Abstract
Modernization tendencies in architecture and street infrastructure were introduced in Kosovo during the Tanzimat Reforms, enforced by the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century. Lack of original archive documentation until now has impeded scientific approach to urban and architectural analysis, for which reason, Kosovo cities often face difficulties in documenting their historical and cultural continuity. In order to fill the gap of knowledge about urban built heritage of 19th century in Kosovo, this paper uses and analyzes original visual archival documents, retrieved by author from the Premiership Ottoman Archives Analyses show that construction of street network and public buildings was realized in line with the needs arising from new administrative division imposed by the Tanzimat Reforms. While street network intended to connect Kosovo settlements, public buildings and especially the government buildings built in Prizren and Prishtina, former centers of Vilayets, intended to introduce new building standards and a new language of architecture. Interrogation of modernization tendencies in architecture and street network in Kosovo during this period is important for establishing a continuity of future planning development, as well as in narrating modernization tendencies that occurred in Kosovo in line with other parts of the Late Ottoman Empire territories in the Balkan
