Housing Architecture in Belgrade 1950-1970
Housing Architecture in Belgrade 1950-1970
Housing Architecture in Belgrade 1950-1970
Pragmatism
UHA/CCA
edited by
Maroje Mrduljaš, Vladimir Kulić
Zagreb, 2012
The project U nfinished M odernisations was commenced on the
initiative of the CCA/Croatian Architects' Association in
collaboration with other partners.
This project has been funded with support from the European
Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of
the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
34 Spaces of Representation
218 Japan looks West: The Reconstruction of Skopje in the Ines Tolić
Light of Global Ambitions and Local Needs
276 Kaluđerica From Šklj to Abc: Ana Džokić and Marc Neelen
A Life in the Shadow of Modernisation (Stealth.Unlimited)
Nebojša Milikić
432 The Fusion of the Modern and the Traditional in Bosnia Nina Ugljen Ademović
Elša Turkušić
Architecture 1950-1970
A Privileged Dwelling for a
Privilege-Free Society
Belgrade Residential administrative and symbolic
centre of socialist Yugoslavia,
New Belgrade grew through the
construction of large housing
blocks for six to ten thousand
tenants. A significant investor
in housing was the Yugoslav
People’s Army, which was the
first to introduce planning
standards and regulations.
These norms were above
the average of that time,
and they gradually migrated
to the civilian sector. And
while the urban morphology
was relatively monotonous
with extremely large scale,
significant achievements were
realized on the plan of improving
housing floor plans. Higher
planning standards than in
the rest of Yugoslavia offered
architects in New Belgrade the
room for manoeuvre, which
also assisted the development
of advanced organizational
schemes, uniting all functional
zones of an apartment and
enabling a greater flow within
Tanja DamLjanović Conley
(IMS) in Belgrade.
(eds)
Housing Architecture in Belgrade (1950-1980) 1 The investors/clients of
295
Block 21 were the Directorate
and its Expansion to the Left Bank of the River Sava for the Construction of
Architectural Facilities
DSNO and the Architectural
Considering the optimal living standard and income levels, it has been decided that third- Department of Belgrade
category apartments will be given priority, with the exception of Novi Beograd, where no Garrison; as for Block 23, it was
low - quality apartments should be built and larger apartments should prevail . the Architectural Department
for the Construction of
Apartments and the Building
(Teze i stavovi za utvrdjivanje stambene politike u Beogradu Hypotheses and opinions for deter- Administration of the Federal
mining the housing policy in Belgrade; Belgrade: Municipal Assembly of Belgrade, 1964, p. 3) Ministry of National Defence;
and the investors of Block 63
were the Federal Ministry of
National Defence SSNO and the
Five blocks in Novi Beograd have been selected for Directorate for the Construction
this analysis, the aim of which is to indicate certain important phenomena of Belgrade; and those of Block
19a were the Directorate for the
in Belgrade’s housing architecture in general. As a symbol of the country’s Construction and Maintenance
reconstruction and development, Novi Beograd (New Belgrade) was the larg- of Housing (Yugoslav People’s
Army) and the Directorate for
est and highest-profile building site in former Yugoslavia, soon to become a 1:1 the Construction of Belgrade.
testing ground for the entire construction industry. Although it has often been
pointed out that this part of the city resembles an army barracks or a dormitory
rather than a residential district – owing to the investment mechanisms1 and the 2 In professional circles,
‘marginal building’ was a term
dominant typology (architecture) – this time we have focused on the processes
Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970
297
Jovanović, and B. Pešić, Novi
for Yugoslavia was building its new (capital) city on marshlands that had been Beograd [Belgrade: Directorate
unregulated for centuries, and moreover the country had suffered huge war for the Construction of Novi
Beograd, 1967], p. 26.
damage and was largely underdeveloped in terms of the economy, education,
technology, industry, and infrastructure. Construction supervisors in Novi
Beograd were not hiding that the poorly qualified labour force was a huge 11 Several sources emphasize
the fact that projects of
problem. residential architecture, which
were financed from the state
budget, had to be obtained
The fact that we were not used to mechanization was a huge drawback and we were through public competitions. A
using our youth for construction works. We did not really appreciate machines, except series of documents submitted
for the compressors, which were indispensable when working in tunnels and on cliffs. by the People’s Committee
of Belgrade and ratified by
The inadequately trained youth soon created a true cemetery of bulldozers. Even the the Municipal Assembly of
engineers ignored the advantages of these machines. Belgrade, insisted on this way
of spending public moneys.
