Jovan Mladenović
CULTURE ON THE RIDGE
The goal of the task is to notice the problem of discontinuity in the development of the city structure, as well as define the strategy of overcoming it. Given the strong presence of this phenomenon in our environment, students are expected to develop sensitivity to the problem of intermittent, rampant, short-term planned or unplanned urban construction, which is unable to form either a consolidated urban structure or its exemplary character and physiognomy. Students are expected to problematize the spatial framework of the chosen location, freely interpret the program in accordance with the choice, and suggest modalities for the realization of the set goals. The task refers to the architectural urbanistic solution of a specific, selected public space along the line Kalemegdan – Slavija, the city ridge that defines the silhouette of Old Belgrade and holds the most frequent movements and activities, thus mostly influencing its character and physiognomy. Within the given wider spatial scope, students individually decide on a specific location that will be the subject of further intervention. The selected urban space (e.g., The Republic Square, Terazije Terrace, the park across the Palace, Mitic’s Hole, or similar meaningful entity) should be programmatically included in the flows of the perceived continuity of a broader scope and intervene to overcome its dysfunctionality and inferiority in relation to the observed potentials. The programmatic setting and distribution are directly conditioned by the choice of the narrower location of the intervention. The new physical structure should primarily enable the continuity of urban space and events, as well as determine its overall role in terms of establishing flows at all (physical and metaphysical) levels. In contrast to the existing started but unfinished structures, whose fragmentariness reflect the frequent shift of ages, the new urban space, by connecting the surrounding tissues and by introducing a higher degree of urbanity, should in fact bring the necessary atmosphere of democracy, as the fundamental feature of personal physiognomy.