Aiming Towards the Sky: The Vernacular „skyscrapers‟ of the South-West Balkans

This paper brings together an understanding of common types of vernacular architecture in the geographic areas of today‘s Macedonia Kosovo and Greece, by comparing the architectural design, built material, and forms. These lands were once part of the Ottoman Empire‘s Rumelia. The aim is to identify similarities in both urban and rural vernacular dwellings dated from the end of XVIII century onwards in the house‘s vertical distribution of the space. The study report was conducted in the areas dispersed over the furthest West of what was once Ottoman Rumelia. The paper concludes that there is a similarity in the aesthetic, constructive, spatial and typological forms of vernacular architecture, related generally to the geographical area, the topography, the local natural environment, ethnic characteristics and traditional understanding of construction.

The Ottoman Era Town House in Ohrid, Macedonia: An Analysis of Typology and Construction

Different factors conditioned the formation and the development of the Ottoman era towns especially in the Balkans. Pre-existing settlements, prevailing dynastic evolutions and changes as well as terms of their subjugation to new power were just some of these factors. Almost everywhere in their long forming, the urban settlements around the Mediterranean were marked with their multi- ethnic aspects and acted and lived together. The town of Ohrid was part of the vast Ottoman Empire, positioned in the lands of the Ottoman territory of Rumelia for almost five centuries. The town had a long urban history rooted deep down in the ancient times where sometimes the traces of the previous eras were ‘covered’ with the Ottoman presence, evident especially in the domestic and vernacular architecture. This article offers an insight into the Ottoman era patterns appearing in the town of Ohrid as an astonishing example of the Ottoman era vernacular house in the Balkans.

Comparative Analysis between the Istanbul House Plan Types and the Plan Types of the Ottoman House in the Panagia District in Kavala.

This paper presents a view on the development of the Ottoman House floor plans and their characteristics presented through the examples of the houses built in Istanbul, the capital of the Empire, between the 17th and 19th century and their comparative analysis with the Ottoman houses built on the Panagia peninsula in the Ottoman town of Kavala, today’s Greece. The Ottoman House has its specific characteristics and a special place in the universal history of house types. This house, that later came to be referred to as the Turkish house, is a type of house that can be found within the territories of the Old Ottoman Empire, in the territories of Rumelia and Anatolia. The goal of the paper is to conclude that the houses built in Ottoman Kavala, and that still exist in the old district of Panagia, have typical Ottoman floor plans amalgamated with local influences but can still be placed among the several typical architectural types of Ottoman House when analysing their floor plans. By presenting and analysing Kavala’s urban development, morphology and floor plans, conclusions are derived concerning the characteristics, origins, and influences on the development of the Ottoman house outside the capital of the Ottoman Empire.