Prioritized Intervention List:

Ÿ         Country:
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ÿ         Name of organization compiling the information:
Commission to Preserve National Monuments

Ÿ         Contact name:
Mirela Mulaluć Handan

Ÿ         email address:
mirela@aneks8ko.com.ba

The monument, sites or ensemble

Ÿ         Name and address of building(s) or site:
Historical building City hall (National Library) in Sarajevo

Ÿ         Inventory reference number(s):
Provisional List of National Monuments No.:510

Ÿ         Building type(s):
Administrative, public, educational - City hall

Ÿ         Main date(s):
Date of construction end of the 19th century

Ÿ         Current use(s):
Currently not in use

Significance:

The Vijećnica or City Hall dates from the end of the 19th century and was erected at the end of Baščaršija on a triangular plot to an 1892 design by architect Alexander Wittek, who also began the building works.  The design was later altered and supplemented by Ćiril Iveković, who took as his inspiration the Mameluk architecture of Cairo.  The City Hall was built in the eclectic pseudo-Moorish expression.  This is characterized by the use of rich ornamentation and decorative sculptural elements on the facades, which are also distinguished by alternate horizontal bands of light and dark tones, suggesting alternating layers of brick and stone, typical of almost all the buildings of that period and manner.  Also typical of the pseudo-Moorish manner is the application of decoration.

The building was formally opened on 20 April 1896 as the City Hall, and from 1910 on it was also the seat of the Bosnian Assembly.  During reconstruction works on the building the foundation stone was discovered with the date inscribed: 1892-1896.  From October 1948 the building was used as the National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, containing about three million titles.

Categories of Significance:

Of outstanding national importance

Categories of ownership or interest:

Of national interest

Documentation and bibliographic references:

Commission to Preserve National Monuments

Condition:

1. Very bad

Amount of war or associated damage:

4. Suffered more then 30% of roof damage, with significant damage of walls, but can be repaired

During the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina the building was shelled and burned out.

Risk:

The building is owned by the City of Sarajevo. The future use of the building is still undecided; the decision has yet to be made whether to use it as the headquarters of the city authority and mayor, or to restore it to its pre-war function of National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Condition risk:

E. Under repair or in fair to good repair but no user identified or under treath of vacancy.

Reconstruction works are proceeding with funding and supervision from several donors, with the European Commission the largest donor.  Work on the roof has been completed and in the interior the stone columns of the forecourt that were damaged by fire have been replaced.

Technical assessment and costing:

Project of urgent sanation and consolidation of object is done as well as works on urgent sanation and consolidation of object.

Project of conservation and restauration needs to be done.

On the National monument following measures and works shall be applied:

Ÿ         shall be structurally repaired and restored to its original appearance with all the structural elements of the building as they were: roof, foundations, walls, ceilings, and all interior and exterior elements;

Ÿ         the structural repairs and restoration shall be carried out by consolidation of existing material or its replacement by material of the same type, same dimensions and form, with the use of the same building techniques wherever possible, on the basis of documentation on its original form;

Ÿ         restore authentic arrangement;

Costing proposals for projects and restauration works have not been done.

Ownership:

Municipality of Sarajevo-Old town and National Library

Occupation:

Not occupied

Management:

The provisions relating to protection and rehabilitation measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02 and 27) shall apply to the National Monument.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be responsible for ensuring and providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary to protect, conserve, display and rehabilitate the National Monument.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be responsible for providing the resources for drawing up and implementing the necessary technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the National Monument.

Summary:

In architectural style and urban significance, the City Hall ranks high among the most important buildings in Sarajevo, and became the city’s signature.  It also had great symbolic value as the national library.

The Regional Plan for BiH to 2000 classified the City hall in Sarajevo as category I – object of national importance. 

The priority level of intervention is HIGH.  

NOTE:

Condition

1. Very bad 

Condition risk

E. Under repair or in fair to good repair but no user identified or under treath of vacancy.

Criteria employed for the Priority Intervention List:

Ÿ         The monuments are designated as national monuments,

Ÿ         They represents rear or unique example of the typology or chronological - stylistic corpus,

Ÿ         They are damaged/destroyed during the 1992-1995 war in BiH or they are endangered by the post war conditions (illegal constructions, lack of funding for restoration and maintenance, inexpert reconstruction,…) and are imposed to further deterioration,

Ÿ         Their restoration will encourage return process in BiH,

Ÿ         Their restoration will support development of the region.