GR:GA City Gallery

GR:GA City Gallery
architectural competition
Belgrade - Serbia - 2016

Spatial cultural and historical complex Kosancicev Venac documents the historical development of this part of Belgrade from the first half of the eighteenth century to the present. Objects that represent growth of economic power of Serbia were builted. This part has become the centre of social, cultural and political life.

Although urban fabric is not homogeneous in terms of architectural style and typology, however, one can draw a clear conclusion that at this particular location through a couple of centuries all representative objects were in that moment modern in style and in technical terms. We were not searching for inspiration in the historic centre of Belgrade with its elegant architectural heritage of great cultural, historical and architectural value. We neither can nor want to copy it, but we could learn a lot from it.

Reflecting on the integration of the facility in the environment we have analysed whole Kosancicev Venac with distant points, Sava promenade, estuary, and from the air. The perceived "fragmented" structure of the urban fabric, lead us to the conclusion that the new facility primarily due to it’s size can influence and possibly disturb the ambience. "Maximum development" would also neutralise lookout leaving it with a smaller range of sight. Therefore, the new structure should be more moderate, more delicate in terms of size, should be derived from the immediate surroundings, from less bulk scale, ie. from home, from the archetype.

Gallery represents the transformation of a series of houses in a building that can be, at the same time, viewed as three separate houses and as one. A series of interconnected three archetypal structure, represents the "art house". Beginning in the second house, a series are experiencing metamorphosis, variation, alteration, .., archetype begins to expand and to open, to appeal and to draw visitors to its interior, it starts to lure them.
This division distributes it’s volume in a more favorable proportion, where most of the facilities are located in the basement because it does not require a lot of natural light while the other are contained in the "open" part of that home. The upper part of the building is therefore an open, transparent and playful segment, while the lower part is more closed and strict.