Modern Serbian Architecture

By Ivica Mladjenovic
It is known that architectural images are first defined through urban planning. Prince Mihajlo
Street in Belgrade with its neighbouring blocks has been a subject of architects' interest for
almost three centuries.
It is known that architectural images are first defined through urban planning. Prince Mihajlo
Street in Belgrade with its neighbouring blocks has been a subject of architects' interest for
almost three centuries. During the Baroque urban renewal of Belgrade, between 1718 and 1739,
the present main street of Prince Mihajlo was set up by the Austrians as a monumental
architectonic border between German and Serbian towns. In the very proximity of this street,
parallel to the watershed, they established the Great Square. On two facing sides of the square
they constructed two representative buildings, Alexander's and Mauer's barracks. However, this
square did not preserve its function for long. With the return of Turks in the second half of the
eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century, the Great Square was reduced to
the Little Market.

The orthogonal block scheme found itself in the clutches of an uncontrolled building of town
sections. The third urban reconstruction of the most significant part of Belgrade, from 1867 to
1887, which was carried out according to the ideas of Emilijan Joksimovic, the first Serbian
town-planner, finally strengthened the domination of symmetrical blocks, in the European way.
Along with the Great Square, or Little Market, or King's Square, or Student's Square today,
Prince Mihajlo Street, backed up against the Belgrade fortress, has been the dominant motif in
the vista of the macro-environment of all of Belgrade.

The Quarters of Princess Ljubica in Belgrade, second half of the nineteenth century.

Belgrade was not the only town to undergo the urban transformations. Many towns of modern-
day Serbia have changed their urban appearance. For example, before being proclaimed the
capital of Serbian Prince Lazar, Krusevac was not of any greater significance in the medieval
Serbian state.

Up to the final liberation from Turks in 1833, Turkish, Austro-Hungarian and Serbian armies
came into Krusevac one after the other. All those armies, according to their states, defined towns
and villages with urbanistic and architectonic images and buildings, as contributions to their
own history. In the second half of the nineteenth century, court palaces, district offices, town
administration buildings, barracks, hospitals and schools were the expression of a period of new
openness toward the world. At the turn of the century, Banja Koviljaca near Sabac, Vrnjacka
Banja near Krusevac and many spas near larger towns in Serbia, flourished in fashionable
architecture.
The High School in Kragujevac, 1887, author unknown.

In 1968, the citizens of Belgrade celebrated the centennial of their first urban plan. The
commemoration of the work of Emilijan Joksimivic was carried out in the context of
preparations of a new urban plan. The distinguished writer Alberto Moravia arrived in Belgrade
that year. At the end of his visit he stated: "Belgrade is a rare city, there are not many such cities
in the world. At one moment, observing the silhouette of the city by the Danube it occurred to me
that I was somewhere near Vienna. In the next instant, I had the impression of being in some
other European city, Paris or maybe Brussels. Belgrade is unique, not only because of its ideal
site on two rivers, but also because it represents a synthesis of several metropolises."

Belgrade has always been the main crossroad between European East and West, South and
North, hence the influences that have probably been more noticeable in architecture than in
science, technology, education, art, economy or sports. Visitors to Belgrade, like Moravia, have
felt that this open city has something of almost every European metropolis in its architectonic
heritage. It could be no other way!

Belimarkovic's Mansion, today The Palace of Culture, in Vrnjacka Banja.

Emilijan Joksimovic, a native of Banat, born in 1823, completed his higher education in Vienna,
and as a geodesist and town-planner, he built his knowledge and skills into the urban plan of
Belgrade. Aleksandar Bugarski (1835) graduated in Budapest: besides the National Theatre and
the Old Court, he constructed many other prominent buildings in Belgrade. The building of the
National Theatre was constructed in the Renaissance style and its rich spacial dramatics are
defined by its triangular tympanums.

