On Arhitecture, With a Reason

architect Borislav Puljić
project "Aluminij" Gallery, Mostar, BIH
written by Jelica Rašeta Aiello

 

This is a story about a recent architectural realization in the city of Mostar, which could raise many questions concerning post-war construction in this city. What kind of relation does it bear to the famous words of Mies van der Rohe and how can they be interpreted in our present day situation?

 

“Less is more” is a statement made by Mies van der Rohe, whose works explicitly evoked the neo-Thomist formulation that Beauty reflects Truth or makes Truth apparent and that field of architecture is the battleground of the spirit. He demanded of his critics and the users of his works something that seems to us today impossible – complete surrender to the Platonist belief in universal truths, to the belief that all visible phenomena of this world are just symbols of a deeper reality.