Vernacular architecture and its responses to natural factors through architectural patterns are recognized as expressions of bioclimatic principles and national architectural responses to location. The vernacular architectural heritage of architecture is one of the most important factors in preserving and developing the cultural identity of a nation. Through research on the vernacular architecture of the coastal area of Skadar Lake, our goal is to recognize and potentially valorize the local traditional characteristics of authentic houses as ecological building patterns, which also express the fundamentals of sustainability principles. Although examples of vernacular architecture are disappearing due to contemporary globalization, and a mere imitation of motifs from past periods occurs, the historical specifics of architectural expression remain the inspiration and catalyst for future achievements based on the idea of preserving the local and regional recognizability of architecture. This research resulted in a redefinition of vernacular, bioclimatic concepts in a way that preserves construction techniques, which basically have an ecological approach, and, at the same time, provides modern solutions with bioclimatic concepts. The case study conducted on the village of Karuč in the area of Skadar Lake presented in the paper contributes to revealing the potential of bioclimatic principles and the energy rehabilitation of vernacular architecture in order to revitalize it through a new contemporary architectural expression. This study’s contents propose revitalization solutions at two levels of the following: settlement and typical houses. The study also aims to create a model, that is, a modern expression of a characteristic Karuč house, with improved functionality and energy characteristics for national architecture. Identifying all the basic building patterns, including the positioning of buildings, construction, the application of available materials, and the design of buildings, this paper presents conditions for the adequate valorization and preservation of authentic vernacular architecture and creates guidelines for further upgrades and the bioclimatic revitalization of vernacular architecture in a certain location.

Old masonry towers, in all their variety – be it a bell tower, a city tower, clock tower, inhabited residential towers, and/or guard/watchtowers – can be found all around the world representing typical urban centre feature, and in some cases –they are the countryside panorama landmark. Statics analysis and calculation are the first steps towards engineering interventions on cultural and historical heritage buildings. In the structural analysis of clock towers, the typical critical points and places where crucial damages that could lead to the collapse, are expected are in the top sections of the building - where the oscillation amplitude reaches its maximal value. Effect on building structure is observed concerning the oscillation frequency and building’s own frequency and energy, which can explain why minaret towers and high slim towers, in some cases, can better withstand earthquakes than extremely rigid buildings; given that the resonance, low-quality materials and other factors can lead to the vulnerability of a building structure. This type of building is designed on a simple, regular shape ground plan, or, in other words, the towers have a symmetrical ground plan and uniformly distributed mass and height. The second statement provides that, depending on building materials used and the cross-section dimensions, towers can be very heavy, which can cause the appearance of significant inertia forces during earthquake oscillations. If there’s mass eccentricity, the horizontal loads could tip the building over. Gradačac clock tower’s load-bearing structural walls are built with masonry stone blocks. The vertical loads are, via slabs and wooden beams, conducted to the walls and down to the foundations. Foundation structure consists of a slab, 80cm thick, positioned at -8.25m which sits on a well-compacted layer of soil. Wooden staircases are used for vertical transportation between storeys. Structural analysis calculation is based on a 3D model of a building and is performed by using the finite elements method (FEM) in Tower calculation software. The requirements for the authenticity in preservation actions imply that the interpretation and the presentation must correlate with basic authenticity principles, in compliance to Nara document (ICOMOS, 1994), protecting cultural values, from both – the hazardous influences of intrusive infrastructure and load of visitors, and incorrect and inappropriate interpretations.