Competitions were organized
(B. Jovanović B.: Beograd prelazi na levu obalu Save. Novi Beograd, Belgrade is moving to by the Architects’ Association
the left bank of River Sava: Novi Beograd, Belgrade: Directorate for the Construction of Novi in charge. See Urbanistički
Beograd, 1967, p. 11) uslovi za izgradnju bloka 45
[Conditions for the construction
of Block 45 according to the
Thus, the city was built by barehanded youth, with Master Plan], from Technical
‘sticks and ropes.’ The same could be said for other aspects of construction: Documentation, Historical
Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970
299
project was Branko Petričić
and the architectural designers
The first residential blocks of Novi Beograd were built of individual buildings were
Branko Petričić, Dušan
before 1955 (Studentski Grad, Tošin Bunar17) or before 1963 (Blocks 1 and Milenković, and Tihomir
2, Fontana). At the time when Blocks 1 and 2 were designed (1958-59),18 the Ivanović.
General Master Plan of Novi Beograd, the work of Branko Petričić, had already
been promulgated. This Master Plan established two concepts of spatial design, 19 V. Bjelikov, Način
stanovanja u Beogradu.
which proved decisive for the further construction of Novi Beograd. Thus, a Urbanizam Beograda 42
square for public events was built between the SIV building and the railway sta- [Housing in Belgrade: Urban
planning of Belgrade]
tion, defining the so-called central zone of Novi Beograd, and it has remained (Belgrade: Institute for
the crucial point of scholarly debate until the present day, since its later, ac- Planning the Development of
complished version was completely contrary to the initial conception in terms Belgrade, 1977), p. 12.
BLOCK 21 1960 Block 21 was the corner block of the central zone and the
first block built in it, and it was intended to serve the needs
anonymous public competition
of Yugoslav People’s Army. A public competition requiring
anonymous entries was launched for its design in 1961, result-
ing in three accepted solutions for three types of apartments.
The experienced duo of the ‘Stil’ Atelier, Bogdan Ignjatović and
Aleksandar Đorđević, were in charge of skyscrapers 1, 3, and
5, as well as the condominiums containing small apartments, 22
while Leon Kabiljo designed skyscrapers 2, 4, and 6 with large
apartments. The project of meander, condominium, and a hotel
for singles was planned in a skyscraper (the only one which
was never accomplished) which was entrusted to the newly
formed team consisting of Mihajlo Čanak, Leonid Lenarčić,
Milosav Mitić, and Ivan Petrović, who worked on their first
large project in the framework of IMS Institute.
The analysis of all existing volumes in Blocks 21 and 281 led to the fol-
lowing conclusions regarding the future construction of Block 23:
User
State Secretariat for Affairs of National Defense (DSNO)
City Housing Company of Belgrade
Residential units were planned with the help of a system of By using the analysis of these facts and the identified prob-
questions and tasks that the authors had set before them lems, the architects now established a series of principles,
while observing the relation between the society and the which served as a basis for designing the residential units in
family. their blocks, and which they also used in their later research
on architectural design. They established the so-called basic
core of the unit, which served for the joint activities of the
Will society increasingly focus on the family or gradu- entire family (dining or living room) and created various sce-
ally lose interest in it? narios of their use (parallel flows, as the authors called them)
according to the family’s age structure. The flexibility of this
What is the structure of today’s family and the rela- core, which aimed at offering the basic conditions for growth
tionships within it, and can its further development be and operation of the family, was achieved by erecting movable
predicted? partition walls, which made the transformation of space easier
and helped avoid the feeling of oppression.
What should the content of a basic cell unit be, taking
into consideration all impacts, needs, and possibilities of
the society?
The competition for Blocks 45, 44, and 70 took place in 1965,
on the basis of the prize-winning project from the competition
related to urban planning, authored by Ivan Tepeš, Velimir
Gradelj, Milutin Glavički, and Jovan Mišković. At this invited
competition, the jury selected two solutions for two types of
buildings: that of Mihajlo Čanak (P+16), Grgur Popović (P+12
i P+14), and Branko Aleksić (P+6) for the skyscrapers, and
that of Risto Šekerinski for the semi-atrium buildings (P+2
and P+4). In this case, the investor was the Directorate for the
Construction of Belgrade, and the commissioning body the Bel-
grade Housing Community – unlike most other blocks in Novi
Beograd, which were built for the Army and for various state
and regional organizations.1 These apartments were intended
for the ‘market’, that is, for various workers’ organizations 23
that would buy them for their employees, who would pay them
off with the help of special loans. The planned capacity of the
block was 15,720 beds.