Svetozar Ivackovic (1844), who finished his studies in Vienna and created the building of the
Ministry of Justice at Terazije, epitomized the first epoch of Belgrade's representative
architecture. He designed the Church of the Transfiguration in Pancevo in 1847. The
architecture of this church has more characteristics of neo-Romantic historicism than of the
Serbian-Byzantine style. Konstantin Jovanovic, the oldest son of the famous Serbian
lithographer Anastas Jovanovic, born (1849) and educated in Vienna, built his first project in
Belgrade - the monumental building of the National Bank, with reminiscences of the Italian
Renaissance. Vladimir Nikolic from Senta (1858), educated in Vienna, continued his brilliant
career in Belgrade, Sremski Karlovci (the Patriarch's Palace and the Theological Seminary) and
Novi Sad (the Bishop's Palace). The architecture of the Patriarch's Palace (1892) belongs to the
neo-Renaissance, although the author found his inspiration on the boundaries of the
Renaissance, and among the Romantic and Byzantine symbols. After constructing the Bishop's
Palace according to the principles of Hansen (1901), he remained faithful to the spirit of neo-
Romanticism. A court architect, Jovan Ilkic, also born in 1857 in Belgrade, (the Hotel "Moscow")
was an impressive architect, loyal to the principles of Academism, the Byzantine tradition and
the Secession.

The National Theatre in Belgrade, built in 1868, a project by Aleksandar Bugarski.

Milan Kapetanovic and Andra Stevanovic, citizens of Belgrade, were both born in 1859 and
studied in Munich and Berlin, constructed public buildings and villas of a completely unique style
in Belgrade. Together with Nikola Nestorovic, A. Stevanovic constructed two buildings: the
Belgrade Cooperative and the Fund Administration, which is nowadays the National Museum,
and together with Dragutin Djordjevic, the building of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Belgrade Cooperative (1905) was created under the influence of the Paris Exhibition (1900)
and Decorativism. Dimitrije T. Leko, born in 1863, educated in Zurich, Aachen and Munich, died
at the age of 51, but he left behind the representative building of the New Military Academy in
Belgrade, along with many other structures and villas. Milorad Ruvidic was born in the same
year, an architect who got his diploma in Berlin and later showed its value through his
architectonic work all over Serbia - in Sabac, Belgrade, Nis and Pirot. Dragutin Djordjevic (1866)
graduated in Karlsruhe in 1893, and in Belgrade he followed both the trends of the eclectics who
were devoted to the Renaissance, and of those who rejected the restraints of Academism. After
completing his studies in Zurich, Milan Antonovic (1868) showed his abilities in Belgrade as an
eclectic, but also as a devotee of Secessionism and classic Academism. M. Antonovic's
contemporary, Nikola Nestorovic, had two degrees, from Belgrade and Berlin: in Belgrade and in
some ten cities in Serbia he constructed mansions with specific architectural expressiveness.

The Patriarch's Palace in Sremski Karlovci, 1892, the work of Vladimir Nikolic.
Danilo Vladisavljevic (1871) arrived in Belgrade with a degree from Aachen, and about ten years
later he erected the Military Hospital Complex in Belgrade. Viktor Azriel (1875), born in a
wealthy Jewish family in Belgrade, came from Vienna to Belgrade with a degree in civil
engineering. In a fascinating way, he applied wrought iron in the Secessionist style to the facade
of Buli's Department Store in 1907, recalling the beauty of Art Nouveau. Petar Bajalovic (1876)
was a violinist and photographer by avocation; as an architect in Belgrade, he remained loyal to
the principles of Eclectic-Renaissance-Secession architecture. He built the Serbian pavilion for
the International Exhibition of Liberal Arts in Rome in 1912.

The Raichle Palace, today the City Museum in Subotica, 1904, the work of Ferencz Raichle.

Branko Tanazevic was a native of Banat, born in 1876; he graduated in Munich and in a certain
way he turned a new page in Belgrade and Serbian architecture with several monumental
buildings (the Telephone Exchange, 1908 and the Ministry of Education, 1912). Jelisaveta Nacic
(1878) from Belgrade was the first woman who had a degree in architecture, which she acquired
at the Technical Faculty in Belgrade. She established the value of proportion in the framework of
updated Renaissance in constructing the elementary school by the Cathedral. Milutin
Borisavljevic (1888) from Kragujevac was educated in Belgrade, won his doctoral degree at
Sorbonne, and worked first in Belgrade and later in Paris, becoming a world-famous architect
and aesthetic. Momir Korunovic, five years older than Borisavljevic, after completing his studies
in Belgrade in 1906 he continued his advanced studies in Prague, Rome and Paris, and entered
the history of Serbian architecture by building the Post-Office and Telegraph Administration in
1930. It is claimed by critics that the building is in the "Serbian style". A year older that
Korunovic, Svetozar Jovanovic had two degrees, from Belgrade and Berlin, just like N.
Nestorovic. In his project for the Officer's Cooperative of 1908, he followed contemporary
European practice.

