Aleksandar Deroko: Between tradition and modernity

Abstract

Although numerous writings by professor Aleksandar Deroko raise essential questions about the nature, the history, and the methodology of architecture, he never provided a systematic theory, and his assertions did not belong to any mainstream architectural discourse. However, his romantic visions of remote, medieval monasteries and their origin on one hand, and on the other, the rational and methodical approach to heritage surveying evident in both his early texts and later architectural textbooks, resulted in some very novel theoretical ideas in architecture of the twentieth century. This paper examines the understanding of the tradition and modernity in the work of professor Deroko, investigates reasons behind his duality, explores the way he synthesised his research work with his pedagogical work, and tries to systematise his theoretical ideas.