URBAN INCUBATOR: BELGRADE Savamala – a City Quarter Re-Invents Itself
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Tim Rieniets, ETH Zurich Dr. Matthias Müller-Wieferig, Director, Goethe-Institut Belgrad (eds.) URBAN INCUBATOR: BELGRADE Savamala – A City Quarter Re-Invents Itself A Goethe-Institut Project 2011-2013 Conceptualized as a pilot project of South-East European local branches of Goethe-Institut (“Initiative of Excellence”) ©Goethe-Institut Belgrad 2012 1 2 6. APPENDIX: TABLE OF CONTENTS REFERENCE PROJECTS......................24-27 Project Row Houses, Houston 1. INTRODUCTION...................................5-6 The Dorchester Project, Chicago Prinzessinengärten (Princess gardens), Berlin 2. SETTING THE STAGE.........................9-15 Create Your Own Wedding Space / RGB Farbraum, Berlin Why Savamala? NEMONA, Berlin Creative Quarters Holding Patterns, New York Urban Pioneers Universität der Nachbarschaften (Neighbourhood University), Hamburg 3. THE PROJECT...................................16-17 2 – 3 Strassen (2 – 3 streets), Dortmund, Duisburg, Mülheim Urban Incubator: Belgrade a.d. Ruhr Next Hamburg, Hamburg 4. NEXT STEPS.....................................18-21 2012: Laying the Ground 2013: Bringing the Urban Incubator to Life 2014: Looking Back / Looking Forward After Belgrade 5. AT A GLANCE................................... 22 Our Goals The Role of the Goethe-Institut Belgrad Possible Project Results A Preliminary Schedule 3 4 friends with the neighbours and try to become a part of a 1.INTRODUCTION new community, changing habits and daily routines to fit with the new situation; and to change the new environment, positively, through institute´s presence. Further tests later revealed that the institute´s Knez Mi- URBAN INCUBATOR: hailova street premises would not require the reconstruction work that had been anticipated. However, the vision of the Goethe-Instiut Belgrad as an incubator of cultural develop- BELGRADE ment in Savamala has continued to grow. Fascinated by Savamala – A City Quarter Savamala and its unrealized potential, the idea persisted that the Goethe-Instiut Belgrad should still provisionally and Re-Invents Itself temporarily be physically present in the district, contributing to the development of its new neighbourhood though using its capacity as a cultural engine. Not only would the Goethe- In 2010, the Goethe-Instiut Belgrad found itself in an unex- Instiut Belgrad adapt to its new environment, it would try to pected situation. After being at home in the Stari Grad (Old change its new environment for the better. Town) district of Belgrade for more than three decades, situated in Knez Mihailova, one of Belgrade’s finest streets, This idea has become the focus of an initiative – the Urban the Goethe-Instiut Belgrad was forced to consider relocat- Incubator: Belgrade – that aims to make Savamala the sub- ing, during a period of reconstruction to its premises, to a ject of an attempt at a new kind of development process, in new site. A plan was developed to move the Goethe-Institut which culture is at the center of regeneration. In this regard, Belgrad to a temporary pavilion in the Savamala district of the commission for Belgrade’s bid to become the Euro- Belgrade, another historic yet neglected quarter on the banks pean Capital of Culture 2020, “Belgrade 2020 - the City of of the river Sava, where the City of Belgrade had kindly of- Miracles”, which gives a long term perspective to the Urban fered space. Incubator: Belgrade concept, has been a valuable partner in preparatory discussions about the role the Goethe-Instiut It was the former director of the Goethe-Institut Belgrad, Belgrad could play in Savamala. The following report Jutta Gehrig, who first saw the proposed move as an op- presents the vision that has resulted from this dialogue and portunity – to search for a new home for the institute that the creative process that was first forced upon and then provides the same comforts and sanctuary as the current embraced by the Goethe-Institut Belgrad. premises; to explore the institute´s new surroundings, make 5 Conceptualized by Tim Rieniets, an urban designer and cura- The participants will move and the temporarily used spaces tor working at ETH Zurich, the Urban Incubator: Belgrade will be reintegrated into the normal lifecycle of the city. No has emerged, not as an investors dream, but as a role model traces will be left, just the memories and ideas of a possible for alternative urban development, which is founded on two future of Savamala. principles: the conviction that cultural activities can have a transformative and revitalizing effect on decaying inner- city areas such as Savamala; and that areas like Savamala – through their history, ambiance and architecture – are themselves inspirational places for many kinds of cultural activities. The Urban Incubator: Belgrade aims to harness this mutually conducive relationship to shape the urban develop- ment of Savamala. The driving force of this urban and cultural development are the artists, architects, urbanists and activists – from Serbia and other countries – who will be asked to live and work in Savamala. However, the Urban