In the protection of historical heritage evaluating the current state of a facility is a very important phase since it provides for the project framework and the decision-making guidelines, which is all crucial for the final goal – protection of Gradačac Old Town complex. There are several historical layers encompassed by Gradačac Old Town - starting from the medieval fortification system, expanding to the Ottomans’ period where main buildings (a residential tower, a clock tower, and a mosque) were added by the Ottomans, extending and continuing the works on adding a library and a gymnasium in the Austro-Hungarian period. The overall Complex flows with the natural morphology of the terrain; nowadays these green areas are used as the main city park. Complex of Gradačac has two separate fortification zones, the main area of around 33 000 m2, and the accentuated part with the tower, of around 3 000 m2. The fortification (The Old Town) ground plan is approximately a square one, with sides from 180 to 200 m, consisting of the two main parts: The Lower and the Upper City. In the north-west area, there’s the Upper City (fortification inside the fortification, namely Husein-Captain Gradaščević’s Tower). The Old Town is accessed through three gates: The North (the main gate), the South, and the West gate. Upper City with Husein-Captain Gradaščević’s tower is positioned on the topmost point in the north side of the fortification complex. It rests on a terrace which encloses it from the south and the east side. On the north side of the Upper City, there are outer perimeter walls constituent to the whole of the Complex. Architectural heritage preservation and valorisation are increasingly important social and economic issue in many countries. The issues encountered in these undertakings range from defining and choosing required level of safety, via the question of electing methodologies relevant for contracting reliable structural analyses and safety check-ups, up to choosing the design and installation of suitable materials, and the intervention.

The unexpected loss of values, as one result of the total destruction during the armed conflicts and war, put us on the challenge to properly decide about methods of rehabilitation, and integrating and understanding values and actions that could vary from restoration to, in many cases, even full reconstruction. During the 1992-1995 war in BiH, many valuable assets of cultural heritage like national monuments, historical places, and historical structures were damaged and/or destroyed. After the aggression, the first step has been to regain and/or establish the function of the places destroyed, while for the cultural heritage assets these attempts called for the approaches more careful. It is not only that the importance or the significance of places and structures destructed is different, the level of destruction also is. These inputs are essential in having preparedness for any action when without possibilities to rely on unique methodology. Even though it is now 20 years after the conflict, Bosnia is still faced with the post-war recovery efforts, with problems newly occurred that are the outcomes of unsuccessfully implemented methods of rehabilitation. This paper aims to present an overview of the interventions implemented within Bosnia and Herzegovina given in respect to the typology of a building, its importance including intangible values and the level of its destruction. Giving examples of Ferhadija/Ferhat Pasha Mosque in Banja Luka and the Old Bridge in Mostar – the examples of total reconstruction, will guide one to understand aspects of choosing the reconstruction action as the appropriate intervention. There are also valuable examples of post-war recovery and rehabilitation for the historical places, such as is the Old town of Počitelj with its entire valuable structures, where after the urban reconstruction – we now have the new challenge of managing the historic place. The inside view shall be more oriented on the case of the Handanija Mosque in Prusac where correct methodology approach had been applied regarding the diagnostic, identifying and/or determining the nature and causes of damage and deterioration of the facility through the inspection and examination, but some rather improper conclusion and decision have been derived from that investigation works. In addition, some analyses of Index of shifts of minaret have been conducted too. Index of shift represents the relation of minaret height – h and width of its layout (D or 2r) or the diameter of circular cross-section. Analyses of conducted work could provide us with a better understanding of the damaged buildings potential weaknesses and weak spots. Reinforcement and strengthening of damaged construction structure has been among the most important tasks. In some cases, improper interventions on heritage structures may have been damaging - in sense of impairing the authenticity, while sometimes it was an insufficient knowledge on structural behaviour and the materials used in historic structures that brought unexpected additional damages. The use of traditional crafts, techniques, and materials is one of the most important elements in the process of architectural heritage protection, contributing to the adequate protection, restoration, conservation, as well as its maintenance.

The paper deals with selected examples of clock towers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing high masonry heritage buildings made of stone, and explains the approach used in their preservation and restoration. The aim of this paper is to present a specific method of conservation used on stone structures. Three clock towers from Bosnia and Herzegovina were selected as representative examples: Sarajevo Clock Tower from the 16th century is an example of well-preserved building; The Clock Tower in Gradačac, the youngest building of this type in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is in poor structural conditions and in danger of collapsing; The Clock Tower in Banja Luka, the first clock tower in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was demolished in 1993 but the reconstruction project is planned for the current year. This paper addresses the structural properties of masonry clock tower from the Ottoman period, with special attention to preservation, analysis and strengthening. These tasks are still a challenge for masonry practitioners even if significant advances in research have been made in the last decades. The dynamic behavior of the historical buildings is usually analyzed to design repair intervention solutions and retrofitting. The structural behavior is analyzed using FEM modeling to examine how far the structural defects endanger the stability of the tower. The soil properties problem under the tower has been considered. Simplified yet effective procedures have been used as well. Results of the analysis have confirmed insufficient performance of the structure under horizontal action and the need for improvement.

