Location

Beograd, Serbia

Competition

2011 (shortlisted)

Authors

Lena Krušec, Tomaž Krušec, Vid Kurinčič, Nina Bobinac

Project team

Marko Süssinger

Betonhala

The competition area of Beton hala is situated in an extremely sensitive part of Belgrade. It is adjacent to the Sava embankment and at the same time, it is directly touching the hillside of the Kalemegdan fortress. Looking from the east part of the site, there are magnificent views of the Sava river, while from the west side, it is the image of Kalemegdan that dominates the view.

The area represents a key point from which tourists from the harbor can access the city centre and the other way around - from the Knez Mihajlova street, they can go to the bars and clubs of the Sava embankment.

The basic principle of the new urban and architectural layout of the area is keeping Kalemegdan as a main spatial dominant point, even more emphasized by the new interventions. The new urban structure is concieved in a way that none of the new structures ever hides the view towards the fortress. Even more, Kalemegdan is constantly present as a background in all urban ambiences (quare, streeest, connecting platform) of the new urban and architectural layout.

From the direction of the city center, the views of the visitors are directed towards the river Sava. The paths coming from the Sava promenade are designed to always end with the panoramic view of the Sava river and the image of New Belgrade in the backround.

With these principles, the new urban organisation is not only an infrastructural connection between Kalemegdan and the Sava backgroud, but also becomes an assimilation of the city and the river on an optically perceptive level. Two up until now divided environments become once again inextricably linked.

The area of Beton Hala is on the edge of the river park which connects to the city with the roof of the exisiting building. Because of the previously described character of the site, the new layout is designed as an urban structure that gradually dilutes into the green system of Kalemegdan and Sava embankmet paths.