unfulfilled dream of belgrade
exhibitiоn of students’ works – faculty of architecture – university of belgrade
unfulfilled dream of belgrade.
public art installation
belgrade fortress – incomplete dream of town’s continuity
promotion of the book
belgrade fortress – dream book of white town’s continuity
belgrade fortress – dream book of white town’s continuity
on wednesday, july 15, 2009 at 7 p.m.
the project is realized at the initiative of pe „belgrade fortress“, and in cooperation with university of belgrade faculty of architecture and with the public art & public space program (university of belgrade, faculty of architecture).
project unfulfilled dream of belgrade
“tradition is not preserving the ashes, tradition is keeping the flame.”
read somewhere, sometime, and kept in the memory…
it has been almost two thousand years since the city has been erected in the belgrade fortress area, where it has permanently remained to be. only in the past sixty years has the city given in and disappeared, so it is not there anymore. in its place, on its ramparts, at the grounds of its ghostly buildings, we cherish a magnificent park now…
but had we been so fortunate as to have the city at the belgrade fortress persist and last, had it not been demolished and eventually destroyed, what city would it be in the place where the park is? what would have been if the belgrade fortress were still a city? how would belgrade appear today if the “white city” were still shining white at the fortress? what meaning would it have for present, modern belgrade? what would have been had it been…?
these are all questions that this project before you does not try to give final answers to, but rather to serve as incitement to their thoughtful examination. in the years to come – may god give us good health and wisdom – we shall continue… keeping the flame alive, and also preserving the ashes.
…
the project, which has already been in great part published in this book in your hands, is the fruit of collaboration between the public company belgrade fortress and the faculty of architecture of belgrade. of course, due to the importance of the subject matter we are dealing with, in the course of its realization, the number of collaborators engaged in the project, coming from various fields of social practice, has been increased so as to have this matter illuminated from as many different perspectives as possible.
this project has been gradually developed over the last couple of years, and realized in several parts, finally connected and united with this book.
the first part of the project consisted of the dreams dreamt by some of our most eminent fellowcitizens engaged in diverse fields of activities, who have responded to our call, and made their contributions, in the form of essays, written on this subject from their respective points of view. these papers present their authors’ visions – in a manner more intimate than expert – meant to dream the belgrade fortress anew as the city… as it might have appeared to us today, emerging from the vortex of history… but also to offer their different perspectives on future development and appearance of that city, as well as to show how such a city could fit into the complex picture puzzle of modern and future belgrade.
the second part of this publication consists of papers written by students of the faculty of
architecture from the university of belgrade, all of which pick up on the central subject in their
respective approaches and subject matters. thinking about the potentials of the belgrade fortress and kalemegdan, from the point of view of contemporary preservation and presentation of historical heritage, as well as its connection with the modern trends of city life, the experts from the public company belgrade fortress have instigated work on a few rather thought-provoking topics at the faculty of architecture in belgrade; these topics were offered for elaboration not only to professors but also to students, from all years and with different professional experience, as part of regular courses taken at their student projects.
on this occasion, exhibition of these student works, as presented in this section of the publication, has been organized at kalemegdan’s sava promenade – belgrade fortress esplanade, and it is the second part of the project. making this exhibition, our wish was to present to the public the works done by young experts, architects, who didn’t have to cope with the usual “real” professional problems, but rather, soaring on the wings of their imagination and creativity, examined the capacity of the “citiness” of the fortress, searching for the solutions that might be considered relevant and desirable from the contemporary perspectives, in the first place in the field of architecture. the purpose of making these projects was not to realize them, but to verify certain ideas which might be set as options for future interventions.
third part of the project has been carried out by displaying a series of appropriately selected thematic original public art installations in a purposely chosen and arranged space at the belgrade fortress – in the moat below the military museum – works made on the theme “belgrade fortress continuity dream book”. made especially for this occasion, these temporary installations have been made by students of the faculty of architecture of the university of belgrade, gathered around the international, interdisciplinary program “public art & public space”, which resulted in a dreamcome – true fragment of the street, which could have been in this very place, had the white city only lasted. unfortunately, this part of the project has not been presented in this publication, because it was planned at the time when the book was already published; however, we hope that this injustice shall be amended in the following edition of the book, next year, in the dream books coming forth…
the final part of the project has been conceived as a round table on the theme “belgrade
fortress continuity dream book”. this event shall be organized subsequently, upon
completion of the activities to be realized within the project at the belgrade fortress. the idea for this round table is to have, in the first place, the participants of the present action take part, and – summarizing the work done – point out the possibilities for project’s further development. we also hope that a summary of this round table is going to be published in the forthcoming dream book edition.
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finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the people who gave their immense contribution to this project, as well as to invite them to join us again in dreaming our white city anew in the years to come. in the first place, we would like to give our thanks to wonderful, diligent and foresighted people from the public company belgrade fortress, without whom this action would have never been realized, who invested all their energy and enthusiasm in this work, and who showed much patience – just as it befits keepers of a time gate – and leniently filliped all of us who have gathered around this idea. we would also like to give our thanks to the wise people from the city administration, from the secretariat for culture of the city assembly of belgrade, who understood the importance of actions of this kind and provided all the assistance and resources required for its realization. we also thank our eminent academics, professors, architects, historians, archaeologists, sociologists, directors, painters, actors, stage designers, journalists, sportsmen… whose visions have been the firmest support for our work and confirmation that we were moving in the right direction. and finally, our gratitude goes to our students, who put all their imagination and creativity, hopes and time at work, offering us the best and most honest part of their daydreams, which every school in the world would be proud of.
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