The environmental values, architectural and urban characteristics of the innermost center of Kolašin are not protected by any regulation, the exception being the building of the Native Museum.
Houses built at the end of the 19th century, mostly in Ulica IV proleterska, so-called Sibirska, are not under the protection of the law.
Nor are the "rhomboid" facades on them protected, which, as the art historian claims Svetlana Dukić, create a coherent artistic whole - the authenticity of the town.
According to the available data, the multicolored facades are from the XNUMXs on the houses Drljevic, Hazelnuts, Trebješanina, built more than 13 decades ago.
While in the General Urban Plan (GUP) from 2004, which has been out of force since 2014, there was a section entitled Preservation of architectural and urban characteristics, Kolašin met the current "investment boom" without a similar document and precise instructions on construction in the center.
That, says Svetlana Dukić for "Vijesti", literally means that an investor who would buy one of the old houses in Sibirska would not have significant restrictions or an obligation to preserve the previous appearance.
"We did not meet the investment boom either normatively or otherwise. If the old houses, characteristic of Kolašin, are not put under protection and some future owner does not commit to how to treat them, then there is a great danger that the value of the inner city core, as a whole, will be damaged, or even disappear. There should be an obligation for investors to maintain the exterior form, which faces the street, during adaptation. We know that some of those oldest houses with a 'rhomboid' facade have been for sale for years. If only one of them were to collapse or be adapted in an irresponsible way, it is no longer an urban unit," she warns.
THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE WAS NOT LISTENING IN 2016.
She reminds that in February 2016, through the proposal of the project "Protection and promotion of artistic values of the urban area of Kolašina", she tried to take the first step in preserving the city core. Unfortunately, as he says, the then Ministry of Culture did not have the ear to support that idea through the "Development of Culture in the North" program.
"The project was rejected. That speaks volumes about the attitude towards cultural heritage, if we know what was financed through that program. The only one who showed an understanding of the importance of the whole story was the then president of the Municipality Željka Vuksanović. My intention was to do research on a very specific 'rhomboid' facade in color, which gives flair and charm to all of Siberia. After that, there should have been an initiative from the municipal level towards the state to adequately protect that part of Kolašin's uniqueness," explains the interviewee.
According to her, facades in Siberia are a rarity in Montenegro. She warns that there is a great danger that they will be destroyed because, as she says, "big money is coming into Kolašin".
At the same time, he explains, there are not enough good mechanisms to oblige investors to preserve everything that is architecturally, urbanistically and artistically worth preserving.
In the description of the project proposal, Dukić wrote at the time that "the urban area of Kolašin captivates with its artistic values, which are the result of decades of efforts by the residents to protect their homes from ice, snow and rain, and at the same time insulate them from the cold."
"Processing the facades with multi-colored properly cut boards, arranged in a diagonal, checkerboard arrangement, processing with wood, plaster and painting with different colors, as a conscious or unconscious need, resulted in the creation of a coherent artistic whole. The topic of the project is the investigation of that whole, its original and found values, the way of processing and condition. Also, establishing a connection between the artistic values of the objects of the urban fabric and the natural environment", wrote Dukić to the Ministry of Culture, which did not consider her project proposal important enough.
From then until today, no one has done anything more important with the same goal, neither at the local nor at the national level.
However, the secretary of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning, Communal Affairs and Traffic Ljiljana Rakočević says that the Municipality recognized the importance of preserving the ambient values of the city center. That is why, he explains to "Vijesti", they sent a proposal to the relevant Ministry to include the Urban Project for the city center in the amendments to the Spatial Urban Plan (SUP), the completion of which has been awaited for a long time.
"We hope that our proposal will be accepted and that the project will be part of the amendments to the DUP. In this way, the colors, materials, type of facade and cooperation for the buildings in the city center would be specified, which would preserve the ambient values, which, of course, I consider very important," she says.
He reminds that the local administration has already officially expressed dissatisfaction with the slowness with which work is being done on the Kolašin PUP and that, he claims, this is holding back many important projects important for the quality of life in that city.
NATIVE MUSEUM TO BE THE INITIATOR
Dukić claims that the city tavern "Planinar" is important in many ways, as well as the building where the Post Office is located. These, he reminds, are buildings built after the Second World War. It is necessary, she says, to encourage the protection of those buildings, specifically built and adapted to the environment, from the local level.
"There is an urgent need for personnel reorganization in the Museum. It is the place from which ideas for the protection and conservation of what deserves such treatment in Kolašin should originate. A team should be formed in the Museum that would be in charge of preserving the urban identity of the city. Unfortunately, the previous inadequate personnel solutions did not have enough capacity for similar work. If it had been done differently, we would not have Barutana in such a state, and the values of the innermost city center would not be in danger".
She warns that the attitude towards Kolašin's urban peculiarities should be significantly different than until now. He also reminds that due to the construction of a condo-hotel across the road from the Memorial House, near the Hotel Bjanka, a number of old houses will be demolished.
"Those houses are a feature of the city. Unfortunately, due to the debatable-looking hotel, they will all be demolished. I am really horrified by that".
The tradition of urbanism and spatial planning in Kolašin has been going on for more than 135 years. For example, according to local chroniclers, Trg Vukman Kruščić has been an urban entity since 1886. That year, as written in the book "Kolašin in the time of the principality and kingdom of Montenegro" Branislav Jeknić, the then Prime Minister of the Government Bozo Petrovic he sent Boško Martinović yes, along with the town captain Mirko Bojić, decorate the main square. He also helped them "Charles the Latin maragun-master, who at that time was engaged in the construction of Barutana, the first state capital investment in Kolašin".
Karol's son, who was a Montenegrin citizen, was in charge of the layout of Trg Borac (Donji trg).
GUP FROM 2004 SPECIFIED THE NORMS
The Kolašin GUP from 18 years ago was made with the help of experts from the Polytechnic Faculty of Turin. In that document, within the framework of special provisions, the way in which the architectural and urban characteristics of the city would be preserved was specified.
Ambient buildings are those which, as written in the GUP, possess the values specified in the Venetian Code from 1964, with regard to the historical value of the environment in which they are located. Aesthetic and compositional elements on the facades are particularly important, writes the GUP, and "the original aesthetic motifs must be restored and preserved".
Precise instructions were also given on the preservation of the unique traditional construction in Kolašin, which apply to new buildings as well as to the reconstruction of existing ones.
It has been worked out in detail, with special provisions, and how the roofs, windows, supporting vertical and horizontal structures, sims... will be adapted.
"Works on restoring or repairing the plaster on the wall must be carried out using local traditional materials and techniques. Lime mortar must be used in all cases of re-plastering. Cladding of the wall of the building is not allowed, except for those related to the original appearance of the building...", among other things, it says in the GUP at the time.
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