Portraits of Architects, from Texts by Andrija Mutnjaković (Portreti arhitekata, iz zapisa Andrije Mutnjakovića)

The monograph is a product of the collaboration between the author of the concept and the author of selected texts, which are a result of Andrija Mutnjaković’s yearlong theoretical and research activity. The book in a certain way synthetizes and comprises his complete tribute to shaping critical biographies and forming a personal understanding of the importance of the leading personalities in Croatian architecture. Same as all other great national syntheses in a certain field, the book offers many new scientific insights, added by the author’s novel systematization of previously published texts and pieces of information, which have gained final critical confirmation and verification. This excellent theoretical scientific work with a potent cultural underlying concept tackles valuable factography from the Renaissance until today, unknown or unrecognized so far, and offers the author’s distinctive interpretation thereof - reflexive and intuitive on occasion, but also inspirational and directing for future researchers. The interpretation style he uses, present not only in this but also in many other earlier monographs, has positioned him as a classic figure of our architectural thought. The original concept of this monograph, authored by Borka Bobovec, is an exceptionally valuable and rather innovative professional and scholarly tribute to the insight that the written medium may contribute to the development of both spatial awareness and culture. In the Croatian context, this bears special and specific weight.