The City Hall in Krusevac, 1905, author unknown

The Ministry of Cons truction in Serbia paid great attention to talented high school students who
wanted to devote their lives to architecture. Young people were given scholarships, attending
elite European schools and returning to Belgrade as architects with high grades from their
studies. Without any experience, they took upon themselves the most difficult construction
tasks. Their architecture radiated with freshness, distinction, mastery of skills and had a strong
historical vigour. Essential organizational changes were conducted in the Ministry of
Construction, under the guidance of Jevrem Gudovic, a civil engineer. The architectural section
became autonomous. However, this did not mean that better conditions were created for Serbian
architects. Almost all of them still lived and worked during a troubled time in the Balkans. Nor
did the architects whose creative work epitomized Serbian architecture between 1910 and 1940
have a brighter destiny. These generations studied at the Technical Faculty in Belgrade, which
had had a Department of Architecture since 1897. On account of their wealthy parents, some
architects still managed to sojourn for short periods in Paris, Vienna and Berlin. The Belgrade
school of architecture entered its experimental period and earlier architects took over faculty
chairs, introducing the spirit of the modern era in teaching.

The hotel "Moscow" in Belgrade, 1907, the work of Jovan Ilkic

Milica Krstic (1887) built two high-schools (1931, 1936) and the Gendarmerie Centre (1929) in
Belgrade. Her contemporary Dragisa Brasovan, who completed his studies in Budapest in 1912,
epitomized Serbian and Yugoslav architecture for half a century in Belgrade (the Provinincial
Administration building in Novi Sad, the State Printing House in Belgrade, the Cable Industry in
Jagodina). The Belgrade Modern style is best seen in the building of the State Printing House.
Aleksandar Djordjevic, who was born in 1890 in Belgrade and studied in Karlsruhe and Paris,
renovated a castle in Slovenia and incorporated the spirit of French architecture into all of his
creative work in Belgrade. Aleksandar Deroko, born in 1894 in Belgrade, was a symbol of
authenticity in architecture and around it for more than sixty years. Djordje Tabakovic, born in
1897 in a Serbian family in Arad, was educated in Budapest, Belgrade and Paris; he made an
outstanding career for himself in Novi Sad (the Tanuri Palace of 1934) and Karlowitz. His
contemporary Nikola Dobrovic (1897), from a Serbian family in P cs,graduated in Prague,
proved his skills mostly in Belgrade (the Ministry of Defense building). This building was almost
shocking to the public and provoked controversy in 1963, during the period of sterile
construction.

The Belgrade Cooperative in Karadjordje's Street, 1905, the work of N. Nestorovic and A.
Stevanovic
Milan Zlokovic, was born in 1898 into a Serbian family in Trieste; he studied in Graz, Belgrade
and Paris, and epitomised two epochs of architecture in Belgrade, before and after World War
Two (the Children's Hospital, 1940). Branislav Kojic (1899), who graduated in Paris, is one of
the founders of Group of Architects of Modern Trends, whose activity between 1928 and 1938
deeply influenced the first post- war generations. The brothers Petar Krstic (1899) and Branko
Krstic (1902) from Belgrade introduced the spirit of fine art into architecture, as its essential
expression, with the Church of Saint Mark and the "Igumanov" building in the centre of Belgrade.
Miladin Prljevic (1900) and B. Bono constructed the first business tower in Belgrade, the
"Albania" building. Bogdan Nestorovic, born in 1901 in Belgrade, who made projects for the
branch-offices of the National Bank all over Yugoslavia, built in a way which showed a profound
understanding of architecture (the PRIZAD/TANJUG building, 1937). Mate Bajlon (1903), who
spent a great part of his life as a professor in Belgrade, constructed schools in Trsic and Valjevo.
In the period between 1932 and 1953, Branislav Marinkovic (1904) was engaged in various
architectonic disciplines, promoting purity and clarity. Grigorije Samojlov, born the same year,
graduated in Belgrade in 1930, was a successful designer on the Belgrade architectural scene for
more than fifty years. With Momcilo Belobrk (1905), whose voluminous creative opus is
impressive, the epoch of the rule of modern trend architects came to an end.

