THEORY AND HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND PRESERVATION OF BUILDING HERITAGE

The Department of Theory and History of Architecture and the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage is one of the five organizational units for teaching, scientific research and professional work. From the very beginning in 1965, the teaching process at the Department has been structured within two integral units: the theory and history of architecture and the preservation of the architectural heritage, within the compulsory and elective courses in the First and Second Cycles of Studies. The primary goal and task of the Department is to define and ensure the educational process, which passes the path of building knowledge on the complexity of structural, technological, artistic-style principles of construction to the final creation of awareness of the built space as an intra/intragenerational property that ensures the continuity and preservation of the diversity of cultural identities. In this sense, the Department is occupied with the development, modernization and adaptation of the curriculum to ongoing changes in the doctrine of protection and questioning the process of preserving the value of the built space in the wider context of global urban development problems, demographic and environmental crisis and the cultural identities crisis. Administratively, organizationally and discursively, the Department encourages and directs the teaching staff process of training that runs in parallel and inseparably with the continuous process of modification of the teaching curriculum. The Department of Theory and History of Architecture and Preservation of Architectural Heritage introduces innovative teaching methods by carefully creating a balance with the good practice of previous generations of teachers. On one hand, the continuity of classical education is maintained by introducing students to fundamental knowledge about the history and development of architecture. On the other hand, the Department aims to integrate themes of urban and architectural fabric transformation with an emphasis on principles of preservation and responsible spatial development into its curriculum. Such a holistic approach not only enriches students’ education but also prepares them for an active and responsible role in shaping the future with a particular sensitivity to issues related to the protection of architectural.

In general, innovation within the Department’s compulsory and elective courses in the Second Cycle of Studies is represented by the implementation of a recent global viewpoint change on the traditional (curatorial) connection evaluating (valorisation) the space with the meaning of architectural heritage and consequent methods of action. The emphasis is placed on understanding the space of architectural heritage as a non-static category, subject to constant changes within the wider development process, in which numerous interest groups have a stake. Non-curatorial, non-institutional assessment of values, whose sustainable protection conditions the decision on space management, is the backbone of innovative theoretical teaching with practical assignments set in such a framework. Through workshops, semester assignments of optional and compulsory courses, students try to get involved in cooperation projects with non-experts (representatives of local communities, administrative bodies, private and public owners of goods, etc.) and cultural heritage protection institutions, conceiving answers to the problems of preservation and transfer of values.