Vijećnica’s history goes way back. It was opened in 1894, in the times when Bosnia-Herzegovina was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, as city hall of Sarajevo. The building in the oriental style was later used as national and university library. In the fateful night of August 26th, 1992, during the Bosnia War it came under fire and was burned to the ground. Over 2 million documents and books went up in flames.
After the end of the war the city wanted to start a new chapter and set out as of 1996 to rebuild the former city hall. The lighting installation and then re-opening was completed in 2014. The reconstruction took great care to work based on the original construction plans and designs. Material was collected throughout the former Austro-Hungarian empire – like the tiles again coming from the same Hungarian porcelain factory. Logically, in this context only one “Design by ORION”-series was eligible: “BUDAPEST”. Exceptional features of the new Vijećnica are several oversize lights from this series and column top lights in the stairwells. The lights from the “Design by ORION: BUDAPEST”-series were selected in finish hand-shaded bronze with satinated glass shades in diamond cut.
ORION proves its mastery as cooperation partner for the re-construction of historic buildings with this project. ORION lights embellish such an ambiance by setting illuminated accents. Projects like these can be carried out within a limited time span and standard models adapted on request.