The Telephone Exchange in Belgrade, in Kosovo Street, 1908, the work of Branko Tanazovic

Sacral monuments, the Orthodox churches from the last century and this one are presented here
only in order to emphasize that the Serbian- Byzantine tradition was preserved throughout the
centuries without any significant external influence. The Cathedral in Mostar, built in 1873 on
the foundations of an older church, the biggest and the most beautiful one in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, demolished in the current brutal war, was the work of Andrej Damjanov. The
author of this project (who constructed churches in Smederevo, Nis and Sarajevo before that)
revived the distinctive traits of the old architecture in a Romantic way. The fact that the
construction of this great and representative Orthodox church, on the most beautiful site in
Mostar, was approved by the sultan Abdul Aziz who also donated a large sum of money to it
(100,000 silver coins), may seem bizarre, but it is worthy of mention in these turbulent times.
The Church of the Transfiguration in Pancevo was created by Svetozar Ivackovic in 1874.
Offering his project to the citizens of Pancevo, the architect emphasized that he was inspired by
the Serbian-Byzantine style. However, it is obvious that the national valorization of neo-
Romantic historicism is in question. The wall paintings in this church were done by Stevan
Aleksic, and the iconostasis was painted by Uros Predic. The Cathedral in Belgrade of 1841 was
built, better to say restored, on the old foundations at the behest of prince Milos. In 1836 Franz
Janke started to work on its plan and construction. Facades in the Classicist style and a Baroque
bell-tower became models for the architects of numerous churches in Serbia. The Church of Saint
Mark is the work of Petar and Branko Krstic. It was built in 1836, under the influence of several
historical styles. The Church of Saint Sava, designed by Bogdan Nestorovic and Aleksandar
Deroko in 1929, was constructionally and technologically introduced into the new age by the
head architect Branko Pesic. The Serbian Orthodox churches in Sremska Kamenica (1785),
Sremski Karlovci (1762), Becej (1853), Smederevo (1855), Sarajevo (1869), Nis (1872),
Kragujevac (1880), Oplenac (1912), and Belgrade are architectonically similar to many others
in Serbia, in former Yugoslavia and abroad.

The Post Office and Telegraph Administration in Belgrade, Palmoticeva Street, 1930, the work of
Momir Korunovic

Since the middle of the last century, more than fifty foreign architects have also worked in
Belgrade. Most of them acclimatized and felt at home in Serbia. Among them are J. Nevole, E.
Steinlechner, N. Krasnov, S. Titelbach, V. Baumgarten, J. Dubovy, F. Cordon, J. Kasan, and
Franz Janke. The architect Jovan Frencl stayed in Belgrade for almost seven years, and he did
projects for the Clinical Eye Hospital in 1855.

The business building of "Energoprojekt" in Belgrade, 1982, the work of Aleksandar Kekovic

Some thirty Serbian architects have been mentioned so far. About twenty more, who epitomized
the last fifty years of Serbian architecture, will be mentioned later. The architectural
frameworks are defined by names, and without them the discussion of the influence of
Classicism, the Renaissance, Romanticism, Eclecticism, Academism, the Secession or Modernism
would be pointless.

The building of the Federal Ministry of Defense in Belgrade, 1963, the work of Nikola Dobrovic
The trends in European architecture between 1835 and 1847 are strongly reflected in Belgrade's
architecture. The tardy appearance of Classicism, offering the unity of sense, beauty and
morality, and the even later appearance of Baroque, offering decorativeness, picturesqueness,
drama and Christian mysticism, were both domesticated in Belgrade in a special way.
Romanticism, angry at Classicism and devoted to sensitivity, imagination and distant ideals,
supported by Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance principles, became anchored in Belgrade's
architecture between 1847 and 1880. Through Ecleticism, containing Renaissance and Baroque
logic, the European academic formulas from the end of the last century maintained their ground
in Belgrade's milieu for almost thirty years. The beginning of this century was characterized by
the Austrian Secession which gradually came to rely on native Serbian, traditional roots.
Academic architecture subsisted until the entrance of the International Modern and Corbusier's
ideas.

