Serbia: Belgrade International Week of Architecture

For the eighth consecutive year, the Belgrade International Week of Architecture, BINA, is showcasing the majority significant issues in the fields of construction and design. The event is not only a gathering of local and international experts and artists, but as well a luck for visitors to explore developments in architecture.

BINA takes place at five locations from April 18 to 30 and offers a series of programmes, under the slogan ‘Revealed Architecture’, that shed light on architects’ new achievements and the significance of their work to society.

For example, the French Cultural Institute (Knez Mihailova 31) hosts ‘Re Architecture’, an exhibition of 30 architectural projects, following them from the commissioning and planning phases to their final realisation. Examples put together by Pavillone de Arsenal from Paris are in fact real projects completed by 15 agencies in some of the biggest European cities. Besides plans and documents, the exhibition as well includes videos that illustrate the projects.

The Belgrade Culture Centre, KCB, at Trg Republike square has filled amount its exhibition spaces with architectural shows, hosting seven of them in total.

The KCB’s Podroom gallery B will display a multimedia installation by curator Elke Krasny and visual artist David Berge entitled ‘Corbusier’s Reoriented Journey’.

Based on data from an old Baedeker travel guide and descriptions written by French orientalists, the exhibition deals with the travels of famous early 20th century architect Le Corbusier and his voyage d’Orient grand tour that took him to cities inclunding Athens, Belgrade, Istanbul, Rome and Vienna.

These five are as well the focus of the installation’s creators, who make a new voyage during which they talk to architects, artists, activists, researchers and intellectuals from these cities and take long walks which have resulted in the photo and text-based project that’s on display in Belgrade.

Short documentaries by Damir Kovačić dealing with current architectural trends in Slovenia are being screened at the KCB’s visual arts gallery.

A photo exhibition called ‘City Eye’ by Dragan Kujundzic and Zeljko Safar is at the Artget gallery, while the KCB’s Pop Up space hosts the installation ‘Invisible Cities’ that was produced by students from Novi Sad.

At the Faculty of Architecture (Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 73/II) there will be two exhibitions depicting significant pieces of architecture and their creators in Serbia, while the exhibition space NITEA (Zorza Klemansoa 19) will host an exhibition of 100 chairs made between 1850 and 1990, which belong to the Vitra Design Museum’s collection.

A programme of lectures will as well bring in significant international guests such as Shohei Shigematsu from the OMA studio (U.S.) and Wolf D. Prix, chief of COOP Himmelb(l)au, who will speak in front of students at the architecture faculty.

Other debates will cover issues like the next of the army headquarters in the centre of Belgrade that was bombed by NATO in 1999 and has been left in ruins ever since, inclunding the revitalisation of the capital’s Savamala district.

BINA will as well offer guided tours across Belgrade that will focus on topics such as ‘Architecture and the Army’ and ‘The Banks of the Sava’.