Mothership Vienna

Abstract

This paper completes a series of essays written by former students of the Sarajevo Architectural Faculty—now dispersed globally and informally forming a Bosnian architectural diaspora. Authored by architect couple Dalila and Semir Zubčević, each on their own professional path in Vienna, this essay offers a reflective and personal exploration rooted in place, memory, and history. Vienna holds a unique significance in Sarajevo’s urban narrative, making it a fitting stage for our reflections.

We grew up and were educated in Sarajevo during a time of relative linearity—where history was presented as a singular path and architecture held a respected, almost technocratic role in society. We were not taught to question the world around us. But after relocating to Vienna, just as Austria was stepping into a new European chapter following the fall of the Iron Curtain, we encountered a familiar urban pattern—only on a much grander scale.

Our moment of realization came unexpectedly: seated together in an open-air inn in the Vienna Woods, under plum trees with whitewashed trunks, plastic tablecloths, and an enamel ashtray before us—elements eerily familiar from our Bosnian upbringing. That instant evoked a deeper questioning of our cultural identity and architectural heritage. Were these similarities coincidental, or were they traces of a more intricate, shared history?

This experience compelled us to dig deeper, to reframe our understanding of heritage—not as a linear, isolated narrative, but as a layered and interconnected one.