Self-made men - architects of the self: the new houses and new landscapes of the Western Balkans

As a consequence of economic globalisation, the Western Balkans has been experiencing massive boom in the building of houses. In rural and mountain parts of the former Yugoslavia, in some of the least expected locations, often in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, many imposing houses have been constructed. These are often bigger and more extravagant than their models in western European suburbs and have been built largely on the basis of remittances from migrants in the EU or USA. It is not just “remittance houses” but whole new “remittance landscapes” that have come into being. This article explores the elemental spontaneity of this building boom. Many of the houses concerned have been built without project plans, architects or building permission and the new suburbs are developing without urban planning or infrastructure. I try to show some of the predictable but, above all, unexpected connections and results of the absence of rationalist planning and budgeting, and attempt to identify what is behind this phenomenon.