SARAJEVO | Town Hall Reconstruction

[corvus_edin]

Pictures and news concerning the development of Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[corvus_edin]

National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina - former City Hall

The history

The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NUBBiH) is the national library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the city of Sarajevo.
It was designed in 1891 by the Czech architect Karel Pařík, but criticisms by the minister, Baron Benjamin Kallay, caused him to stop working on the project an the design has been finished by Alexander Wittek in 1892.
It was initially the largest and most representative building of the Austro-Hungarian period in Sarajevo and served as the city hall
The design was subsequently changed and supplemented in the new Moorish style leaning especially to the architecture of Mameluk in Cairo. It officially became the town hall in 1895.


picture early 20th century

Firstly, the City Hall represented the headquarters of the city government and administration of Sarajevo. After World War II until 1949, the City Hall served as the city government, building of District Court of Sarajevo, and headquarter of Bosnian and Herzegovinian assembly. After that, the City Hall becomes the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


in the 60ies

As the National Library it was exposed to large shelling and was heavily damaged in the 1992-95 aggression. On 25th and 26th of August in 1992, the City Hall was burned down, and in this fire a lot of valuable documents was lost, such as: Catalog of National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina, around 80% of the books and documents that were the evidence of history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The inside of the City Hall was almost totally destroyed in the fire which was caused by bombing.




The damages

















This image is one of my favourites. It was taken during the war in 1992 in Sarajevo in the partially destroyed National Library.
The cello player is local musician Vedran Smailović

... and the rebirth (next posting)

[corvus_edin]

Reconstruction of the City Hall occurs in two phases:

Phase I

1996 – 1997 – financed by donations of the Government of Republic of Austria, total 750.000 €. The static stabilization and reconstruction of roof construction was done. Iron construction above the dome was repaired and the new glass cover was built.

[IMG][/IMG]




Phase II

2000 – 2004 financed by donations of European Commission, total 2.250.000 €. Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Canton Sarajevo made a conceptual software solutions of the functional use of the Hall, which would be an expansive view of the total available surface of the object and its use by multiple users.

- Headquarter of the City Government of Sarajevo

- National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina

- Cultural facilities of a public character

- Other facilities (restaurant, heating and acclimatization objects)






inside pictures after phase 1 of reconstruction when the static stabilization and reconstruction of roof construction was done.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr





Faccade workings
















... and the renovation continues


Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic will be held in Sarajevo in 2014

the organization of the Vienna Philharmonic’s concert in Sarajevo, which would be held in 2014 and it would mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I.
”The project that we want to realize is that the concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, which should be held in Sarajevo at a symbolic place, and our proposal is that it is the City Hall.
The concert would be broadcasted by many public broadcasting service for millions of European viewers. The idea of ​​this musical performances and TV productions not only mark a historical tragedy, but also a celebration of the birth of a new Europe and a new century. The musical message of this great and unique European event would positive, because music is a language of peace... ”

[corvus_edin]

...new pics soon

[pindo28]

Fantastic job,Corvus!

Town Hall looks great!

[BiH-x]

Great work Edin This building makes me infinately proud to be Sarajevan

[Hepec]

for effort!

[AnidaK]

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[AdnanPD]

[mirza-sm]

Wonderful!

[CF221]

Very nice. I'm sure both the local and the tourists will cherish this building for a very long time to come.

[AnidaK]

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[ampicilin]

Top!

[Slartibartfas]

Certainly one of the most iconic buildings of Sarajevo. It is great to see it restored again.

This will be a gem for locals and tourists alike indeed.

[corvus_edin]

[ikops]

Good to see so much progress has been made.