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<p>The south-facing street wall contains an entry for guests to the site and dwelling. Just within the wall is a recessed opening that gives access to the vestibule and stairway leading to the guest reception room above. The upper space to the left contains the reception room with a recessed hearth that is vented through the exposed chimney. The upper level space on the right, partially covered by the foliage, is a guest sleeping room that was also used as the family winter room.</p>
<p>View from under the roof looking south to the vineyards and farm lands beyond. The braces appear to be carefully mortised into the planking to provide support for the three brackets that support the roof edge beam. The hipped roof does not have conventional collar beams to tie the rafters together so edge beams carry the rafter members and purlins and receive some support from the three interior beams that run between the east and west brackets. The stucture has been designated a historical monument and is no longer used as originally intended.</p>
<p>This wooden plank house of the regional čardak/katnica type is located in the village of Gušče, on the Sava River below the city of Sisak. It is positioned perpendicular to the river, with fields for planting located behind the house.</p><p>The house is entered by the open stair along the side. Living spaces are on the upper floor, with the principal room facing the river. The ground level interior spaces are typically used to house animals, store produce, farm tools and equipment. The elderly woman who owned and maintained this farm reported, in 1988, that the house was over 200 years old. (photo 1988)</p>
<p>A view of the large barn from another angle emphasizes its varied spaces, including projecting porch and upper-level gallery along the end of the main, gabled structure with the pent-hip at the top.</p>
<p>The Oslekova kăšta, constructed in the 1850s, represents the late national revival period of traditional dwelling architecture. Koprivštica had become a wealthy town and a center of resistance to the Ottoman powers. The dwelling was conceived as a symetrically organized composition but Nenčo Oslekov was not able to purchase the property to the right. The grand dwellings of this period replaced the čardak space with a central salon with glazed openings on each level. The building design is attributed to Usta Minčo and murals by Kosta Zograf, both artisans from Samokov.</p>
<p>This late revival dwelling was constructed in the 1850s and has a 'broken' symmetry layout. The center stairway provides entry down into one level or up by a pair of stairs that rise to the central hall (salon). The salon ceiling has a circular design that extends to the side walls. Each of the rooms on the upper level is entered through the salon and is a different size. A window seat and offset door form the far end of the salon. The entry porch is covered by a broad, curved (yoke-shaped) roof, eaves, and fascia that are supported by a pair of thin columns.</p>
<p>The Resulbegović family lived in the ground floor spaces during the winter and the upper level during the milder months. The lower walls are stone covered with a plaster and the upper walls of wooden braced framing filled with lighter soft brick and covered with plaster. The exposed stone extension in the distance was a storeroom that provided a terrace above. The south projecting facade (doksat) of the dwelling faced the Trebišnjica river. The house forms the southern edge of the family (haremluk) courtyard that also contained a konak for guests.</p>
<p>The Jurinac house is part of a zadruga, or small grouping of houses originally formed by related families who farmed collectively. The terms čardak and katnica are used in this lowland region to describe two-story wooden houses with raised living quarters that evolved for protection from seasonal flooding. Often the ground level walls were constructed using dressed logs and the upper level planks. (drawings by authors 1993-94, after plans and sections by D. Salopek, 1978)</p>
<p>An abandoned house with a roof-bound čardak space, with other structures, in this former sheep-herding village. The house upper level is primarily of wooden construction, including vertical plank wall siding, while the buildings beyond are largely of stone.</p>
<p>In the highland villages around Sarajevo a local type of Dinaric house has an attic room set within the steeply pitched roof volume, with a dormer window providing light and views. According to M. Kadić (1967), a specialist on the rural vernacular architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina, these attic spaces were called čardaci (chardaks), and they typically provided sleeping quarters for young couples in an extended household.</p>

J. Brooke Harrington
United States

J. Brooke Harrington is a Professor Emeritus in the Architecture Department of the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia (PA, USA), where he taught from 1983 through 2010; he also taught in the Architecture Department at Drexel University as an adjunct faculty member during a portion of this time. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, he practiced architecture in Philadelphia and Washington DC. In 1979 he received an Accomplished Professional Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.


Source: Bing, Judith, and J. Brooke Harrington. "BVA." Balkan Vernacular Architecture : Authors. Accessed May 22, 2015. http://balkanarchitecture.org/about/introduction.php.

Documents
A Study of Words and Building: The Cardaks of Former Yugoslavia
A Study of Words and Building: The Cardaks of Former Yugoslavia
journal article
BVA-Bibliography.pdf
BVA-Bibliography.pdf
bibliography
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Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive (BHBA)
Albania (Bing and Harrington Balkan Archive)
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J. Brooke Harrington
United States

J. Brooke Harrington is a Professor Emeritus in the Architecture Department of the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia (PA, USA), where he taught from 1983 through 2010; he also taught in the Architecture Department at Drexel University as an adjunct faculty member during a portion of this time. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, he practiced architecture in Philadelphia and Washington DC. In 1979 he received an Accomplished Professional Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.


