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SAVA CENTRE
Snaga i krhkost betonskih građevina koje vas pozdravljaju pri sletanju u Beograd The strength, but also the fragility, of the concrete structures that welcome you as you land in our city
spoja komunizma i zapadnih vredno- sti. Čude se pričama o tome da smo mogli da napustimo zemlju, da smo živeli dobro, da nismo bili ugnjeta- vani – kaže Vojin dok se parkiramo ispred hotela Jugoslavija , kako kaže, savršenog simbola same Jugoslavije. – Ideja o ovom hotelu nastala je 1947. Priča kaže da je Hajle Selasije prilikom jednog svog boravka u Beo- gradu pitao Tita: „Zašto me svaki put kada posetim Beograd smeštaš u cen- tar grada, gde je bučno, prenaseljeno i zagađeno? Imaš predivan Dunav, za- što tu ne podigneš hotel za svoje go- ste, koji bi uživali u miru i prirodi?“. Tito mu je obećao da će već pri slede- ćoj poseti moći da se baškari u hotelu baš na tom mestu. Tako je i bilo. Na- pravljen je grandiozan, luksuzan ho- tel, u kom su, između ostalih, boravili kraljica Elizabeta, Sadam Husein, Ri- čard Nikson, Džimi Karter, Fidel Ka- stro, Če Gevara, Elizabet Tejlor, Ričard Barton, Alfred Hičkok... Hotel Jugo- slavija pratio je i uspon i pad države. Osamdesetih, nakon Titove smrti, ho- tel je polako gubio bogatu klijentelu, a potom bilo kakvu klijentelu. Danas je od luksuznog hotela sa pet zvezdi- ca došao do prosečnog hotela sa tri – primećuje Vojin. Uspon i pad jedne nacije zaista simboličan u turi koja za tri sata poka- zuje Novi Beograd iz potpuno drugog ugla i sjajan način da steknete sliku o snazi, ali i krhkosti betonskih gra- đevina koje vas pozdravljaju pri sle- tanju u naš grad.
they will hear stories of su ering in Yugosla- via, and few of them know that Yugoslavia wasn’t a typical communist country, but rather a unique example of the combination of com- munismandWesternvalues.Theyaresurprised by stories of how we were able to leave the country, that we lived well, that we were not oppressed,” says Vojin as we park in front of the Hotel Yugoslavia which is, as he says, the perfect symbol of Yugoslavia itself. “The original idea for this hotel emerged in 1947. The story goes that, during one of his visits to Belgrade, Haile Selassie asked Ti- to:“Why do you accommodate me in the city centre every time I visit Belgrade, where it is noisy, overcrowded and polluted? You have the beautiful Danube, why not build a hotel there for your guests, who will enjoy the peace and nature?”Tito promised him that, already by the next visit, he would be able to lounge in a hotel in that place. And that’s how it was. A grand, luxurious hotel was built and host- ed, among others, Queen Elizabeth II, Sadd- am Hussein, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Alfred Hitchcock... The Hotel Yugosla- via also followed the rise and the fall of the country. In the 1980s, after Tito’s death, the hotel slowly lost its rich clientele, and then any kind of clientele. Today it has gone from a luxury ve-star hotel to an average three- star hotel,” notes Vojin. The rise and fall of a nation, truly sym- bolic in a tour which, over the course of three hours, shows New Belgrade from a complete- ly di erent perspective, but is also a great way to form a picture of the strength, but also the fragility, of the concrete structures that wel- come you as you land in our city.
tours“Rise and Fall of a Nation”and“Architec- ture Tour”. The rst tour focuses on the histo- ry of Yugoslavia, while the second is focused precisely on the buildings of New Belgrade, symbols of brutalist and modernist architec- ture, and perfect examples of the communist construction style. “Guests are mostly from Western Europe, the majority from the Netherlands, Germany, England and Scandinavia. We also cooperate with cruise ships that dock in Belgrade, and they mostly have guests from America, Aus- tralia and the Commonwealth. These are large- ly people aged between 20 and 30 who want to see something new, but also architects who want to see examples of brutalism in real life. The concrete giants fascinate tourists from the West. Our tour includes blocks 61, 62 and 63, but every block functions according to the same principle,” notes Vojin. We also encounter the Sava Centre, one of the tour’s main points. It was a real futur- istic structure at the time it was built, an ex- ample of how the Yugoslavs of 1977 imagined the future. What is interesting is that it is in ex- actly the same condition as it was the day it was completed, which tourists and visitors nd spellbinding – a true, authentic time machine to the Yugoslavia of the 1970s. Of course, the tour would not be complete without the SIV building, known today as the Palace of Serbia. It was one of the rst buildings to be erected on the territory of New Belgrade and in the political heart of Yugoslavia. Like everything else on this tour, SIV also carries within it the clear symbolism of a desire for the unity of Yu- goslavia. What strikes tourists the most is the fact thatYugoslavia actually wasn’t a dungeon. “People come with the expectation that
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