Adaptation of Public and Private Buildings and Spaces Through Different Historical and Socio-Political Circumstances—Case Study Mostar

As we are fully aware by now, the last two centuries, with rapidly changing demands for new living and working spaces, urban areas, as well as an extent expansion of the built environment, rarely followed basic sustainability goals. Contemporary society is more and more aware of the environmental impact that the expansion of the construction industry introduces. Having that in mind, over the decades, few overlapping theories about what to do with the building after its primary function expires have been developed. They seem to have one common highlight—the need to stop seeing buildings or neighbourhoods as fixed, closed structures, but rather to start thinking about them as adaptive structures, able to respond to every situation during their lifetime, taking into consideration sociological, political, economic, and ecological factors, with a general emphasis on the importance of healthy urban environment. The concept of adaptability and resilience has not been strange to architecture from the beginning of time, different social circumstances, new knowledge, catastrophic events, economic changes, and other factors led to different approaches to how we deal with the built environment. This paper will analyse the historical evolution of an adaptable design with an overlook of public buildings and spaces in the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a case study, discussing its present condition, causes and results of good and bad practices, and possibilities for sustainable future.