Dry-Stone Masonry Recognized by European Commission
The Zagreb-based association ‘4 grada Dragodid’, with its “Dragodid.org – the preservation of dry-stone masonry techniques of the eastern Adriatic” project is among this year’s 27 winners of the Europa Nostra award granted by the European Union for the preservation of cultural heritage.
We already covered another one of their projects on the pogledaj.to website, namely, the summer student workshop held in the village Petrebišća above the small seaside town Mošćenička draga, whose activities also included drywalling, and further information on this group was provided at the seventh PechaKuchaNight Zagreb held at the main railway station.
The ‘Europa Nostra’ awards will be presented on June 10th during a ceremony at the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam in the presence of Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, and Plácido Domingo, the world-renowned tenor and president of the ‘Europa Nostra’ organization.
The ‘4 grada Dragodid’ Association invites you to the opening for their exhibition “Dragodid – A Retrospective of Dry-Stone Masonry Workmanship Projects 2001-2011” set to be held at the exhibition area of the Garbas Palace in Rijeka, on Monday April 4th starting at 6:00 PM.
The opening will at the same time serve as a press conference, where more information in view of the award and the association’s activities will be presented.
Read on to find out more on the 4 grada Dragodid’s project or visit their website:
Dry-stone masonry is an ancient architectural tradition in the Mediterranean, used for mortar-free construction of land fences, agricultural structures and modest houses. It has left an extensive mark as a cultural element of the Croatian coastal landscape. Today, this skill and its techniques are rapidly being lost with the retirement of the last generation of masons which had actively practiced this craft. The ‘4 GRADA DRAGODID’ is based on the recognition that dry-stone masonry techniques are practical, culturally important and sustainable as well as a part of the region’s intangible heritage which is immensely important for future generations: they produce usable and esthetic structures from locally available materials. The project is an attempt at transferring knowledge and skills from the old masters to future generations of enthusiasts and heritage professionals, through setting up workshops, printed manuals and the dragodid.org website – “The dry-stone website.” It aims at reestablishing dry-stone as an efficient, esthetic, humane and sustainable option for the construction of simple buildings and structures in the Mediterranean. Their findings have been gathered in the manual “The Mediterranean Stone House – Construction and Renovation Techniques” which was published by the Institute of Tourism, and new print editions are in the works in the near future. Their publications attempt to be written in a popular and accessible tone while still remaining informative and resourceful thus rendering it useful to experts.