The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, in construction from 1929,

A group of architects of Modernism declared that they would follow the internationally defined
ideology of modern architecture. In the periodical "Architecture", edited from 1931 to the middle
of 1934 by Dragotin, alias Dragutin Fatur, a Slovenian, with an editorial board from Belgrade,
Zagreb and Ljubljana, the Belgrade modernists Kojic, Maksimovic, Zlokovic, Belobrk and,
especially, Dobrovic were highly publicized. In his text "In the Defense of Modern Architecture",
Nikola Dobrovic wrote "Styles like the Secession, Jugendstil or Cubism were just well-meant
reactions to Eclecticism, but they had no right to survive, they burdened architecture with
formalism. In the development of modern architecture they are only episodes and transitory
delusions. Those styles did not face the essential problems of constructing, they were mostly
occupied with facades." Dobrovic supported the opinion that architecture is obligated to meet the
needs of the state, society and individuals, and that it must impose usefulness and rationality on
new materials and constructions. The l'art pour l'art principle is, according to Dobrovic,
antisocial. However, the architects who mastered the road from Eclecticism and Academism to
Classicism did not share this opinion. Nor had their predecessors who travelled the road from
Renaissance and Baroque to Classicism, and who actually defined even decoration in the
Secession! In fact, one could say that the overly earnest adherents of the first, second or the
third movement were just a part of a history which suited the needs of the civilisational
development at given times. The Belgrade painter Bosa Kicevac wrote, in 1982, "I fell in love
with the craziest piece of work of human imagination, the Moscow Church of Saint Basil the
Blessed. It is probably so because there is nothing economical, rational, logical or functional in it -
as opposed to what we expect from good architecture -and yet it is so humanly warm and close to
the complicated human soul". Among the enchanted authors of Corbusier's epoch and the
visionaries who epitomized the secular architecture of the nineteenth century and the beginning
of this century in Serbia, the writer of these lines would find only those who could touch the most
delicate senses in the human being.
The residential-business tower "Western Gate" in Belgrade, 1980, the work of Mihajlo Mitrovic

The Serbian architects on the list that follows have been prominent participants in the modern
architecture of the world, Yugoslavia, Serbia and Belgrade from 1945 to this day. Belgrade's
architects have planned and constructed several hundred buildings in some thirty countries. Not
even the approximate number of projects built in former Yugoslavia is known, and in Serbia,
where they were hosts, they did as much as they could. It should be noted that Serbian architects
secured leading positions in some twenty countries, where they were emigrants or simply on
short sojourns, and they have already entered the history of architecture of those countries.
More will be said about them later. Let us present them in order.

The "Beogradjanka" building in Belgrade, 1974, the work of Branko Pesic

Ivo Kurtovic (1910) from Brac, after completing his studies in Belgrade, drew up plans for the
buildings of the Chamber of Foreign Commerce (1960) and the National Library (1972) in
Belgrade. Explicit and defined in his artistic expression, the academician Milorad Pantovic
(1910) drew the plans for the gigantic exhibition halls at the Belgrade Fairground (1957). He
followed the ideas of Corbusier, in whose studio he spent some time before World War II. Ratomir
Bogojevic (1912), who planned the building of the Pensionary Bureau (1958) and the Press
Centre (1958), controls mass in motion in a refined way and promotes visible detail. Milica
Steric (1914) created a distinctive image in the world of architecture and business. She followed
the trends of CIAM (Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne). With the construction of
"Energoprojekt" (1957) she epitomized a period in Belgrade architecture. Branko Pesic (1921)
opened some new horizons with his "Beogradjanka" high rise in 1974, and as the chief architect
of the church of Saint Sava he introduced the well-known architectonic elements into modern
practice. Mihajlo Mitrovic (1922), the most important representative of neo-Romanticism in
Serbian architecture, built an impressive number (over hundred) of buildings bearing his
characteristic style (an apartment house in Braca Jugovici street, the Genex towers). Ugljesa
Bogunovic (1922) and Slobodan Janjic (1928), working as a team, erected the building of
"Politika" and the TV-tower on Avala. Aleksej Brkic (1922), ever searching for the abstractness
in architecture, is the builder of the buildings "Hempro" (1957) and the Bureau of Social
Insurance. Josip Osojnik (1923) and Slobodan Nikolic (1931) together drew up the plans for the
Military-Medical Academy in Belgrade and raised it impressively in 1973. Ivan Antic (1923)
planned the Museum of Modern Art in 1965 together with Ivanka Raspopovic.