Source: Bing, Judith, and J. Brooke Harrington. "BVA." Balkan Vernacular Architecture : Authors. Accessed May 22, 2015. http://balkanarchitecture.org/about/introduction.php.

Documents
A Study of Words and Building: The Cardaks of Former Yugoslavia
A Study of Words and Building: The Cardaks of Former Yugoslavia
journal article
BVA-Bibliography.pdf
BVA-Bibliography.pdf
bibliography
Images & Videos
<p>The south-facing street wall contains an entry for guests to the site and dwelling. Just within the wall is a recessed opening that gives access to the vestibule and stairway leading to the guest reception room above. The upper space to the left contains the reception room with a recessed hearth that is vented through the exposed chimney. The upper level space on the right, partially covered by the foliage, is a guest sleeping room that was also used as the family winter room.</p>
Konstancalieva kăšta, view of west elevation from street, Arbanasi, Bulgaria
digital photograph
<p>View from under the roof looking south to the vineyards and farm lands beyond. The braces appear to be carefully mortised into the planking to provide support for the three brackets that support the roof edge beam. The hipped roof does not have conventional collar beams to tie the rafters together so edge beams carry the rafter members and purlins and receive some support from the three interior beams that run between the east and west brackets. The stucture has been designated a historical monument and is no longer used as originally intended.</p>
Atenica, Serbia: Podrum Structure northwest corner view
digital photograph
<p>This wooden plank house of the regional čardak/katnica type is located in the village of Gušče, on the Sava River below the city of Sisak. It is positioned perpendicular to the river, with fields for planting located behind the house.</p><p>The house is entered by the open stair along the side. Living spaces are on the upper floor, with the principal room facing the river. The ground level interior spaces are typically used to house animals, store produce, farm tools and equipment. The elderly woman who owned and maintained this farm reported, in 1988, that the house was over 200 years old. (photo 1988)</p>
200 year old dwelling, Gušče, Croatia
digital photograph
<p>A view of the large barn from another angle emphasizes its varied spaces, including projecting porch and upper-level gallery along the end of the main, gabled structure with the pent-hip at the top.</p>
Barn Structure view from opposite end, Kumrovec, Croatia
digital photograph
<p>The Oslekova kăšta, constructed in the 1850s, represents the late national revival period of traditional dwelling architecture. Koprivštica had become a wealthy town and a center of resistance to the Ottoman powers. The dwelling was conceived as a symetrically organized composition but Nenčo Oslekov was not able to purchase the property to the right. The grand dwellings of this period replaced the čardak space with a central salon with glazed openings on each level. The building design is attributed to Usta Minčo and murals by Kosta Zograf, both artisans from Samokov.</p>
Oslekova kăšta, view from courtyard, Koprivštica, Bulgaria
digital photograph
<p>This late revival dwelling was constructed in the 1850s and has a 'broken' symmetry layout. The center stairway provides entry down into one level or up by a pair of stairs that rise to the central hall (salon). The salon ceiling has a circular design that extends to the side walls. Each of the rooms on the upper level is entered through the salon and is a different size. A window seat and offset door form the far end of the salon. The entry porch is covered by a broad, curved (yoke-shaped) roof, eaves, and fascia that are supported by a pair of thin columns.</p>
Lyutova kăšta, view from courtyard entry, Koprivštica, Bulgaria
digital photograph
<p>The Resulbegović family lived in the ground floor spaces during the winter and the upper level during the milder months. The lower walls are stone covered with a plaster and the upper walls of wooden braced framing filled with lighter soft brick and covered with plaster. The exposed stone extension in the distance was a storeroom that provided a terrace above. The south projecting facade (doksat) of the dwelling faced the Trebišnjica river. The house forms the southern edge of the family (haremluk) courtyard that also contained a konak for guests.</p>
Begova kuća
digital photograph
<p>The Jurinac house is part of a zadruga, or small grouping of houses originally formed by related families who farmed collectively. The terms čardak and katnica are used in this lowland region to describe two-story wooden houses with raised living quarters that evolved for protection from seasonal flooding. Often the ground level walls were constructed using dressed logs and the upper level planks. (drawings by authors 1993-94, after plans and sections by D. Salopek, 1978)</p>
Kuća Jurinac, axonometric & site plan; Brest Pokupski, Croatia
architectural drawing
<p>An abandoned house with a roof-bound čardak space, with other structures, in this former sheep-herding village. The house upper level is primarily of wooden construction, including vertical plank wall siding, while the buildings beyond are largely of stone.</p>
Traditional dwelling and outbuildings, Rakitnica, Bosnia
digital photograph
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