Novi Beograd municipality is situated opposite old Belgrade, across the Sava river. Built since the 1940s on a previously empty area, it became a bustling urban area populated with over 200,000 inhabitants.\u00a0What’s truly unique about it, is its extreme modernist approach in urban design and architecture. Although modernist approach was common in urban development among socialist – communist countries from the end of WWII till the collapse of communism in Europe, Novi Beograd is unique in its planned nature, its scale, and cutting edge modernist brutalist buildings.<\/p>\n
Although a settlement started to evolve between Belgrade and old Zemun already in the 1930s, New Belgrade was mainly designed and developed from 1946, and was quickly built and populated from the 1950s, to accommodate the growing post-WWII population.\u00a0Nikola Dobrovi\u0107, architect, urban planner and teacher, made the first sketches. The flat swampy area was covered with sand from the Danube and Sava rivers, and the area was turned into a huge construction site.<\/p>\n
New Belgrade was built in several phases, with a simple layout of main streets dividing it into “blocks”. Each block (“blok”) was designed in its unique types of buildings, most of them daring examples of gigantic apartment buildings, built in a modernist style. In terms of urban approaches, although commercial centers dot the neighborhood, and new blocks are still developed to accommodate commerce and office areas, New Belgrade is quite a vast dormitory. The huge buildings and the vast open areas in between create a living environment of unimaginable scale, much larger than the pleasant “human scale” of across the river Old Belgrade. The whole neighborhood seem like a futuristic monument to a forgotten past, a living, frightening example of Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse<\/a>.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n But in-spite, and maybe because of all that, New Belgrade is a fascinating place. Its buildings are mind blowing, the vast open areas are inviting. If it weren’t for this smartphones- individuality-I like my private car- era, it would be much more lively.\u00a0Its older parts contain lower building blocks rich with vegetation and trees. A closer look at brutalist buildings reveals remarkable designs and meticulous attention to details. Additional materials bring extra colors, and people do create their own vivid corners which reflect to the outside.<\/p>\n Here’s a block by block journey to colorful New Belgrade. It was a one day bicycle journey took place on Sunday, September 30th, 2018.<\/p>\n Bloks 7 and 7A were the first residential blocks, built during the first phase, from 1948 to 1958.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_1_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_2_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_3_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_4_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_5_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_6_placeholder\n <\/p>\n Blok 9 is situated by the Danube river, and has a beautiful waterfront.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_7_placeholder\n Who wants to climb?<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_8_placeholder\n I like this one in particular for its fine details<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_9_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_10_placeholder\n and other examples<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_11_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_12_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_13_placeholder\n Alongside fine examples of brutalist architecture, it contains the dominant Hotel Yugoslavia and Grand Casino Beograd.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_14_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_15_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_16_placeholder\n Feel the energy! <\/p>\n Historical Archive of Belgrade building<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_18_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_19_placeholder\n <\/p>\n Stari Merkator<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_20_placeholder\n Golden shutters<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_21_placeholder\n <\/p>\n These buildings are going to the moon!<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_22_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_23_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_24_placeholder\n <\/p>\n Blok 13 contains the colossal Palace of Serbia government building (SIV). The classicist – modernist building was completed in 1961, and is one of the largest buildings in Serbia by area cover.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_25_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_26_placeholder\n USCE Center<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_27_placeholder\n Blok 17 used to be a fairground.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_28_placeholder\nBloks 7-7A<\/h2>\n
Blok 9<\/h2>\n
Blok 11A<\/h2>\n
\nngg_shortcode_17_placeholder\nBlok 11B<\/h2>\n
Blok 11C<\/h2>\n
Blok 12<\/h2>\n
Blok 13<\/h2>\n
Blok 16<\/h2>\n
Blok 17<\/h2>\n