Balkanology in Switzerland

Picture: Tom Bisig, Basel

Saturday I visited the Balkanology Exhibition in the Swiss Architecture Museum (SAM). A very nicely done exhibition that shows projects in pictures and films and probably it's the first time that an exhibition is dedicated to the Balkan region (reduced to Jugoslavia and Albania) in Switzerland. Here the press release.

What I liked, it's that an exhibition of this little-known architecture was presented to a broad audience here in Switzerland and it gives good explanation about the socio-poilitical changes in the region and their impact on the architecture.

From architectural masteripieces of the past with "iconic" effect like: The Museum of Modern Art in New Belgrade, 1965 (Ivan Antić und Ivanka Raspopović), The Federal Ministry of Defence in Belgrade, 1963 (Nikola Dobrović), the National Library in Pristina, 1983 (Andrija Mutnjaković) or the Yugoslavian Pavillion in the World Exhibition in Brussel of 1958 (Vjenceslav Richter) to new projects that are about to be realized like: The reconstruction of the Usce Tower in New Belgrade, 2006 (Slavija biro and ARCVS), A Media Center for Novi Sad, 2007 (Srdjan Jovanović Weiss / NAO) or the new proposal for the terazije Plateau, 2010 (Re:act), the exhibition covers a lot of outstanding buildings.
(The buildings above are already covered or will be soon covered on this blog, that's why I mentioned these)

Another part of the exhibition is dedicated to Urbanist Studies: of Belgrade (from Dubravka Sekulić und Ivan Kucina), of Zagreb (from Platforma 9,81) and of Prishtina (from Archis Interventions) and to Urbanist Interventions: of Tirana (Co-Plan) and Kotor (EXPEDITIO).

What I didn't like so much about this "Balkanology" is, that from several points of few, it ends up always to the same conclusion, that the Balkan Region can get rid of its "negative image" and its problems by adopting more of a Western approach of planning and to learn to be avare of the devastation of environment by inadequate building.

Is this environment adequate behavior?

On one side it's pretty ridiculous, to pretend that for instance a country that got bombed and some of its most significant buildings got destroyed should understand the meaning of "environment adequate behavior" and on the other side, it's questionable if the "balkan"-image is really just a negative identity that needs to be broken down.

random improvisation (from LHE)

Isn't the diversity, the exotism and the improvisation that comes with the "balkan" word even an advantage that could make a brand, the "balkan brand", an instrument to give this region an identity back, a positiv fascinating identity, without necessarily using Western benchmarks ?!

Užice - The Serbian Hong Kong

Užice is like the little Hong Kong of Serbia (here in some fantastic pictures of Pedrag Supurovic), you wouldn't really expect such a city when you start to go up the mountain region of the Zlatibor district. From here it's agood starting point point to visit some of the most exiting places of Western Serbia: Tara National Park, Zlatibor, Mokra Gora and the Kusturica Village of Drvengrad.

Located at the river of the Djetinja River, Užice has about 60'000 habitants and a florishing textile and metallurgy indutry, since the city started to developing an indutrial town at the end of the 19th century.

It's also the first serbian city with a hydroelectric power plant. Within the former Yugoslavia (established after the Second world War), Užice was renamed "Titovo Užice". From 1992, following the collapse of the pro-communist administration, "Titovo" was removed, leaving the original city name Užice.
Because it was Tito's city and had an important place during the communist system, Užice received significant amounts of investments in infrastructure and local factories, which turned the city among highly developed ones of its size in former Yugoslavia.
This is probably also the reason, why it has many skyscrapers and for the summer there is a quite interesting beach "plaza".
During the 1990s Užice's economy performed very bad due to economic conditions (war, political instability, sanctions) and in 1999 the city was bombed multiple times during the NATO bombing.

Today, industry is the heart of the Užice municipality economic development. The most developed industrial branches are non-ferrous metallurgy, metal working and textile industries.
This "Textil's" commercial building that is located in Uzice's industrial zone, between the motorway, the railway, warehouses, a football field and a cemetery is a new building made by the group "NEO Arhitekti".
The architects delivered what they themselves describe as 'anti-design' in reaction to the surroundings and context. Ignoring all those external factors they are powerless to change, they concentrated on the interior.
The result is a building with an interesting perforated façade that reveals nothing of the very efficient spatial organization inside.

Maybe the suuroundings of the industrial zone is not very inspiring, but the center of Užice is very interesting.

Like this rocket-shaped building

which is an incredible eye-catcher!

And this H- shaped construction!
(picture by Ivan Micovic)