The national monument Jajce Barracks, located in Vratnik, Stari Grad Municipality, is dominant in Sarajevo and highly visible. Over time, the building was primarily devastated, and the best-preserved part of the building is the façade mantle. Considering the condition of the building, the neglect of the location, and inadequate project documentation, it was a great challenge to make preparations for the construction of the model.

The MiniMo expert team made a drone survey, a survey of the building on the location as far as the conditions allowed, and the digitalisation of old architectural drawings from 1950. A particular challenge with making digital drawings was the mismatch between the building in the field and the existing old pictures, which mainly referred to the details of the devastation on the facade.

According to the client’s request, we made the model with wooden materials sourced locally, prioritising the facade of the building. Each element of the model we constructed either by machine or by hand, depending on the level of complexity. We used beech plywood for load-bearing surfaces of walls and facade cladding and beech veneer of various thicknesses for facade cladding. In addition, we used Balsa wood for more effortless workability, and we used plastic foil for the glass surfaces. Within the model, we created access stairs with the surrounding terrain. The terrain in front of the site is solid beech wood handmade. Decorative trees in front of the entrance of the building are also handmade and fixed to the ground. The model is centrally illuminated from inside by LED lighting.