Ideas Yards

12th Belgrade International Architecture Week, 27.4/25.5.2017

Architecture is communication
—Umberto Eco

The title of this year’s event, the Ideas Yards, originated from the concept of a European project in which BINA and its eleven partners will participate over the next 4 years – Shared Cities: Creative Momentum – which is based on the concept of a “yard” that is, basically a common, public space in which ideas about the city and urban spaces arise and are shared to suit the users. By creating ideas and programs in public urban spaces, social innovations are encouraged from creative sectors, which include the participatory processes of urban design. In this year’s BINA “yard”, we will explore elements of the architecture of Nikola Dobrović, put the Military Headquarters building into focus, exchange experiences with our colleagues within the Future Architecture Platform conference “Belgrade Outskirts – Envision the Future”, present two European events, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale from and the Biennale of architecture BETA of Timisoara, host the exhibition “Small Utopias” by the MAXXI museum from Rome, discuss the architecture of knowledge as the driving force of urban development, cheer for the swift implementation of the detailed design for the reconstruction of the Belgrade City Museum, socialize with the experts that build and equip our buildings, while students and pupils will create their architecture in workshops, and we will all walk through Belgrade together, getting to know the city over and over again. BINA 2017 speaks the language of trans-disciplinarity: architecture, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, music, visual arts and design. We invite you to join us at exhibitions, lectures, walks and workshops so that, together, we can contribute to creating responsible solutions for new spatial challenges that our surroundings constantly face! Welcome to the twelfth Belgrade International Architecture Week, welcome to the Ideas Yards!

Opportunities for urban regeneration in Belgrade’s periphery

Following the presentation of the ‘Activate Modern Ruins’ idea at the Matchmaking Conference in Ljubljana, organised by the Future Architecture Platform, this project seeks to identify how modern ruins can become an opportunity for Belgrade’s future development. We think of Belgrade’s outskirts, along with their cultural assets and natural landscape as a catalyst for urban renewal in a built environment that can be both a laboratory and an archive.

Our project focuses on all the abandoned infrastructures and buildings in Belgrade and its outskirts. These spaces manifest city’s recent political and socio-economic history. Our idea complements Belgrade’s Master Plan 2021 and city’s development strategy, while addressing the local community and groups of local experts (e.g architects, urban explorers). Thus, we present a series of urban cartographies that showcase the spatial potential of modern ruins in relation to each other but also the wider city context. Our objective is not to provide answers but rather raise awareness of the inherent spatial qualities of these spaces, and furthermore indicate the greater potential for the benefit of the city.