Block 42

Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Client: City of Belgrade

Date: 2014 Competition

Area: 150,000m2

Budget: Undisclosed

Team credits:

AZPML: Alejandro Zaera-Polo and Maider Llaguno-Munitxa Guillermo Fernandez-Abascal, Manuel Eijo, Iñigo Arrien, Pablo de Sola

Engineers/Associates: Projmetal

Images: Poliedro

Departing from the image of the rails and the infrastructural flows, the masterplan is formalized as a striated landscape. The striation is oriented North-South parallel to the Boulevard Dorda Stanojevic and perpendicular to the infrastructural elements of the rail tracks, tram lines and the highway that crosses the site from East to West. This directionality suggests a dialogue with the language of the railway sleepers and the movement of the urban and traffic flows.

Today, the infrastructural elements present in the site create a physical barrier that divides the area of intervention in two. We aim at re-stitching the site to build a continuous urban fabric. Through the striated landscape, we propose to enhance the continuity of the North-South axis. In this direction, a permeable fabric is proposed to connect both sides of the infrastructural elements.

Through the striation we introduce two new public avenues (the stations avenue and the commercial avenue) that will connect the Milutina Milankovica Boulevard and Jurija Gagarina. These new avenues will build a physical connection with the Arena, suggesting a permeable connectivity in this historical axis.

The striated landscape does not respond to a specific form. Is a system that can grow over time and that can adapt to the market needs by adjusting its programmatic content or managing the construction in phases. The programmatic resilience, has also been one of the main aspects taken into account. The systems proposed for both elements; the striated landscape and the tower buildings, are flexible systems that allow for programmatic changes that can adjust to changes in the market. For instance the station and commercial areas could be expanded or reduced according to the needs.