Incubator: Belgrade is not like other artist-in-residence programs. Savamala does not only serve as a workspace or a source of inspiration. Savamala is the project! For the ever widening circle of participants and stakeholders – such as MIKSER Festival, Cultural Center GRAD, staff and students from the Faculty of Architecture, and other EU and local initiatives, the Goethe-Institut Belgrad offers a welcom- ing platform and open forum for public debate, integrating and focusing communication about a multifaceted bottom-up development process. After a period of engagement - and just before the profit maximising logic of retail, real estate development and Graffiti art in Savamala tourism might take over - the project will come to an end. 6 Graffiti art in Savamala 7 Cultural Center GRAD Brace Krsmanovic ce r Poli Wate Bus Terminal Map of Savamala 8 nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it grew to become 2. SETTING THE STAGE the major trading center in Belgrade. The city modernized Why Savamala? rapidly and Savamala, particularly the Karadjordjeva Road, For visitors to Belgrade the first impression of Savamala is became the site for major building projects, considered to be one of a uniquely situated, yet severely neglected, city quar- of great cultural and historical significance. In the course of ter. Located south of the historic Kalemegdan Fortress on the the twentieth century, following its promising development, South bank of the river Sava, Savamala occupies one of the Savamala fell largely into a state of disrepair. The Karadjord- most beautiful and strategically important areas of the city. jeva Road was poorly maintained, buildings were abandoned But inexplicably, Savamala bears the conspicuous insignia and the area repeatedly fell victim to major floods. of decay. Splendid but neglected architectural remnants of a great historical past stand adjacent to old warehouses, Today, Savamala is in an ambiguous state – a peripheral decaying residential buildings and jerrybuilt workshops. place right in the heart of the city, known for noise, pollu- tion, prostitution and illegal housing. The riverfront, once This situation is even more surprising given that Savamala a busy landing, is now used as a cemetery for abandoned is one of the oldest parts of the city, constructed close to hulks – a place of mysterious industrial romanticism. Sava- the walls of the Kalemegdan Fortress. The area gets its name mala also hosts major city infrastructure that would not be from its location – which is open to the river - and from the expected to be found in the center of a city: A bus terminal term mahala, a Balkan word for neighbourhood or quarter, and parking lot, a main traffic artery used by heavy trucks, which dates back to the period of Ottoman rule. Savamala and the head quarters of the water police. was developed for its trading potential and during the late Historic Facades 9 photo & copyright: Dr. Tim Rieniets photo & copyright: Karadjordjeva Street Savamala 1930 Karadjordjeva Street For some years now, however, Belgrade has been rediscov- ist regime. Instead, Savamala could become an example of ering the almost forgotten history and beauty of Savamala: publicly debated and truly sustainable urban development. An underdeveloped quarter, close to the city center, well connected, and – thanks to the riverside – of high poten- Here and there, the first signs of redevelopment are visible: tial for real estate development. Savamala holds untapped A number of small-scale activities – both legal and illegal – potential for the future development of the city, a prospect have found fertile ground in Savamala, bringing new life to that has excited the imaginations of planners and decision- the area. However, these projects have not been initiated by makers alike. Experts are currently working on new master the city or by real estate developers, but instead by subcul- plans and the municipality intends to clean up all traces of tural entrepreneurs. In 2009 the European Center for Culture the recent past. This includes the beautification of public and Debate, known as KC GRAD, opened its doors on Braće spaces, the dismantling of illegal structures, and scrapping Krsmanović street: For the first time a disused warehouse the disused hulks that litter the river bank – with the excep- in the Belgrade Municipality of Savski Venac, in which Sa- tion of one historic paddlesteamer, which, it is proposed, will vamala is located, has been transformed into a public space. be reincarnated as a museum boat. Recently, a second warehouse has been refurbished and will serve as a permanent cultural center. In May 2012, the popu- However, due to unsolved ownership issues and the financial lar MIKSER will organize a one-week festival at Savamala, crises, this promising future is still a distant prospect. A turning the quarter into a bustling place of cultural activities. waste of time and a waste of space, one might bemoan. But at the same time, this delay in development creates space What might seem not more than minor or ephemeral activi- for an open and thorough debate, saving Savamala from the ties are just a foretaste of a possible future.