XVIII, 2017/1

Editorial

Being a guest and being a host are both great privileges, whereas being a host is far more a responsibility than a privilege. This special occasion got me the honour to be the guest editor of this particular issue of respected magazine AR, thanks to Assoc.Prof. Domen Zupancic, a magazine editor. I accepted this gladly, with both responsibility and concern because long time ago, I have learnt that knowledge is the only wealth that increases by sharing with someone.

Therefore, I am thankful not only for achieving and sharing greater knowledge, but also for making more friends and getting to know Slovenia better with them, its vernacular and contemporary architecture. Papers presented are the result of bilateral collaboration of The Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana and Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica. This was established in 2016/2017, and was enabled by Ministries of Education of both Slovenia and Montenegro.

Representatives of The Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana were Prof.Dr. Borut Juvanec and Assoc.Prof. Domen Zupancic in subject collaboration. Podgorica's Faculty participants were Assoc.Prof. Slavica Stamatovic-Vuckovic, Assoc.Prof. Veljko Radulovic as well as myself. Prof.Dr. Borut Juvanec presented lectures for our students in Podgorica, while Ljubljana's students attended three lectures by my respected colleagues Assoc.Prof. Stamatovic-Vuckovic, Assoc.Prof. Radulovic and me. Various activities such as visits, lectures and sojourns in both Slovenia and Montenegro resulted in seven scientific papers published here.

Our beloved guest and host Prof.Dr. Borut Juvanec treated us with a text named Crna Gora and Montenegro. There is nothing extraordinary with the fact that such doyen of vernacular and transhumance architecture is acquainted with pecularities of Montenegro. That paper of his deals with so many subjects thoroughly. He offers us valuable suggestions on how to preserve our remains. The most interesting proposition is creating a digital museum using mobile phones, which would contribute to better knowing of our cultural heritage.

Colleagues from Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica’s works are focused on Montenegro with desire to introduce this magazine's readers with our country. The second reason for observing local topics lies in the fact that we, unfortunately, are not familiar with Slovenia as well as Prof.Dr. Borut Juvanec is with Montenegro. Being aware of that will surely stimulate our academics to, hopefully, pay this debt, at least partially.

Assoc.Prof. Slavica Stamatovic-Vuckovic is actively working on topic Post-industrial Montenegro: Transformation_Porto Montenegro. This example, besides being a good one and practically approved, shows possible experiences in approach to transformation of industrial capacities no longer functioning.

Prof.Dr Sci. Svetislav G. Popovic from our faculty and Assoc.Prof.Sci. Marta Vukotic Lazar (Faculty of Philososphy Pristina with temporarily headquarters in Kososvska Mitrovica, History of Arts Department) handled the topic Creative Opus of Vukota-Tupo Vukotic (Cetinje 1932-Podgorica, 2002) – World of Lone and Authentic Mason. This paper attentively deals with work of Montenegrin architect Vukota-Tupo Vukotic, with a special study of recent post-humanly published book „Tridimensional Morphology of Montenegro“, as a contribution to his complete creative opus.

Teaching assistants at Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica, M.Sci. Ema Alihodzic-Jasarovic, M.Sci. Sanja Paunovic-Zaric and Assoc.Prof. Veljko Radulovic cover reviews of different interpolation methods, by which historical urban context can be acted upon, having the historic context of Podgorica summary in their paper named Historical Urban Context – Interpolation as a Kind of Urban Renewal of Podgorica. This paper summerizes interpolation role from the very basis for the most attractive sorts of urban renewal up to contemporary structures’ „aesthetical veneer“.

Prof.Dr. Goran Radovic, in his work Typology of Traditional Houses in Cetinje from the End of 19th and Beginning of 20th Century, processes data and observes pecularities of developing of this city as its major subject. One of the things that makes Cetinje special, as this paper highlights, is the fact that even in 15th century, this town started developing by following the concept of an open city, with no defensive fortifications. In second half of 19th century, Cetinje has already established itself as an urban city with clear orthogonal urban matrix.

M.Sci. Jelena Bajic-Sestovic, teaching assistant at Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica, prepared paper named Quest for Porto Montenegro's Identity. Selling of Public Space. In it, she deals with another problem of Porto Montenegro from another point of view – she thinks that cities, gradually, lose their distinctive silhouettes as time goes by. In such way, processes of altering urban and cultural identity of the city have started.

My paper, Three Architectural Landmarks of Podgorica, I have dedicated to three distinctive landmarks in urban core of Podgorica. They are Clock Tower (1667) situated in Old Town (originally named Stara Varos), memorial to Duke Mirko Petrovic (1886) in new part of Podgorica, also known as Mirko's Town (Mirkova Varos), and bridge MIllenium (2005) over Moraca river. Reason for perception of this issue is the fact that Podgorica, in its process of urban developing, didn't have much of constructed architectural landmarks, which would be significant parts of urban picture.

Guest editor,
Prof.Dr. Rifat Alihodzic

* This AR issue is a result of bilateral project (ARRS BI-ME/16-17-011).