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by Vildana Duzel

Vitkovici, Bosnia & Herz.
2020

 

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This thesis seeks to instigate a new curated narrative of revival in Bosnia & Herzegovina, with a specific interest in retelling the story of Vitkovici - an area with overlapping layers of history - with a motivation to disclose the post-war human living in a continuously shifting era,.

'Azot Novo' is a research project, a proposal that seeks to question the status of Bosnia & Herzegovina, its future in the shadows of multiple wars. The proposed architectural intervention should be the supporting structure of the dynamic shifts within people and its surrounding present. 

The factory A3OTAPA is set in Vitkovici, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Vitkovici is versatile in its character, previously the heart and core of the working dynamics in Gorazde district, including Gorazde and Foca (figure 6). The factory Azot was built in 1953 by Germans, seemingly as a "band-aid" to repair the damage left from WWII9. 

The factory was built within a few months, with the Germans leaving it to be finished by the hands of Yugoslavians - workers all eager to start building up a new life after the war. The factories were left to be transformed into what the Yugoslavians at that time found to be a key element in a growing collective economy; specializing in the production of nitrogen-based chemicals. 

The factories opened the doors to new beginnings in 1953, creating new jobs and allowing people from all over Yugoslavia to join the growing factory of Azot. Soon the industrial area in Vitkovici grew in popularity, expanding in size and requiring temporary as well as permanent places for workers to live.

The growing economy resulted in even more job positions in the factories, reaching a total number of approx. 2,500 employees. New residences had to be built to  house the employees and their families which expanded the village and improved the social life.