Ilija Đurović
Through the mythic narrative, the appearance of the hotel within its new embodied reality becomes a response to the context of its new incarnated body. By placing it on the War Island, a connection is created with its past lives, in which the sea fortress of the old body “Palacio” creates direct correlations with the Kalemegdan fortress, which, like its ethnic predecessor, is separated from the island itself by water. Thus, the new body of the hotel is placed on the island, in the water, which the mythical hero Leander tragically tries to swim across.
…the hotel becomes a distorted reflection of the surrounding landscape and context to reveal its content…
In the anagenesis of the landscape of the Kalemegdan fortress, under the Jakšić tower and the military observation post, the new body of the “Palacio” hotel rises, creating a direct connection with its past lives in which the narratives of the Belgrade metropolis merge with the mythical and metaphysical. The spatial concept itself becomes the answer to bridging the connection between what lies between these two realities.
By placing it in a new context, the hotel becomes an enclave of the deformed reflection of Kalemegdan, its towers and walls, as well as the seascape, which manifests itself through the War Island, synthesizing different fragments of the history of the Belgrade metropolis, while at the same time raising questions about its appearance within the new sensory reality.
Committee members:
Nataša Ćuković – Ignjatović, PhD, associate professor
Milica Milojević, PhD, associate professor