Introduction of vernacular architecture studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade

Abstract

The paper examines the work of Aleksandar Deroko at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Architecture and the inclusion of his rich personal knowledge about the vernacular architecture in the study programme, which he gained from long-term field research. As an assistant professor, he introduced the interpretation of vernacular architecture in the course on Byzantine and Old Serbian Architecture in 1929. After the study programme reform in 1935, a new course – named Old Serbian Architecture – was established, with one semester dedicated to the medieval monumental architecture and the second to rural and urban houses. In 1945/46 academic year, the course was renamed Vernacular Architecture and it incorporated medieval and vernacular architecture of the former Yugoslavia. Practical assignments dealt more with vernacular architecture and, through them the student’s discovered the fundamental principles and methods of the vernacular construction. The goal of the studies was for students to comprehend and adopt basic traditional canons of construction and apply them to their own projects of cooperative centres, countryside schools, monasteries, etc. Through illustrations the paper will present, till now unpublished, student projects from the archives of Belgrade’s the Faculty of Architecture’s office for the architectural heritage of Serbia.