Ena Kukić (2025): Memoryscapes of Post-Yugoslavia: Toward a Typology of Monumental Semiosis, 1st reviewer: Andreas Lechner, 2nd reviewer: Vedad Islambegović, 3rd reviewer: Vladimir Kulić
From medieval stećci and Yugoslav-era spomenici to war-scarred urban fragments and contemporary commemorative forms, this dissertation explores the spatial framework of collective memory in the post-Yugoslav region, tracing its typological, geographical, and historical dimensions. By analyzing both intended and unintended sites of memory—those designed for commemoration and those marked by historical trauma or transformation—the work outlines a regional typology of memoryscapes: spatial forms that inscribe memory through material presence, symbolic persistence, and continued reinterpretation.
The research foregrounds unintended monuments as meaningful mnemonic structures, reframing them through a semiotic lens grounded in Charles Sanders Peirce’s theory of signs. In particular, it identifies such spaces as indexical signs—architectural forms that point to histories they were not built to represent, yet continue to carry. Methodologically, the dissertation combines in-situ spatial analysis, historical and archival research, and diagrammatic drawing—especially axonometric analysis—to interpret and compare a myriad of memorial projects across the region, as well as three case studies in detail: the KRAK Center for Contemporary Culture in Bihać, the war-scarred housing blocks of Alipašino Polje in Sarajevo, and the modular K67 kiosk.
By revealing the shared commemorative structures across new national borders and contested identities, the project positions post-Yugoslav memorial architecture as both a product of fragmentation and a continuity of cultural heritage. Ultimately, it argues for a more inclusive understanding of memorial architecture as a key actor in processes of transitional justice and spatial reconciliation, offering models of collective remembering that extend beyond monumentality and resist ethno-national divisions.
