42^nd SALON OF ARCHITECTURE

The Jury of the 42^nd Salon of Architecture, consisting of:

• Mustafa Musić, Chairperson
• Andjela Karabašević
• Vanja Panić
• Marija Simović
• Eva Vaništa Lazarević

First of all, we would like to emphasize and praise the fact that we have opened one of the most important architectural events for the 42^nd time. This event has been persistently and consistently organized and held ever since its first opening. In our country, there are only few cultural events that bear the same characteristics. Almost no exhibition or open call has such a response and scope as the Salon of Architecture, despite the fact that the selection of works into several categories has been introduced for other exhibitions and open calls as well.

An interesting composition of the Jury of experts and their high-quality professionalism have been harmonized with the Jury’s review of the works that have been received, i.e. selected this year. Taking into consideration professional and social circumstances, the Jury has tried to single out those architectural expressions that are walking away from the compromised mass construction which is at the service of profit, avoiding affirmation of the commonplaces of our craft that are promoted at construction fairs, i.e. by manufacturers of construction materials and equipment.

Instead, we have taken good care to reward the works that promote the essential issues of architecture; the issues relating to architectural design, philosophy of space, but also those relating to the tradition of construction and culture.

The Jury concludes that, despite the absence of large public projects and urban planning solutions, this year’s Salon abounds with quality works that have covered a wide range of topics important for architecture.

(M. M.)

The Jury considers that in the year 2020 – which is special for all of us or which all of us will undoubtedly remember – the Salon has received both quantitatively and qualitatively impressive number of works, which indicates the fact that we practice the trade which is essential, that is, the trade which is neither an option nor luxury, and which survives even in critical times.

The Jury has agreed at the very beginning, while still reviewing the works received at this year’s Salon of Architecture, that several parameters should be considered important for the evaluation of works. These parameters are also related to the symbolism of the Salon of Architecture as the institution that has survived for already 46 years.

The first of these elements is courage and authorial expression, which implies consistency as well.

The second is authenticity, escapism from the already seen, ready-made models, and the use of strong, archetypal but simple elements.

Apart from the awarded authors, we can’t help mentioning the authors who we deeply respect and who we have noticed regardless of the result or status that they acquired in this selection. And these are: our fellow architect Šavikin, Bora Petrović et al, Milan Dimitrijević, Jelena Arsenijević, Jelena Mitrović et al, Ljubica Bigović et al, Ljubiša Folić, Milka Gnjato and Lela Alimpijević, married couple Sarić. In the interior design category, we can single out Antipod Studio, married couple Vojvodić, Peđa Milutinović and Vladimir Lovrić.

Furthermore, international works have also been noticed, as well as co-authored works by local and foreign architects, which suggests globalism and, despite everything, the fact that our trade is still pushing the boundaries.

That’s why we call for visibility and the widest possible dissemination of knowledge about these rare, stylistically tasty “bites” at the Salon which divert our attention from this difficult year, making us more professional, but also more conscientious/conscious.

(E. V. L.)

The Jury awards the following prizes:

Grand Prix of the 42^nd Salon of Architecture

for the realized project Family House, Kosmaj / 2018–2019

This year, the Jury has awarded the Grand Prix of the Salon to the realized project of the family house on Kosmaj. What makes this architectural expression so special and high-quality are, above all, its architectural design, but also the author’s understanding of the topic and context, i.e. the place where the house stands. The house is permeated and woven with both modern and traditional elements through its form and materialization. In addition to the author’s design skills, the awarded architectural expression shows a deeper knowledge of the history of architecture, both Serbian and the world’s, since the work reads the presence of ideas ranging from modernism to metabolism, as well as mastering the elements of Serbian traditional architecture. The listed attributes are recognized in the realized form – volume, i.e. in the selection of applied materials. Although small in size, the facility is, due to its mentioned features, recognized not only in the professional world, but also, as we can see, among the wider – lay audience. (M. M.)

Award within the Category Architecture

for the realized project Passive House Zero Energy, Belgrade / 2017–2019

We all know that less can often be more in architecture, that the complexity of the task to build a residential villa is high. In addition to the project’s mentioned characteristic elements, such as its strikingness, and the authors’ strength to reject the use of usual, vernacular, too-often-seen patterns, the Jury has specifically recognized – what we call, the personal touch or expression of this project.

It’s easy to grow up in Tuscany, but difficult to grow up in Belgrade – especially if the architect wants to develop his/her refinement and preserve a sober critical spirit although he/she is surrounded by Serbian anti-aesthetics and the successes of urban planning profiteering. Therefore, rare facilities like this one should be specially valued, at least in our temples of architecture, such as this one at the Museum of Applied Art, which has survived for more than four decades. That’s why we admire all the more everyone who manages to impose the so-called, universal style, taste and sophistication.

