A City of Changes

"Project Belgrade" will gather nearly one hundred young people, a large number of whom work or study abroad, to put their energy, talent and potential into developing Belgrade.

By Jelena Gligorić

Belgrade is unique in many ways. Although one of the oldest cities in Europe, its centre has remained undeveloped and neglected, and its most beautiful sections – the banks of the Sava and Danube Rivers and the Great War Island – have spent decades waiting for a new role and appearance. Belgrade is a great challenge for architects, the construction industry and investors. "Project Belgrade" will this year use such a multi-disciplinary approach to present a vision of Belgrade's future development.

The Architecture Biennial in Venice – "Cities: People, Society, Architecture" – is one of the most prestigious cultural events in the world, and will be held this year from September 10 - November 19 under the title "Meta-Cities". Following the event, a manifesto on urban entities and development areas for the 21st century will be issued.

"The Venice Biennial will raise new issues regarding urban development and modern tendencies and innovations in architecture. This year the Biennial has expanded its interest to include urban entities presented in the form of accompanying programmes." Project Belgrade" is an opportunity to present to the public at large a vision of expansion and development of Belgrade as part of such programmes", says project curator and architect Aleksandar Janković.

The idea is to present Belgrade as a city that will in the coming period effect a dynamic change in the architectural and urban sense, but also in terms of establishing new economic and social structures. It is especially noteworthy that "Project Belgrade" rallies young people, a large number of whom work and study school abroad, to deploy their skills and experience, acquired in places like New York, Paris, Moscow, Dubai or Shanghai, towards developing Belgrade.

"Over the past few years their projects have won first prizes at competitions and salons in Serbia, including the prestigious Belgrade City Prize for creative work of young people", explains Miloš Milovanović, the project's coordinator. Our wish is to present Belgrade as a regional centre and market, as a modern European capital with vast developmental potential, and to highlight the visions of young people as well as the city's current development projects. We will focus on the rivers as the city's tremendous untapped potential. In the near future, this could become an investment field that could generate the city's future development.

The presentation at the Belgrade gallery in Venice will unfold through several topics: researching Belgrade's identity, New Belgrade architecture and experimental projects, the city's development strategy, as well as discussions and debates. The backbone of the presentation are projects along Belgrade's river banks and the Great War Island, which are widely thought to account for the city's greatest untapped potential.

In this context, a series of solutions and proposals will be offered for city activity to descend to the river.

"A series of panels about the city's investment possibilities will be organised with guests from the government and business circles. The three-month process at the gallery in Venice will also have the form of a workshop, as the results will be presented after the Biennial ends", says project coordinator Miloš Milovanović.

"Project Belgrade" emerged as an idea in mid-2002 and was officially presented to the public on January 29, 2003. It has since operated in different forms. In its early stages of work,"Project Belgrade" was defined as a multi-discipline programme consisting of Belgrade university students elaborating on their thesis projects, concentrating on topics relevant to the development of Belgrade. The aim of the project "New People, New City" was to connect several generations of the best and most active young people and to motivate them to focus professionally on Belgrade. In the course of the first year, a total of thirty-five research papers were completed and presented in the form of a publication, on a web site and at a closing exhibition. During the second year, another forty papers were added, receiving first prizes in the competitions in which they were entered. Thus, in 2004 these works won prizes at Architecture Salons in Belgrade and Novi Sad, the Novosti Company Award and the most prestigious Belgrade City Award.

"Project Belgrade" has really become a movement of young people who aim to impose certain standards and levels of culture in Belgrade, and to establish them as a future pivotal point in the movement of capital, goods and services from the West to the East.