Gruia Badescu (Konstanz): »Syncretic place-making: Architects, collective memory and cosmopolitan heritage in Sarajevo and beyond«

This paper examines the relationship between architectural reconfigurations and conflict transformation by examining practices of syncretic place-making, shaped by initiatives and movements from below to
include different voices in the negotiation and representation of the past. I define as syncretic place-making the process of drawing from multiple traditions in a diverse place to create a contemporary architecture celebrating diversity in memory and identity.
It echoes the contemporary anthropological understanding of syncretism by Charles Stewart, referring to mixture and diversity expressed through practices of proximity and convergence. The paper highlights examples from rebuilding Sarajevo after the 1990s wars, while problematizing the possibility of engaging with diversity and multiplicity of voices in architectural post-war reconstruction, as well as general practice. While post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina is usually associated with divisive memory practices and an architecture mobilizing distinctive, competitive identities, this paper highlights a set of alternative practices focusing on cosmopolitan heritage. The practice of architecture offices like Amir Vuk Zec and Studio Non-Stop in Sarajevo bridge place-making with memory-work and aim to bring communities together. Their syncretic place-making reconstruction drawing from century-old diversity and mixture becomes a celebration of urban cosmopolitanism and openness. Nevertheless, it opens other forms of exclusions and conflict, as it also sustains the imaginary of the city under attack from the margins. All in all, this paper highlights both the potential and the challenges of syncretic place-making when dealing with heritages of cosmopolitanism and conflict.