BLOK 45 1965 The competition project treated the block as an extended local
commune – a micro-district with four neighbourhood units.
invited competition
The buildings were scattered around in greenery, with a special
accent on the recreational areas between them – sports fields,
playgrounds, and pedestrian pathways. The winning projects
were selected so as to include various apartment typologies,
from studios to duplexes. In the case of skyscrapers, one of
the requirement was to include at least five studios for artists;
besides, each building had to have garages, rooms for children
to play in, and a concierge’s office, while the roof terrace was
open for all tenants and included service rooms. In some of the
buildings, there were ‘supply points’: restaurants, food stores,
newsagents and tobacconists. Besides the school and the
kindergarten, the block contained a meeting point for the local
community with a small (70 seat) and a large (450 seat) thea-
tre hall, a library, a crafts centre, a shopping mall, and offices
for social organizations. The project emphasized the idea of
designing both the individual buildings and the block as a whole
for the so-called ‘unknown user’. In this way, the block gained
in versatility regarding its urban functions, complementary
to the residential, and a series of new residential typologies,
unprecedented in Belgrade.
Urban design
Ivan Tepeš, Velimir Gradelj, Milutin Glavički,
Jovan Mišković (Institute of Urbanism Belgrade)
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Mihajlo Čanak (17 stories),
Grgur Popović (13, 15 stories),
Risto Šekerinski (demi-atrium, 2&3 stories)
Branko Aleksić (7 stories)
Investor
Agency for the construction of Belgrade
User
City Housing Company of Belgrade
23 Vujnović: Table 45 – A building plot in
Novi Beograd. Dinamika izgradnje grada
Developed by INPROS
– Jedna etapa u izgradnji i rekonstrukciji
4800 built apartments Beograda [The dynamics of urban
Additional services construction – A phase in building and
elementary school, kindergarten, community center, rebuilding Belgrade] (Belgrade: Izgradnja
artisan center, supermarkets, garages magazine, Association of Building Engineers
and Technicians of Serbia and Serbian
Apartment example: demi-atrium - three lamellas Architects’ Association, 1997), 98.
UM Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970 305
BLOCK 45
‘Belgrade’s Sails’
Block 63
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Darko Marušić
Milenija Marušić
Milan Miodragović (GRO Rad)
investor
Agency for the construction of Belgrade
Federal Secretariat for Affairs of National Defense (SSNO)
developed by GP RAD
3228 built apartments 25 Darko and MIlenija Marušić abandoned
the construction of Blocks 63 and 64, which
additional services
were built in Rad-Balency system according
elementary school; kindergarten; community center
to their architectural design. Darko Marušić,
apartment example: type B - lamela from an interview.
UM Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970 307
BLOCK 63
In Dialogue with Postmodernism
Block 19a
Urban design However, what was especially extolled by both the general pub-
Dragomir Manojlović(Institute of urbanism Belgrade) lic and the profession was the architectural solution offered
by architects Milan Lojanica, Borivoje Jovanović, and Predrag
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Cagić, the first-place project from the invited Belgrade compe-
Milan Lojanica, Borivoje Jovanović, Predrag Cagić (PO tition of 1975. First of all, the fact that they abandoned the or-
Arhitektura i urbanizam) thogonal urban scheme of Novi Beograd proved a very efficient
and bold move; furthermore, their use of sloping roofs and
Investor openings was inspired by traditional architecture. Corridors
Agency for the construction of Belgrade were formed within the block as green public spaces, oriented
Administration of Military Engineering towards the banks of Sava. The architects paid special atten-
tion to the issue of flexibility in residential structures, since
the possibility of transforming them was particularly important
User for the investor. It is important to emphasize that in this period
Agency for the Construction and Maintenance of Housing the basis for calculating apartment surface was 21.0m2 net
Stock of Yugoslav People Army surface per person (28,5m2/person gross), unlike the 16 m2/
person in Block 21 of 1961. The living standard was improving
City Housing Company of Belgrade and the new districts from the 1970s were already designed in
accordance with these advanced spatial standards, set down in
Developed by INPROS
the General Master Plan of Belgrade until 2000.
927 built apartments
No additional services built 26 Urbanizam Beograda 49 [Urban
planning of Belgrade] (Belgrade: Institute
Apartment example: flexible organisation
for Planning the Development of Belgrade,
1978, pp. 47-53.
UM Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970 309
BLOCK 19a
Epilogue: A Dormitory?!?
