Fifteen years after the 1999 NATO bombings, a number of emblematic buildings in Belgrade still lie in ruins and are at the center of debates surrounding their reconstruction. This article examines the collective memory and narratives of the NATO bombings through a spatial lens, looking at how architectural discourses of reconstruction relate to multiple understandings and narratives of the bombings themselves. It focuses on how architects in Belgrade discuss and envision the reconstruction of buildings such as the Generalštab in relationship to the collective memories of political violence and war. The article explores the continuum between calls for full restoration and memorialization, by discussing how architects relate to the bombing of 1999 on personal and professional levels, and how narratives of the bombing influence architectural visions for the reconstruction itself. All in all, the article argues that architectural reconstruction, collective memory, and national identity shape each other. On the one hand, reconstruction responds to collective memory as architects make sense of the collective memory of war; on the other hand, reconstructed urban space reshapes memory by creating a newcadre matérielfor remembrance.

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A bstract : This article explores how the process of urban reconstruction and the act of dwelling in post-war Sarajevo were connected to the reshaping of post-war identities in BiH, as well as to the (re)creation of a sense of place and a sense of belonging for pre-war residents and new residents alike. Interviews with architects, urban planners and residents from a variety of backgrounds were used to understand city-making and home-making processes. In the first part, the article discusses the framework and process of urban reconstruction in the city of Sarajevo and the city of East Sarajevo, analyzing how nation-building and international capital reshape urban space. In the second part, the article explores how pre-war Sarajevans and displaced people in Sarajevo perceive the city as their home and its spatial and social reconfiguration as part of “home-making” – understood as the process of investing spaces with the meaning of home. The article argues that ambivalence and fluidity reshape the dwelling space defined by post-war settlements and international capital flow with distinctive agendas.