RITAM GRADA RHYTHM OF THE TOWN
ZAPADNA KAPIJA BEOGRADA WESTERN GATE OF BELGRADE
Kad vozeći se auto-putem s Aerodroma Nikola Te- sla ugledate Geneksove kule – znate da ste stigli u Beo- grad. Pozicijom uz auto-put i činjenicom da zaista pod- seća na neku ogromnu betonsku kapiju, lako je shvatiti zašto je ovaj soliter od početka nazvan Zapadna kapi- ja Beograda. Međutim, kad je projektovan, 1980. godi- ne, trebalo je da putnicima namernicima poruči i više od dobrodošlice – da su došli u moderan grad koji se stalno razvija. Stanari će vas rado podsetiti da je to bi- la prva „pametna zgrada na Balkanu“. Čine je dve ku- le povezane mostovnom strukturom na 26. spratu sa satom koji pokazuje vreme i temperaturu, a iznad njih se ka nebu pruža okruglasti vrh sa „rotirajućim resto- ranom“ i najlepšim pogledom na grad. Prema prvo- bitnom planu, pod restorana trebalo je da se okreće tako da gosti tokom jednog sata, sedeći za stolovima, mogu da vide panoramu celog grada. Nažalost, to je ostao samo plan.
When you see the Geneks Tower while driving along the motorway from Nikola Tesla Airport, you know you have arrived in Belgrade. With its position beside the motorway and the fact that it actually re- sembles a huge concrete gate, it is easy to understand why this high- rise has carried the moniker of the Western Gate of Belgrade since it was first constructed. However, when it was designed, in 1980, it was intended to offer arriving travellers more than just a warm welcome – with the message that they’d arrived in a modern city that is con- stantly developing. Residents will be happy to remind you that this was the first “smart building” in the Balkans. It comprises two towers connected by a bridge structure on the 26 th floor, with a clock show- ing the current time and temperature and, above that, reaching sky- wards, a rounded tip with a “rotating restaurant” and the most beau- tiful views of the city. According to the original plan, the floor of the restaurant was supposed to rotate so that guests could see the pan- orama of the whole city within an hour sitting at the tables. Unfortu- nately, all of that remained only at the level of plans.
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