. Differences could also be observed in the height of the horizon line which is a characteristic of Oriental and Central European housing culture. In Oriental conceptions, the line of floor where people sat when dining was the basic determinant, while the Central European concept of organizing the interior space was determined by the height of the table. Processes of Europeanization in the field of residential architecture can be traced through modifications of the existing residential-building units from the Ottoman period in Bosnia and the appearance of new buildings resulting from the activity of educated architects who used the creative approach to link elements of traditional construction with contemporary tendencies. Adjustment of inherited architectural forms of Oriental type to new European standards proceeded gradually, by introducing individual parts of furnishing (mirrors, clocks, chairs) until the entire interior assumed the appearance adjusted to the Central European housing culture.

Svrzina kuća (Svrzo House) is one of the first examples of importing European type of furnishings in the interiors defined by Oriental conceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is surprising to see Venetian mirrors in decorating interior spaces characteristic of the traditional forms of Bosnian and Herzegovinian residential architecture, such as a large divanhana (lobby) in the female ward of a residential unit.

Harmonious permeating of different styles is more evidently expressed in newly built residential complexes. Since residential architecture can also be viewed as a status symbol, stimuli for its modernization are related to respectable and wealthy merchant and banker families, such as the Saloms, Despićs, Cekovićs, Hadžišabanovićs, Husedžinovićs and Bičakčićs.

Despića kuća in Sarajevo was the first example of the symbolic entry of new standards in the housing culture under the influence of Central European cultural circle. The genesis of residential buildings accompanied economic development of the merchant family and its social position. The encounter between Oriental and European styles can be traced through the analysis of interiors organized completely in the spirit of traditional construction (mother's and grandmother's room), through spaces which reveal interweaving of Oriental-Islamic traditions and European standards (kubelija – a room with a dome-like ceiling) and interiors completely arranged in line with contemporary trends, particularly those in Vienna (rooms on the floor, lounge, bedroom and dining room are furnished in the spirit of Central European housing culture with furniture in Biedermeier, neo-Baroque and neo-Renaissance style). A large room which served for living and theatre performances illustrates a gradual process of the Europeanization of the traditional interior by changing the concept of function, as well as the emergence of civil painting (family portraits by painter Frösehl), which were not a feature of the Ottoman period.  

Cekovića kuća (Ceković House) in Sarajevo, with the distinctive architectural composition shaped by connecting different styles is another example of many layers of the building heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Processes of compressing different style and cultural determinants resulted in stratification, and can be observed at several levels in the choice of materials, external architectural manifestation, interior design, art decoration of walls and furnishings.

Near the end of Austro-Hungarian period, in 1913, Josip Vancaš designed the family house of mayor Hamzaga Husedžinović in Banja Luka as a representative example of Bosnian architecture, which was a creative attempt to connect traditional architecture with contemporary context. Influence of the inherited forms of residential architecture can be recognized in the division to male and female wards of the house with separate entry gates, in accepting one-floor solution and use of the prominent eaves, porch, badža (opening for smoke) and wooden verandah, as a reminiscence of kamerija (balcony). Interiors have a visibly decorative and ambiance character marked by linking different styles, such as Biedermeier, Secession, Empire, Louis XV, with Moorish style and elements of traditional interior of the Bosnian house. Since it was a new building with intentionally conceived interiors, the link between traditional and contemporary was more harmoniously achieved. The height of ceilings and the size of rooms in line with standards of the Austro-Hungarian period corresponded to massive furnishings which could not be fitted into the anthropometric space of the traditional residential architecture.

Dvojna kuća Bičakčić-Hadžišabanović (Dual Bičakčić-Hadžišabanović House) is a late example of residential architecture shaped in line with building standards and style determinants of eclecticism of the Austro-Hungarian period, based on the design by Franz Scheidig of 1922. Islamic decorative art in the shape of floral ornaments, wall calligraphy and calligraphic writings on panels (levhas) are harmoniously complemented by the Secession-style biomorphic ornaments of planar character. An extremely interesting detail of interior in the central pantry is a large window frame shaped in the spirit of Loos modernism, which was connected to the door leading to the winter garden.

Having in mind the scope and character of the modalities of the encounter between different cultural codes, which can be traced through transformations of Bosnian and Herzegovinian building heritage, both in exterior forms and in interior design, Oriental traditions should not be viewed as forms captured in the past but rather as a historical base in which we discover many matches with fundamental aesthetic values of the architecture of European modernism, defined by the purity of form and functionality. Therefore, the complex style syntheses of the culture of open character are a comparative advantage in the context of the relationship between periphery and center, since they open space for development processes by subliming differences.

References:

1. Bajić, Svetlana (2003), Darovani predmeti porodice Ceković Zemaljskom muzeju BiH, exhibition catalogue (8.2.2003.–8.5.2003.), Sarajevo: Ethnologic Department of the Nationa Musdeum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2. Besarović, Risto (1974), Iz kulturnog života u Sarajevu pod austrougarskom upravom, Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša.

3. Finci, Jahiel (1962), Razvoj dispozicije i funkcije u stambenoj arhitekturi Sarajeva, Sarajevo: Zavod za stambenu izgradnju NRBiH, Oslobođenje.

4. Grabrijan, Dušan and Neidhardt, Juraj (1957), Arhitektura Bosne i put u suvremeno / Architecture of Bosnia and the way modernity, Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije.

5. Hadrović, Ahmet (1993), Gradska kuća orijentalnog tipa u Bosni i Hercegovini, Sarajevo: Avicena.

6. Husedžinović, Sabira, „Despića kuća-nastanak i razvoj“, in: Despića kuća, (ed.) Sead Trhulj, Sarajevo: Museum of Sarajevo, 2009, pp. 34-38.

7. Husedžinović, Sabira, „Nastanak i razvoj Svrzine kuće“, in: Svrzina kuća, (ed.) Sead Trhulj, Sarajevo: Museum of Sarajevo, 2001, pp. 37- 53.

8. Kurto, Nedžad (1998), Arhitektura Bosne i Hercegovine, razvoj bosanskog stila, Sarajevo: Sarajevo Publishing, Međunarodni centar za mir.

9. Lešić, Josip (1973), Pozorišni život Sarajeva (1878.-1918.), Sarajevo: Svjetlost.

10. Said, Edward W. (1999), Orijentalizam: zapadnjačke predodžbe o Orijentu, Sarajevo: Svjetlost.