Development of construction techniques in residential architecture of Belgrade during the 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract

Due to the radical political, economic and social changes of the 19th century Belgrade saw a complete transformation from a ruined Ottoman town into a modern European one. Liberation from Turkish rule and stabilisation of political and economic conditions influenced the population growth and intensified building activity. Like other European capitals, Belgrade was being transformed architecturally and in its urban plan, gradually losing traits of an Oriental town. The adoption of new building techniques in the 19th century was a way for local civil engineering to harmonise with engineering practices of the developed Central European countries which had by then already adopted masonry structure. The article studies the transition in building forms from Oriental ones, largely charatcterised by timber-framed systems, to a brick-based construction system. This paper is part of a wider, more comprehensive research on building techniques in Belgrade’s residential architecture, undertaken to define the typology of construction systems, in order to evaluate the quality of residential comfort in the buildings of Belgrade.