The Jury has especially taken into consideration the overall presentation of this work – actually, not only the impression that is left by our symbol – Mies van der Rohe’s Pavilion, made of strong steel frame with glass filling – dear and recognizable to all of us, although recognizability as an attribute is a strong lever of success. As for the project’s functionally, it seems as if we were found under Mount Vesuvius, and, suddenly, we are taken by surprise to see ourselves in the 21^st century where the roof is used as a solar panel, and the materials are rarely assembled in such a way, without the usual physical barriers, innovatively set to achieve what is difficult to achieve: energy sustainability. Furthermore, there’s also the colour of the expression – black… Therefore – in this house, we can notice the courage of rarity or the rarity of courage! (E. V. L.)

Award within the Category Guests of the Salon

for the realized project B Twins, Brač, Croatia / 2018–2018

To read this work actually means to read its wit, infantilism, desire for fun and celebration of life, but it also means to read a sort of its maturity which clearly deviates from the inherited through the emphasized cubicity of these two holiday houses that stand on the restaurant’s roof. By awarding this prize, the Jury wanted to encourage us to reflect on architecture as on a vacation scenography which strongly counterpoints to the surrounding, built and unbuilt landscape of a tourist place like Brač, but also of any other Mediterranean place along the Adriatic Coast. The roof of the existing restaurant, which served as a terrain for the construction of both buildings, is visually framed by a Mediterranean stereotypical balustrade placed around the roof edges. But that balustrade symbolizes the place where the cooperation between the existing facility and these “twin houses” ceases to exist. The upbuilt houses have an entirely authentic character, and large glass openings on two opposite sides frame the sea view both directly and indirectly. A clear architectural expression of the realized architectural experiment designed in a 1:1 scale, as well as clearly and somewhat boldly solved functioning of these two buildings and the contents inside and around them, such as the swimming pool, certainly attract our attention and establish a new way of thinking about holiday houses. (M. S.)

Award within the Category Guest of the Salon

for the realized project Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Data Centre, Prilep, North Macedonia / 2016–2019

The realization of the project Data Centre by Zoran Abadić in Prilep represents the fortification of the 21^st century in terms of form and function, and all that with the aim of providing and protecting “gold” – information in a digital format. The decision to bury this building and its road infrastructure below the ground level and shape them in such a manner that they become an unobtrusive part of the surrounding landscape has provoked us to think about a completely new typology. With this award, the Jury wants to emphasize the importance of architectural design and the author’s success in giving a utilitarian facility a characteristic and recognizable appearance. (M. S.)

Award within the Category Interior Design

for the realized project Apartment 12/10, Belgrade / 2018–2019

This interior design suggests the maturity of sophistication of its author. The space is characterized primarily by the author’s simplicity, good taste, a sense of composition, detail and harmonization of applied materials, so it was logical that the result had to be good. Although it is a modernly designed interior, there is a noticeable departure from the commonplaces and aesthetics which our market is “bursting” with – being burdened with the investors’ suggestions and wishes, i.e. suggestions of the manufacturers of materials and equipment. (M. M.)

Award within the Category Publications

for the realized project Nerezi 52

This modest publication is of invaluable importance in many aspects. It represents an original architectural record made back in 1952. It deals with the folk architecture and everyday life of the small Macedonian village of Nerezi near Skopje, which today no longer exists in its original state. The written word is accompanied by an extremely valuable collection of author’s watercolours that meticulously and carefully record the richness of everyday spatial and life situations among densely lined houses on the extremely sloping terrain, on open verandas, porches, and in closed rooms of modest rural households. This is an original research conducted by Professor Branislav Milenković during the summer of 1952, when he was only 28 years old. However, it “saw the daylight”, as the Professor writes, only 67 years later – a little less than a year before his death. The publication Nerezi 52 represents an extremely valuable contribution to the architectural thought and the science of space. (A. K.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Architecture

for the realized project Resort Branković, Mt Stara Planina / 2015–2018

The architectural structure and organization of accommodation units are best integrated into the mountain’s gentle landscape with the help of authentically and skilfully combined materials, and the play of façade and roof, transparent and full. The composition of accessible levels made in stone and demanding topography, mild and unobtrusive, refined and modern interpretations of traditional and local architecture create a dynamic and pleasant ambience at this altitude. (V. P.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Architecture

for the realized project Divčibar, Mt Divčibare / 2016–2019

A clear, modern and, let’s say, somewhat Cumtor-like reinterpretation of the modern leading towards traditional and local recognizes the craftsmanship skills, and particularly the carpentry ones, and stresses the author’s desire for constructive aesthetics and static feature of wood as a material. A high harmony between the external rhythm of the façade elements and the simple free organization of the inner space was achieved on this purified location of the Divčibare coniferous landscape that dominates this permeability. (V. P.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Architecture

for the realized project Reconstruction of the Family House, Belgrade / 2017–2019

