'Spirited module' of architect Nikola Dobrović: Modular coordination analyses of two houses from Dubrovnik work period

Abstract

The specific intent of this paper is to set up the research of modular coordination in the work of Nikola Dobrović. It is focused on two villas that were built by Dobrović during the prewar period: villa Vesna (1939) and villa Svid (1940), both placed in the region of Dubrovnik. In order to gain a closer insight into the design process of modern architects, these houses are subjected to structural and dimensional analyses. The investigation shows that the classical principles of proportion are not abandoned, as suggested in the later explications of the author, but that they were put in the mode of crisis. This aberration has been interpreted in this work as a distinctive "opening to the future", inherent "will to change".

Tema ovog rada je istraživanje problema modularne koordinacije u radu Nikole Dobrovića. Predmet istraživanja su dve vile koje je Dobrović projektovao i sagradio na području Dubrovnika pred početak Drugog svetskog rata: vila Vesna iz 1939. i vila Svid iz 1940. godine. Kuće su podvrgnute strukturalnoj i dimenzionalnoj analizi u cilju sticanja bližeg uvida u proces projektovanja moderne arhitekture. Istraživanje pokazuje da klasični principi proporcionisanja nisu odbačeni, kako je Dobrović to kasnije pokušao da prikaže u svojim teorijskim radovima, već da su dovedeni u stanje krize. Ovo odstupanje je u tekstu interpretirano kao "otvorenost za buduće" inherentna "spremnost na promenu".