Nowadays, masonry heritage buildings usually experience changes during exploitation. In areas of emphasized seismic risk, in cases of extensions, alterations to the original dimensions, reconstruction (the removal of bearing elements, replacement of materials, introduction of new fittings), or the subsequent erection of properties close by, with a comparison of the foundation levels change of use, refurbishment, extension, or additional building to an existing building. It is necessary to analyze the seismic aspect of such interventions in seismic prone areas. At first, we’ll focus on the legal and technical regulations. For start we’ll look back at UNESCO’s Program on Masonry Heritage, then domestic and regional legal and technical regulations and with all of that we will define the first step of the process. Next step would be a detailed registration of the current condition of the building, and also determining the characteristics of the embedded materials. The load bearing structures of the building must also be accurately identified, with all relevant measurements and, in particular, a description of the building materials and their condition. This includes all detailed maps, plans, and details of the used materials, and especially detailed record of all the damages on the structure. Even at this early stage of investigative works it may prove necessary to secure certain structural elements, or even the entire building, to prevent it from collapsing. As a rule, this requires not only the removal of the outer cladding or even of parts of a wall to determine the depth of cracks but also, if there is any suggestion of subsidence, excavations around the building or to the depth of the foundations. Calculations, based on the planned and current condition of the building, will show whether the strengthening and rehabilitation are needed for the structure. The elements that need reinforcement or conservation can be identified during the initial visit, and provision can immediately be made to take the necessary steps to relieve the load. It is necessary to do all the steps regarding technical regulations, legal regulations, methods of approach, theoretical consideration, methods of calculation, and in the end to determine the needs of that building. Theoretical consideration regarding the determined condition of structure, from all the above aspects, is the next step to be done. This also includes evaluation of the viability of these interventions, based on experience. The most sensitive issue, without doubt, is determining the condition of the foundations. This should be addressed with the utmost care with the general opinion of the building’s stability in mind.

Bridge in Ocrkavlje is a continuation of research and analytical work and process on documenting bridge structures at the Imperial road in Bosnia or džada, transversal already in ancient time, established on the territory of the present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among the sixteen processed, there are three bridge structures that are first time treated in this way in term of protection, and whose documentation did not existed. Researching of the last one of the three bridges, the one in Ocrkavlje, confirmed the hypothesis about the belonging of these structures to the “architecture of purposes", as a version of vernacular architecture, the spontaneous dealing with problems at the level of experiential and intuitive, as in a basic postulate of builders or dunđerski work.

“My ideal, however is not to erase national characteristics in the manner leading towards intellectually uniform humanity. To the contrary, long live the variety of all forms and colors on our dear planet Earth. Beautiful is the existence of many races and peoples, multitude of languages, different mentalities and worldviews. If I feel the hostility and irreconcilable intolerance towards wars, conquering and annexations, it is caused by many reasons but mostly because of the fact that many organic, highly individual and sumptuous achievements of human civilization had been victim of those dark forces. I’m the opponent of “grands simplificateurs” and a fan of quality, original skill and uniqueness”. Herman Hesse, a part of his address while being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946.1 Globalization, traditional values, rural architectural heritage, active protection of rural architectural heritage, integral active space protection, cultural landscape, cultural tourism, typology of rural architecture, methodology for identification and preservation of architectural heritage, identification and preservation of authenticity of rural architectural heritage, cultural landscape, ethno villages, methodology of the protection of integral rural spaces. Researches, which tackle or deeply intrude into tradition and the traditional within architectural heritage, only under superficial assessment, may create conflict with globalization in the widest sense. The changes of the general picture of the world happening on the architectural plan, which will certainly stop to manifest in such intensity in the times to come, are, on one side, the result of “exhibitionism” to which the investors are ready, and the result of the economic momentum that is actually passing by which marked its existence with unique facilities of universal characteristics, with no stylish and traditional characteristics, with extraordinary technological performances.