The archetypal, unobtrusive intervention in the form of an extension and reconstruction of the family house in Zvezdara, through the author’s simple approach to the composition of the pedestal, body and roof planes of the house, and through his sovereign organization of living space and logical use of façade elements and materials, represent one of the patterns in which devastated zones of Belgrade’s scattered settlements of family houses of mixed typologies, creditworthiness and historical contexts should be solved or fixed. (V. P.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Architecture

for the realized project Family House VU, Novi Sad / 2017–2019

The building is recognized through a clear architectural approach of modern expression in the organization of space, permeability of air volume and movement inside the house, and through the artisanal formation of the brick membrane of the house, modern reinterpretation of architectural “weaving” which in one role exits to the regulating lines and forms a pleasant, half-open ambience, and in the other role defines the corpus of the house where the boundary between the full and the empty is lost in the refined play of light and the knitting of the façade bricks. (V. P.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Guest of the Salon

for the realized project Service Facility of the Ski Resort Kolašin 1600, Montenegro / 2016–2019

This facility shows a very meticulous analysis of the environment both in terms of the final materialization and in terms of the function and cooperation of the facility with its environment. The sloping and steep terrain enabled the necessary functions of this ski terminal to be arranged both vertically and horizontally, so that the greatest part of the building is seen as a built-in structure in the Mountain Bjelasica, while the last floor of the restaurant is perceived as a single present facility in the landscape due to its wooden materialization. According to the above mentioned, the Jury recognizes and awards its acknowledgement for the author’s clear architectural expression and skill to reconcile the facility and nature. (M. S.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Interior Design

for the realized project Gorski hotel & spa, Mt Kopaonik / 2018–2019

This unique interior design is characterized by a striking peculiarity that stems from the authors’ efforts to give the project’s final expression their personal touch that moves their work away from the ready-made expressions. As we can see, the spatial parts, wall, floor and ceiling coverings were carefully created and drawn, and never adopted or taken over. At the same time, although it is a matter of processing the inner cavity, the visitor can look deeper and experience the wider environment through thus shaped interior. (M. M.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Interior Design

for the realized project Gallery of Modern Art, Smederevska Palanka / 2019

An extremely reduced and sophisticated expression speaks of the author’s sense to say a lot with a very little. The added value is given to the whole thing by the enabled transformability of the gallery space in which the newly introduced volumes rest, as well as the affirmation of the attitude that the valuable does not necessarily need to be large and expensive. (M. M.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Experiment and Research

for the realized project Infrastructure of Hope / 2016–2019

The work represents an exceptional result of many years of persistent and resilient research process aimed at understanding and improving the life of the City. By its methodology, this work is community-oriented and involves a large team of people. The Jury gives its recognition to the team of authors gathered behind Škograd Collective for their continuous work and attention dedicated to spaces and communities that are on the edge of our society, and to improving the quality of everyday life, in which architecture can play an extremely valuable role only if it is allowed to do so. (A. K.)

Acknowledgement within the Category Experiment and Research

for the realized project Urban Landscape Transformations – Decomposition / 2013–2019

The work represents an exceptional result of many years of persistent and resilient research process aimed at understanding and improving the life of the City. This work is methodologically based on a distinctly personal introspection of the City. The research work of the author Snežana Zlatković brings us an innovative methodology of perceiving the complexity of the city and our everyday life in it. Using a distinctly refined technique of architectural drawing, the author dissects and decomposes the chaotic urban landscape to the point of unrecognizability, thus defining a new process of reading the city space, and opening the way to a better understanding of the environment in which architects live and work. (A. K.)

Honours within the Category Interior Design

for the realized project Würth Serbia Training and Test Centre, Belgrade / 2018–2019

The designer’s sense to successfully transform the space of the old industrial warehouse in which he intervenes into the space of a new purpose, testifies to his deep understanding of the context, as well as to his knowledge of the degree to which he can act within the given space. The hygiene of the architectural expression and the materialization of the intervention characterize the author’s high maturity. (M. M.)

Honours within the Category Interior Design

for the realized project 100 Hammersmith Grove, London, Great Britain / 2017–2018

The intervention in the attic cavity that the authors deal with through this project is a delicate task, especially when it comes to the regulations of the very restrictive, local urban and architectural authorities. In addition to the creative solutions offered for the interior design, such successful penetration of our authors in this area, undoubtedly represents a great success. (M. M.)