This study explores the perspectives and practices of architects regarding the reuse of wood in construction across five South–Central European countries: Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Montenegro. Based on a survey of architectural professionals, this research explores their attitudes, challenges, and motivations for using reclaimed wood, with a focus on circular construction principles. Key findings reveal unanimous agreement among respondents that both their profession and government entities inadequately support or promote wood reuse within the context of circular construction. While architects value reclaimed wood, there are country-specific variations. Environmental benefits, unique aesthetics, historical value, and sustainability are cited as primary motivators for reclaimed wood use. Additionally, respondents emphasize the ecological aspect as the most important consideration in wood product reuse, followed by economic and technological factors. Common concerns revolve around the long-term quality and maintenance of wood products. This research provides insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding reclaimed wood use in South–Central Europe, highlighting the need for support mechanisms and increased awareness to advance circular construction practices in the region. These findings can have implications for architects and investors by identifying market opportunities, promoting eco-friendly practices, and providing valuable insights for future building designs with a focus on reclaimed wood elements within circular construction.

Many theoretical and methodological efforts have been made to extend the disciplinary field of architecture and urbanism from the urban in the traditional sense to the larger territorial scales of contemporary urbanisation. This paperdiscusses the ways of studying the dispersed and polymorphic urban form that still needs to be understood. The discourse is developed around the situated learning model adequate for understanding the planetary urbanisation theory and the dispersed city. The learning model is applied inside the Urbanisation in the Western Balkan Countries course at the master's studies in Architecture and Urbanism (University of Banja Luka). The situated learning model engages students in the research of real-life context, culture and situation, and therefore, connects the theories of large-scale urbanisation with the inquiry about familiar space. Furthermore, the learning approach advocates an inquiry-based strategy to learning about urbanisation and a dispersed urban form in theoretical courses. The course employs the techniques typically taught in design studios, such as mapping, collage imagery and three-dimensional modelling. The paper could contribute to the considerations on the education of architects as professionals that will deal with the growing scales of contemporary urbanisation, specifically in the Western Balkan countries..

This study explores the perspectives and practices of architects regarding the reuse of wood in construction across five South-Central European countries: Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Montenegro. Based on a survey of architectural professionals, the research explores their attitudes, challenges, and motivations for using reclaimed wood, with a focus on circular construction principles. Key findings reveal unanimous agreement among re-spondents that both their profession and government entities inadequately support or promote wood reuse within the context of circular construction. While architects value reclaimed wood, there are country-specific variations. Environmental benefits, unique aesthetics, historical value, and sustainability are cited as primary motivators for reclaimed wood use. Additionally, re-spondents emphasize the ecological aspect as the most important consideration in wood product reuse, followed by economic and technological factors. Common concerns revolve around the long-term quality and maintenance of wood products. This research provides insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding reclaimed wood use in South-Central Europe, high-lighting the need for support mechanisms and increased awareness to advance circular construc-tion practices in the region. These findings can have implications for architects and investors by identifying market opportunities, promoting eco-friendly practices, and providing valuable in-sights for future building designs with a focus on reclaimed wood elements within circular con-struction.

The “Boska” Department Store is a large building at the historical core of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Its distinctive volume dominates the main city square, and it serves as one of the city symbols. It was built in 1978 as one of the large...

The concepts of residential space and housing, created by Yugoslav modernist Juraj Neidhardt through the collaboration with architect Dušan Grabrijan, have yet to be investigated systematically, especially from the urban design point of view. As rooted in joint ethnographic research of local Bosnian dwelling culture and vernacular architecture, Neidhardt developed a specific approach to modern neighborhood design compared to the prevalent scientific-planning approach in post-war modernism. From the perspective of urban design, Neidhardt examined the possibilities of conceptualizing more humane dwellings in the context of rapid housing construction in post-war Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, looking through the lens of traditional dwelling culture in which architecture is a mediator between man and landscape. The article will distill, describe, and interpret Neidhardt’s ideas of a modern neighborhood that arise from elaborated descriptions of the Bosnian vernacular architecture articulated in close collaboration with Dušan Grabrijan. Neighborhood concepts have significantly different densities and forms, as designed and redesigned through four decades. Nevertheless, the fundamental design principles common to all neighborhood concepts are recognized, focusing on the dichotomy of architecture and landscape in terms of form and meaning. The research was based on analyzing the author’s books and published texts and designs in several Yugoslavian architectural journals.