311
1. Bajlon M., V. Hruška, J. Klepac, A. Ranković, A. Ševgić, D. Vukčević Sarap, and A. Žanko: Stan I
i II Apartment I and II. Belgrade: Committee for Publications on Military Architecture, n. d.
2. Blagojević, Lj.: Novi Beograd: osporeni modernizam Novi Beograd: Contested modernism.
Belgrade: Institute for Textbooks and Teaching Equipment, Faculty of Architecture at the Uni-
versity of Belgrade, Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Monuments in Belgrade, 2007.
3. Devald, T., A. Đorđević, B. Jovanović, and B. Pešić: Novi Beograd. Belgrade: Directorate for
the Construction of Novi Beograd, 1967.
4. Vujnović, R.: Dinamika izgradnje grada – Jedna etapa u izgradnji i rekonstrukciji Beograda
Dynamics of urban construction: A phase in building and rebuilding Belgrade. Belgrade:
Izgradnja magazine, Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians of Serbia and
Serbian Architects' Association, 1997.
5. Official Gazette of Belgrade, 31 December 1983: Uslovi i mehanički normativi za projektovanje
stambenih zgrada i stanova Conditions and mechanical normatives for designing residential
buildings and apartments. Municipal Assembly of Belgrade.
7. Urbanizam Beograda 30 Urban Planning in Belgrade. Belgrade: Institute for Planning the
Development of Belgrade, 1975.
Belgrade Residential Architecture 1950-1970
8. Urbanizam Beograda 42 Urban Planning in Belgrade. Belgrade: Institute for Planning the
Development of Belgrade, 1977.
9. Urbanizam Beograda 49 Urban Planning in Belgrade. Belgrade: Institute for Planning the
Development of Belgrade, 1978.
10. Stan i stanovanje Apartment and Housing. Belgrade: Izgradnja magazine – special issue,
1972.
11. 25 godina rada KMG Trudbenik 25th anniversary of KMG Trudbenik. Belgrade: Izgradnja
magazine – special issue XXVII, 1973.
12. Referat za određivanje politike stambene izgradnje u Beogradu u periodu do 1961. godine
Report concerning defining the policy of housing construction in Belgrade until 1961. Belgrade:
Ministry of Information and Communication, People's Committee of Belgrade, 1958.
13. Metodološko uputstvo za utvrđivanje vrednosti stambenih zgrada, stanova i poslovnih pros-
torija Methodical instructions for determining the value of residential buildings, apartments,
and business facilities, 1965 (materials of Belgrade's census commission, author’s copy).
16. Tehnička dokumentacija: Blok 21, Blok 22, Blok 23, Blok 63, Blok 45, Blok 19a Technical
documentation: Blocks 21, 22, 23, 63, 45, 19a. Historical Archives Belgrade – SO Novi Beograd.
17. Detaljni urbanistički plan (DUP) stambenog naselja "Bs" u Opštini Novi Beograd, Blokovi
61, 62, 63 i delovi blokova 64 i 57a Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) for ‘Bs’ residential district in
the Municipality of Novi Beograd, Blocks 61, 62, 63, and parts of Blocks 64 and 57a. Belgrade:
Institute for Urban Planning, March 1970.
Chief designer: Josip Joška Svoboda, architect
Head of the Belgrade Institute for Urban Planning: Aleksandar Đorđević, architect
President of the Municipal Assembly: Branko Pešić
The plan is preserved at the Documentation Centre of the Belgrade Institute for Urban Planning.
18. http://www.skgo.org/
19. http://www.citymayors.com/features/iula.html
20. http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/resources/organizations/iula.html
21. http://www.ccre.org/en/
22. http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/sections.asp
UM
DETAILS
PUBLICATION
Unfinished Modernisations
Between Utopia and Pragmatism
Editor
Antun Sevšek
Executive Editor
Ana Šilović
Translation to English
Graham McMaster
Dominko Blažević
Marina Miladinov
Andy Jelčić
Tatjana Jambrišak
Sonja Damčevska
Petra Shirley
Ksenija Vidić
Nick Saywell
Proofreading
Graham McMaster
Publisher
Croatian Architects’ Association
Print
Kolorklinika
Number of copies
700
Year
2012
ISBN 978-953-6646-24-1
www.uha.hr
www.unfinishedmodernisations.net
The project Unfinished Modernisations was commenced on the initiative of the CCA/Croatian Architects' Association
in collaboration with other partners.
Project partners
Project supported by
EDUKATIVNA ARHITEKTURA
Acknowledgment