The building of the Military-Medical Academy in Belgrade, 1973, the work of J. Osojnik and S.
Nikolic

He also constructed the Memorial Museu m in Kragujevac and an impressively designed hangar
at the Belgrade Airport. Mirko Jovanovic (1924) introduced vividness and new dimensions into
residential architecture. Dobrivoje Toskovic (1927) spent two years in India in order to make a
general urban plan for New Calcutta as the team leader. Aleksandar Stjepanovic (1931),
Branislav Karadzic (1929) and Bozidar Jankovic (1931) made, as a team, several housing
projects with accompanying buildings and constructed the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. They
valorised architecture with expressive materials (rough concrete, brick, dyed linen). Petar
Vulovic (1931) suggestively hunted for background architecture in constructing buildings in
Belgrade and all over Serbia. By building the Faculty of Philosophy, Svetislav Licina (1931)
proved that a relation between modern architecture and tradition is possible. Stojan Maksimovic
(1934) shapes dimensions through architecture and uses monumental media in order to express
each of his architectural works. The projects for the congress complex "Sava Centar" and the
hotel Belgrade Intercontinental were done by him in 1979. Branislav Jovin (1935) became part
of the history of Serbian architecture after constructing the building of the Urban Planning
Bureau (1970). He skilfully designed the pedestrian zone of Prince Mihajlo Street.

The Centre of Yugoslav-Norwegian Friendship in Gornji Milanovac, 1987, the work of

Aleksandar Djokic
Aleksandar Djokic (1936) is one of the most significant representatives of his generation,
performing on the boundary between post-Modern and neo-Romantic architecture. His Centre of
Norwegian-Yugoslav Friendship in Gornji Milanovac reminds one of Watanabe's works. This
passionate architect built dragons and tigers into his architectonic corpora. Djokic's symbols are
Viking boats and Serbian log cabins. The opus of Zoran Bojovic (1936) is almost entirely built in
the architecture of Africa and Middle East (Al Khulafa, Baghdad, 1985). With the building of
"Energoprojekt" of 1982, for several thousand employees, Aleksandar Kekovic (1938) presented
himself as a great thinker, artist and a technician at the same time. The Bakic couple, Dragoljub
(1939) and Ljiljana (1939) erected a great number of housing projects and representative
constructions both in Yugoslavia and abroad, which are characterized by a distinctive creative
curiosity. Their works are the sports complex "Pionir" (1973) and the hotel "Sheraton" in Harare
from 1986. The team consisting of Milan Lojanica (1939), Predrag Cagic (1941) and Borivoje
Jovanovic (1938), in which each worked individually or with a partner, is remembered for the
innovative housing projects "Julino brdo" (1972) and Block 19 (1976). The couple Marusic,
Darko (1939) and Milenija (1941), occupied themselves only with residential architecture: the
housing project "Cerak vinogradi" (1983-1987) marked their most significant creative period.

The Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade, 1965, the work of I. Antic and I. Raspopovic

The representatives of the Belgrade municipality did not show up at the opening ceremony of a
three day exhibition of the Group of Modern Trend Architects in the Pavilion "Cvijeta Zuzoric" on
February 19, 1933. It was stated in the newspapers that the authors could be criticized for not
applying the "new style" in residential buildings, where it was most needed. The general
reproaches were: the modern trend architects apply their dynamic architectural expression,
characterised by exceptionally pure lines, in private buildings, usually villas and apartments for
lease and pleasure, instead of to collective colonies, medical institutions, schools, children's
shelters and sanatoria. Even these notes are enough to make one understand that every
movement, before or after the International Modern, was not inclined to wrestle with
"insignificant" matters and solutions. The movement always aimed at a generally declared ideal
which could be carried out only when there was enough money. Momcilo Belobrk was the only
one among Belgrade's modernists who had an understanding for investors without a lot of
money, and he constructed some fifty larger residential homes for them, in almost all sections of
Belgrade of that time. Those buildings, today have no splendour, because no one ever took care of
them, and remind one of the Modern age before World War II only through their corner solutions
and the purity of relationship between "full and empty" facades

