2016 On Site Review Report by Hoshiar Nooraddin 4529.KOS Bunateka Libraries Various locations, Kosovo Architect Bujar Nrecaj Architects Client Royal Embassy of Norway in Prishtina Design 2007-2008 Completed 2012 Bunateka Libraries Various locations, Kosovo I. Introduction Bunateka is an ambitious project by architect Bujar Nrecaj from Kosovo. The main aim is to support building up knowledge in rural areas of Kosovo by encouraging schoolchildren to read books in an interesting environment. The project has been built by financial support mainly from the Norwegian Government and partially from the Swiss Government. Bunatekas have been built in eight villages across Kosovo between 2009 and 2012. Seven of these are located in schoolyards while one of them is located in the yard of a municipality. The project is based on using same design and construction at all eight sites in order to make each building a landmark in its particular schoolyard. Each covers an area of 4 metres by 6 metres, built in timber with its four walls in glass and with exterior horizontal louvers as a sustainability solution. The glass gives the building a strong relationship between indoors and outdoors. The furniture is made of wood and is an integrated component in the buildings’ design and function. II. Contextual Information A. Brief historical background Bujar Nrecaj is originally from Kosovo and has a good background in the development challenges facing Kosovo, of which education in rural areas is among the most important. He has developed an architectural concept to build small libraries in village schoolyards in an attempt to encourage reading among the young generation. The architect developed the design in 2006-2007 and secured financial support from the Norwegian Government through the Norwegian Embassy in Pristina in 2009. The first building was completed in the same year and took three months, while the other buildings took only three weeks each. B. Local architectural character, including prevalent forms and materials The local traditional architecture of Kosovo is influenced by the social and cultural needs of the people, the climate and locally available building materials. One of the important traditional styles is the stone house (Kulla) which was mostly built in rural areas, along with the Ottoman-type town house (Cardak) which was mostly built in cities and whose main construction materials are mud brick and wood. The Kulla is based on using local materials such as stone and mud brick and is of one to three floors with small rooms and small windows. It is the traditional house of the Kosovar Albanian family and its design is unique to the region, The local architecture has experienced a large transformation from its traditional patterns, particularly after World War II and the establishment of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1963. The traditional architecture was gradually neglected in favour of functional and social architecture. Some important examples from this period are the Electro Kosova Building and Pristina’s Youth and Sports Centre, built of concrete and steel. These buildings were mostly large structures to symbolise socialism’s ideologies. 1 A third trend in architecture began following independence and can be identified as chaotic, with styles ranging from buildings with contemporary architectural concepts to buildings with contradictory details and concepts. The reason behind this chaos is the lack of any effective city controls and guidelines for construction and building design. Although the situation has begun to improve through better control over the process, the main design and urban design problems still remain and need more effort on the part of the central authority, architects, contractors and clients. C. Climatic conditions Kosovo has a variety of climate systems. It lies in the south part of the median geographical latitudes of the northern hemisphere; it is influenced by both the mild Mediterranean climate and the European continental climate. The average temperature is 20°C in summer and 2°C in winter D. Site and surroundings The project is built in eight different villages across Kosovo. Each site is in a rural area with traditional rural architectural characteristics. The architect has decided to locate each building in the schoolyard in order to create a green environment around the library. The open plan solution gives the indoor reading space a strong visual contact with the green outdoor space. E. Topography Kosovo is surrounded by mountains and its central area is mostly hilly. It has several rivers and lakes. The eight sites are located within this natural topography of the country and are either on the top of mountains, on hills or in valleys. III. Programme A. History of the inception of the project The project had been initiated the architect himself. He is originally from Kosovo and he knows the society and the education problems in the rural areas, where the schools have no access to reading resources or libraries to attract the children and encourage them to read. After several wars which saw much destruction, it was clear that building a society would require building a new, educated generation. Therefore, the architect developed a typical model for a library which can be cheap and easy to construct, and, at the same time, can be an attractive building for children to visit and use. He decided to use same design and construction principles for all sites in order to create a common landmark in the villages. He has received financial support from the Norwegian Embassy in Pristina and partial support from the Swiss Embassy to construct eight examples in different sites as a starting phase. The architect is still trying to get support for new libraries. He has established collaboration with the Department of Education with respect to each town where the Bunateka was built, in order to transfer ownership of the Bunateka to the proper institution. B. How were the architects and specialists chosen? The design project has been proposed and developed by the designer himself and he initiated and developed contacts with funding sources in Kosovo to collect money for building the project. During his efforts he gained a positive response from the Norwegian Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo , to build the Bunateka in eight 2 villages. He also received partial funding from the Swiss embassy in Pristina. The architect had hoped to build more than these eight examples since the need is much larger in rural areas than these eight can satisfy. C. General programme objectives The project is attempting to establish a new understanding in education for rural societies which find it difficult to provide proper and updated knowledge to primary schools students. This serious problem is among those that face these societies and that can impact on the next generation’s future life conditions and the society’s development in general. The architect of this project is originally from Kosovo but had lived in Switzerland since he was twelve years old. This background has provided him with a strong understanding of knowledge’s role in a developing society. His background has also provided him with a real perspective of the differences between learning in a developed and stable society such as Switzerland and one such as Kosovo. The declaration of Kosovo as an independent state after a long conflict with Serbia encouraged him to develop this idea to transfer his understanding to develop rural education in Kosovo as an important step to build up the young generation in the country. There are about 950 schools in the rural areas and the architect learned through a survey he conduced that none of these schools have libraries. Therefore he developed the idea and its programme in order to deal with this shortage by applying a new pattern for local rural libraries. The new programme is attempting to achieve many important targets. Among these targets are: • Create a knowledge source for the students in rural areas. • Encourage rural students to learn through reading books. • Provide the schools with an attractive building typology. • Make the building and its function a landmark in the rural areas. • Contribute to the general development of the society by improving the knowledge among the young generation. • Encourage the social interaction of the young generation in a multi ethnic society. The architect’s own brief about the project’s roots describes how he grew up, living, and being educated in Switzerland, and realising that there are many blessings that he took for granted, especially when it came to education. For people living in rural areas in Kosovo, access to educational materials and opportunities is highly restricted and unavailable to many. Until the age of twelve he lived in Kosovo, where he attended the primary school in the village of Llutogllavë. During his early years as a schoolchild, the school he attended neither provided them with books nor had a library. Nearly seventeen years later, when he returned to Lutogllavë, nothing had changed; there was no library and there were no books. This fact made him think about the many young generations that had attended this ill-equipped school. He began thinking about innovative ideas on how to introduce them to the world of reading. This lack of reading opportunities gave him the opportunity to seek out a new concept of school libraries. That`s how he came to the idea of removing the library room from the school building and place it in the schoolyard instead, so that the kids can find a less complicated, relaxed access to books. The architect has started building Bunatekas in remote areas of Kosovo, because it is exactly in these rural areas where the access to knowledge is most limited.