Landmark projects for Belgrade

You could be one of 2,000 people to be hired as local experts in the fields of communication, design, finance, engineering, medicine, tourism and management, upon completion of the Beko complex. These are only a few opportunities for the citizens of Serbia as result of Lamda Development's project, who, as of end of last year, have spent about 1.5 million euros to remove parts of existing facilities of the former textile factory Beko in Belgrade, in order to lay the grounds for the start of construction of the planned new contemporary complex, which will include modern residential buildings, galleries, business edifices, a five-star hotel, a state-of-the-art conference center, shops and a department store… With this project, the construction of which will begin in the course of next year, this important but neglected area of the city will be entirely revitalized, with total investment expected to exceed 200 million

At this year’s Belgrade Design Week conference at the Museum of Contemporary Art, during the long anticipated session with over 100 local and regional journalists present, including almost all local TV stations, produced in collaboration with the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, cutting edge projects for 2012 and 2013 were presented: the BEKO complex near Kalemegdan by the Greek company Lamda Development, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the new Ada bridge and the awarded "Cloud" design by architect Sou Fujimoto, as well as the reconstruction project for Belgrade's landmark Continental Hotel. The Head of Belgrade's Land Development Public Agency Jelena Stojkov, and Belgrade's City Architect Dejan Vasović, both gave inspirational insight into the past, present and most notably, future, that awaits the Serbian capital's built environment.

Regardless of different opinions about the commission of “Starchitects”, Belgrade will become the first city in the South East European region to have a building designed by the world’s arguably most successful architecture studio at the moment: Zaha Hadid Architects from London, UK. A unique multifunctional complex at the location of the former Beko factory at the Danube riverside, jointly with the proposed “Cloud” by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, at the Sava pier, will mark the revitalization of the entire side of Ušće in the old part of the city, a semi-circular area, from the 25 May Sports Center to Beton hala, Belgrade’s key historic site, an interesting example of an investment through public/ private partnership. The attention the City of Belgrade has paid to the Beton Hala location, and the renovation of the sports center on the Danube, shows that the revitalization of this important city area has begun.

Thanks to a private investor, the Greek company Lamda Development, the Beko complex is sure to set new standards in the Serbian and SEE market, primarily in terms of lifestyle, but also in terms of architecture and construction. During the BDW session, new renderings and animations of the project were premierely shown, produced specially for the event, and the representatives of Lamda Development and architectural studio Zaha Hadid delivered lectures. Take a look at this http://vimeo.com/71546917

- All of our projects are unique and every time a project is proposed to us we know we have to create something new, to design something that is distinctive and adapted to the task, to the client, to local context ... This one should not only fit in, but also have a positive impact on the environment in which it is located, and of course, the integration between nature and architecture is also very important. New architecture, in terms of vision, should not be constrained by old forms. Architecture operates on many levels, it should include a particular location and context, and the building can also absorb the context in various ways, which makes the entire complex functional. This project is very sensitive of the environment, but at the same time it can be a symbol of a new era for Serbia, Christos Passas, Zaha Hadid Architects, said at the Belgrade Design Week 2013.

– The Beko complex is located on the most beautiful site in Belgrade. It is adapted to Kalemegdan park and the Fortress, overlooking the confluence. We are very pleased we got this great location. We hired the best architects to design a unique project which we think this site deserves. The structure consists of several sections, residential zone being the largest one. There will also be a large, 245 room hotel, with a multifunctional zone, office space, parking lot... All our major projects are in Greece, and this is our first major project in the country and city we really believe in.

The fact that we went abroad and that we hired Zaha Hadid Architects proves that we are serious about this project. That is why we have invested more than 100 million euros in Serbia in the past 5 years. We firmly believe that this project will change not only this area of Belgrade, but also our company, because we will be on a map of international construction companies, said Zisimos Danilatos, head of development at Lamda Development, on the "Belgrade Innovation Session" panel.

At the panel, Jelena Stojkov, from the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency, spoke about new architectural landmarks of the city and their impact on its image and identity: the Ada bridge, the “Cloud” – Beton Hala, the Beko factory complex, and city architect Dejan Vasović shared his views on the future of Belgrade.

– The City of Belgrade is trying to apply as many international experiences as possible to the development of the city, so we launched the Beton Hala Waterfront international competition. With this and other projects, such as the Zaha Hadid project at the former Beko factory site, or the new development in Rajićeva street, I believe that in the area around the Belgrade Fortress in the city center, Belgrade will get several major pieces of architecture. This architecture might not be appealing to some of us, we might find it too “heavy”, because we are not accustomed to it, but it certainly marks the architecture of the future. The aforementioned places and structures will become Belgrade icons, they will be landmarks for Belgrade to be proud of, and I hope that prospective tourists will be glad to come and According to the concept of the "Beton Hala Waterfront" project designed by the Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and the Serbian architect Branislav Redžić, a spiral cloud of steel between the Beton hala structure and the Kalemegdan park, will connect the city and the river. It is set to be a structure of about 20,000 square meters of commercial space, 26,000 square meters including parks and parking lots.

Details about the makeover of the legendary Continental Hotel in Belgrade were presented by Živorad Vasić, General Manager of the hotel and member of the Delta Real Estate team. In mid-July 2012 Delta Real Estate started the reconstruction of the iconic Continental Hotel Belgrade, taking in consideration only the most progressive consulting and management methodologies available on teh global market. Another premiere at BDW, Mr. Vasić showed advanced room concepts, interior and exterior lay/outs, as well as impeccable new identties and operational examples of the completely new project, including a 3D walk trhough movie, specially produced for the session. The hotel will operate under the new brand of "Crown Plaza", as part of the renowned IHG hotel chain, which includes major brands like InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, Indigo… The reconstruction of the hotel, which is a true crown jewel of the Delta real estate assets, is worth 40 million euros.

BDW meticulously planned the "Belgrade Innovation Session" for over six months. Thanks to the collaboration with the Tourist Organization of Serbia, roughly thirty of the world’s major media outlets came to Belgrade and joined over 100 accredited local and regional journalists especially interested in the session: the New York Times, Britain’s Icon, BBC, Monocle, Telegraph, The Independent, Italy’s Abitare, Domus, Designboom, Spain's ABC newspaper etc, who are already publishing reports on the future of our capital, while the whole session was broadcasted live on wallpaper.com.

An in-depth reportage from the session was broadcasted on the same evening in prime time, at 19:00, on Serbian national television. After a sold-out audience and amazing media feedback in 2013, Belgrade Design Week plans to make this innovative two and a half hour session format, which presents the best development projects from the previous year, a regular part of the international conference.