1/ context_civilization Croatian culture is a peripheral one, derived from the centers of ancient civilization like Rome or more recently Venice or Vienna. It's strenght lies in a free combination of these influences toward a new genuine synthesis. The cathedral in Sibenik (Juraj Dalmatinac 1431-1473) is such an example of the peripheral genius. |  |
 | As a perrenial war zone, The Balkans accumulated a critical mass of mixed cultural influences. A number of heterotopias became possible, such as this one noted by the croatian artist Vlado Martek (1995). „Metabalcanico“ was our first monograph (El Croquis #114) that briefly sketched some of these phenomena. |
The ancient emblem of Croats gives a hint for some possible architectures: minimal, structured, flattened, pretty silent, but sometimes (almost) eternal. |  |
