Arhitektonska djelatnost Ludwiga Hubera u okviru Građevinskog odjeljenja Zemaljske vlade BiH / Architectural Activity of Ludwig Huber within the Construction Department of the Provincial Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Architect Ludwig Huber, like most government officials of the Monarchy, belongs to the group of foreign architects and engineers who arrived to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 19th century, excluding a small number of officials with a high school diploma, among whom the first local names were recorded, especially after the establishment of the Technical School in Sarajevo. Although he did not leave a large number of signed projects, he made a significant contribution to the formation and development of new styles in architecture, especially in the field of residential architecture, through his published works in the journals of the Monarchy and his involvement in the Technical Club in Sarajevo. His body of work has not yet been monographically processed and has only been partially covered within general overviews of 19th and 20th-century architecture. Due to the extensive nature of his entire oeuvre, this study focuses on his independent projects and engagements on public buildings as an official in the Construction Department. During the period of establishing and reorganizing the construction service, the enactment of the first construction regulations and regulations, partial regulatory and cadastral plans, as well as numerous other legally binding documents for all future owners and designers of buildings, the Construction Department of the Provincial Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a significant role between 1878 and 1918. When builders from Croatia, predominantly Czech and Austrian architects, left Bosnia and Herzegovina during the first decade, Huber became an active collaborator in the newly formed Department. The beginning of his work was marked by less significant projects and work tasks, but also by projects influenced strongly by already renowned architects at the head of the Department. Analyzing these works by Huber provides insight into interesting creative considerations, teamwork, and the process of meeting the functional requirements of buildings, previously determined by construction styles established by the Joint Ministry of Finance, as well as the inevitable project revisions by court architects from Vienna. A detailed analysis of the body of public building projects, in comparison to residential architecture projects, reveals the extent to which Huber’s interests and affinities for different styles continuously evolved and adapted. This paper is based on archival and library research, rare periodicals, and both published and unpublished texts.