dragodid.org DIRECT ACTION FOR HERITAGE This story begins in the year A summer working camp on the Croatian island of Vis. 400 students of architecture from all over Europe,. This is the workshop in Dragodid village. The guy in the front is Peter from Sweden, Croat Bubalo and Peter again, but from Denmark. They are preparing the pine rafters for the roof of that stone hut.

MINIMAL COMFORT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER 10 students from 7 countries chose 8 days of isolation in a far away village with no electricity and no running water, in order to help old Andrija Suić to build the roof.

JOY IN PHYSICAL ACHIEVEMENT And success! It was an enlightening experience, to build something with your own hands, especially for us, then students, usually spending days and nights at our computers and producing nothing but paper.

ARCHITECTURE AT WORK At the same time, on the other side of island, a similar action, but with different materials. Strategy of direct action can be used on different kinds of built heritage..

… as it ’ s clearly shown by the work of REMPART, the last year EUROPA NOSTRA AWARD winners. Respect!

MOST BASIC & MOST FUN TECHNIQUE OF BUILDING Dry stone turns out to be the most appropriate for educational purposes. It ’ s a wonderful excersise for body and mind, and the success of the action is guaranteed with only one skilled worker on ten volunteers.

HANDS THAT SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE The power of direct volunteer action was demonstrated in the most fascinating way last year in Croatian National park Kornati. More than 3000 firemen participated in building the memorial park for their 12 colleagues who died in fire. When famous Croatian architect Nikola Bašić won the design competition by proposing 12 huge dry stone crosses, some people were sceptical, because no one really knew who will build them. Is there any craftsman still alive? Who will organize this? How much will it cost, who will pay for it?

WORKING TOGETHER … but then, a group of people from Pag island appeared and organized the whole action. First cross was built by 100 volunteers in only 4 hours. Each of other 11 crosses was built in the same way, by a different group of firemen from different town. After 100 years, the landscape was changed again by the sole work of hands.

ARCHITECTURE OF SURVIVAL On eastern Adriatic there are many spectacular examples of dry stone landscapes.

LANDING AREA? Pasture landscapes of Kvarner islands

SHEPHERD ARCHITECTURE OF CROATIAN ISLANDS Krk, Cres, Rab…

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF KILOMETRES OF STONE WALLS …of Pag and Kornati islands…

NO STONE UNTOUCHED!..or these, ones vineyards of Dalmatian islands..

…and for those who are looking for more complex structures…

…there are thousands of corbelled stone shelters, mostly present in southern Istria, in Šibenik area, and on Hvar island… We are talking about millions of tons of stone gathered, carried and layed in walls by bare hands of anonymous builders..

ECONOMY LOST? And in the anonymity of this heritage, lies the problem of preserving it. Responsibility lies between owners of the land, and the many institutions of heritage protection, nature protection and environmental protection. Prominent Croatian ethnologist Jadran Kale argues that the answer lies within agriculture policies because people who own drystone landscape will take care of it only if they have clear cost-benefit frame.

SPIRIT REVIVED But can you rely on “policies” and “politics”? Fortunately, there is a grassroots dry stone boom going on in Croatia, mostly triggered by Dalmatian crosses action. And the most skilled and stabile drywall community is in Istria. A week ago ended the fifth annual campaign of rebuilding kažuni stone shelters, followed by public workshops and lectures. Beside those two, there are several smaller initiatives along the eastern Adriatic coast. All of them see rural heritage as an inspiration for field action, and all of them are gaining more attention these days.

BRIDGE BETWEEN GENERATIONS! In this environment, we are trying to serve as a hub for all those people and initiatives, and to use our academic and urban background to make some unexpected links.

dragodid.org DIRECT ACTION FOR HERITAGE This people are students at our workshop last summer, with their theoretical and practical menthors. We hope that knowledge we collect and share, provides tools and inspiration for some new initiatives to come. Thank you.

Photos: REMPART (5) (7, 14, 17) SUHOZID (6, 18/1) Semra Kikić, radiosarajevo.ba (6/4) Goran Andlar (12), Denis Lešić (11) Google (9, 10, 13) Borut Juvanec (15) Berislav Horvatić (16) Jadran Kale (16/1, 16/3) HRT (18/4) DRAGODID/EASA-Hrvatska