If one traces Serbian residential architecture from the eighties of the last century, almost
nothing has changed in terms of con text, until the seventies of this century. There were always
restrictions on residential housing, which were often explained by the need to be "rational,
cheap, directed". Hence, there are many regulations about the proportions of every room in an
apartment, the number of square meters in an apartment, the number of tenants, the width of
balconies or loggia, the possible height of ceilings, the number of sanitary facilities and sanitary
hook-ups which can be attached to a sewage line, the width and height of windows and doors, and
so on. Absolutely anonymous architects oriented themselves the best under such strict
regulations, when even really formal decisions were made, for example not to construct
buildings higher than ten floors. They built more than ninety percent of the residential dwellings
in Serbia.

The hotel "Sheraton" in Harare, 1986, the work of Ljiljana and Dragoljub Bakic

The most tragic fact is that all of that was mostly going on in Corbusier's epoch. Corbusier shook
the world with his five commandments (The Five Points of a New Architecture). The same was
done by F. L. Wright who, at the age of sixty three, presented his ideas about the organic and
rational in five points. Their followers and narrow-minded epigones did all they could to put the
residential architecture into well-known nondescript frames, and not only in Serbia. Yet, after
1967, Serbian, and after them other Yugoslav architects as well, began to fight against the
restraints in building residential homes. The struggle between the high-strung, "dancing"
architectonic masses and the wavelike "started" buildings went on for some ten years. The
buildings were the victors. Critics, who were the same ones to introduce the given notions,
admitted their defeat. The recent period began with housing projects of three couples: Aleksic,
Bakic and Marusic. The last phase is characterized by the works of Aleksandar Djokic and many
other Romanticists, but also of those who unfortunately were influenced by post-Modernism.

The residential-business complex "Al Khulafa" in Baghdad, 1985, the work of Zoran Bojovic

In the domain of public buildings, in the last hundred years the highest consideration was given
to school buildings and day-care centres. Many schools, in which the ideas about what is rational,
intimate and beautiful were skilfully interpreted, and were constructed in Belgrade and all over
Serbia. Hospitals were also a subject of interest for many generations of architects. The buildings
of king's, prince's and government institutions were naturally the main subjects of interest, so
they were rarely characterized by poor architectonic interpretation. The buildings of cultural
institutions were also in the hands of good, privileged architects. Hotel architecture ranged from
fashionable to inspired. The same was true of congress centres. However, the congress centre
"Sava Centar" is a creation into which Maksimovic built the best of the current practice in the
world.

Architects from Belgrade, from Josic to Garevski, mastered their skills all over the world, and
especially in France. For more than thirty years, some ten Serbian (French) architects (Dusica
Milojevic, Ognjen Babic, Zan Dimitrijevic, the couples Mole and Ilic, Ljubomir Nikolic and others)
were among the creators of elite French architecture. Serbian architects were among the leading
architects in the USA, Canada, Chile, Venezuela, Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy and Sweden.
They left Serbia thirty, twenty or ten years ago, but remained bound to its roots. Architects from
Belgrade bureaus, "Energoprojekt", "Komgrap", "Rad", "Aeroinzenjering" and a dozen others have
built about a hundred constructions in many countries. Two of them are presented here
photographically.

SDK building at Novi Beograd, 1986, reconstructed by Petar Vulovic

At the end of this segment about the experience of Serbian architects world-wide, it should be
mentioned that triennials of world architecture were held in Belgrade in 1985, 1988 and 1991.
Almost two hundred architects from forty five countries were presented. About six hundred
mock-ups (100/100 cm) were exhibited at triennials - at Belgrade Fair and in twelve leading
galleries in Belgrade. The author of all three triennials was Ivica Mladjenovic (1937), and
sponsors were the Association of Artist of Applied Art and Designers of Serbia (ULUPUDS) and
the Association of Architects of Serbia. The triennial reviews, in their full or reduced form, were
shown again in Austria, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, the USA, France, Mexico, Argentina and
Hungary.

from srpskoblago: serbian cultural treasures