Spaces of Accumulation or Temporal time – If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Spaces will tend to sway toward one side of the time spectrum. This tends to be due to the human intervention as it is relative to direct human interaction with the spaces. Accumulative time, generally, is an attempt by the users to hold and attachment themselves to fragments of the past, whilst temporal time is lost, “like tears in the rain”[1]. These spaces usually adapt themselves to human scales and the smaller the scale the faster the flow of time and the less likely for moments to be graspable and have a tendency to progress through unconscious design. Occasionally there are spaces which fall into both categories, such as Baščaršija in Sarajevo, Bosnia (BiH), which demonstrates the unconscious progression and actions that direct and inform human beings about spaces.

Baščaršija is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the histrocial and cultural center of the city, which literally meant ‘capital market[2]. It was built during the 15th century as the main central business district of Sarajevo, due to Sarajevo’s position on the trading routes, colloquially called the Jerusalem of the Balkans[3][4]. Unlike other European cities, specifically ex-Jugoslav cities, where boom can be gradual, Sarajevo goes through large booms of expansion and innovation. First main intervention being the Ottoman recreation of the city and the second being the socialist development of the city during the last century. This difference is heightened when compared to cities such as Belgrade, where the market place has evolved with the city or Dubrovnik, where the market place and city have not changed. This has left Baščaršija seem undeveloped and untouched for centuries compared to the greater Sarajevo. This has caused it to developed its stagnation of time, a little pocket into the old ottoman influence over the Balkans. The spaces longevity has accidently occurred due to the practicality and accessibility of the bazaar and piazza working homogeneously with the citizen’s needs, and the vernacular ideology to build only when necessary. However, Baščaršija has become an integral part of Sarajevan culture and history, and today Baščaršija is pre-emptively maintained for the people as a memory of the past[5]. 

On the other hand, Baščaršija functions as per usual since the day of its realisation. Its function has allowed its longevity, but it also the reason it juxtaposes its spatial understanding of accumulation. The market place does not act in the same late capitalist ideology, where the goods and services sold and presented in Baščaršija’s market space are designed for the people and by the people. Therefore, its function is very temporary, unlikely contemporary shopping spaces where the shops and boutiques maintain a space within the space for a long period and develop a niche accumulated history. The markets will instead, bend and change as regularly as required[6]. This has caused a great deal of loss of original produce and commodities, and much like a fair ground the performance is momentary and fleeting. Particularly in Baščaršija the piazza spaces and bazaar stalls are constantly shaped by the community by changing the space for entertainment and needs to suit the weekly ritual of shopping and perusing the “pijaca”[7].

Consequently, spaces such as Baščaršija, which can apply both ideologies of accumulative and flowing time to their space, will generally be caused by a subconscious human intervention. Baščaršija accumulates the history of a larger space, Sarajevo, contrasts significantly to the wider city, which emphasises its inactivity and development but its reflection of the city’s past. On the other hand, the function has caused the longevity of the space but its function is not conscious nor permanent. Rather it is a build-up of several spaces that appear and then disappear to make room for the next space which perform for the direct needs of the population for a specific moment in time. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Blade runner - the final cut. Directed by Ridley Scott. Performed by Rutger Hauer / Roy Batting. U.S.A, 2007. Film.

"Baščaršija, Stari Grad, Sarajevo." Wikimapia. Accessed September 14, 2017. http://wikimapia.org/1004828/bs/Ba%C5%A1%C4%8Dar%C5%A1ija-Stari-Grad-Sarajevo.

"Baščaršija - Visit Sarajevo." Wayback Machine. Accessed September 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20110114005915/http://www.visitsarajevo.ba/sightseeing/attractions/historical-sarajevo/bascarsija/.

"2007." 2007 | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/projekti-grada/2007-2/.

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"Pijaca." Pijaca - Wiktionary. Accessed September 15, 2017. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pijaca.

"2008." 2008 | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/projekti-grada/2008-2/.

"2007." 2007 | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/projekti-grada/2007-2/.

"2001." 2001 | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/projekti-grada/2001-2/.

"Udruženje Tradicionalni zanatski esnafi: Baščaršija je uz gradonačelnicu Borovac." Udruženje Tradicionalni zanatski esnafi: Baščaršija je uz gradonačelnicu Borovac | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/udruzenje-tradicionalni-zanatski-esnafi-bascarsija-je-uz-gradonacelnicu-borovac/.

"Gradska tržnica zasjala u novom ruhu: Završena obnova fasade." Gradska tržnica zasjala u novom ruhu: Završena obnova fasade | Grad Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://sarajevo.ba/gradska-trznica-zasjala-u-novom-ruhu-zavrsena-obnova-fasade/.

"Baščaršija - Visit Sarajevo." Wayback Machine. Accessed September 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20110114005915/http://www.visitsarajevo.ba/sightseeing/attractions/historical-sarajevo/bascarsija/.

Administrator. "KULTURNO UMETNIŠKO DRUŠTVO SEVDAH LJUBLJANA." Historija Sarajevske Baščaršije. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://kudsevdah-ljubljana.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95%3Ahistorija-sarajevske-baarije&catid=49%3Azanimivosti&Itemid=67.

[1]  Blade runner - the final cut, dir. Ridley , Scott, perf. Rutger Hauer / Roy Batting (U.S.A, 2007), VHS.

[2] "Baščaršija, Stari Grad, Sarajevo," Wikimapia, , accessed September 14, 2017, http://wikimapia.org/1004828/bs/Ba%C5%A1%C4%8Dar%C5%A1ija-Stari-Grad-Sarajevo

[3] http://roker.bloger.index.hr/post/bascarsija/1118045.aspx 

[4]"Baščaršija - Visit Sarajevo," Wayback Machine, , accessed September 15, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20110114005915/http://www.visitsarajevo.ba/sightseeing/attractions/historical-sarajevo/bascarsija/.

[5] "2007," 2007 | Grad Sarajevo, , accessed September 15, 2017, http://sarajevo.ba/projekti-grada/2007-2/.

[6] Visit Sarajevo. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://visitsarajevo.ba/bascarsija/?lang=en.

[7] "Pijaca," Pijaca - Wiktionary, , accessed September 15, 2017, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pijaca.