Postmortem Architecture - Nodus Initialis

The project integrates forensic investigation approach with design process of post-industrial area in Belgrade, Serbia, in order to favor the public spatial context, and to prevent the problems of devastation and loss of spatial identity. Applying this approach to the design process can avoid the problems of the past in the modern urban context.

From this perspective, the idea of ??applying a forensic approach to research during the design process arose, the location is viewed as evidence. Information was collected in order to exploit the potential of the space and the identity of the place, integration with the urban matrix of the city and the transformation of the space, and later analyzed in order to find the activation mechanism and create a multifunctional public space for all users. Keeping in mind the potential of the location, networking with a wider spatial coverage is proposed, via tram, metro, pedestrian zone of Linear Park and a pier. The area is divided in a zone of public purposes along Linear Park to the Danube and a zone of development of residential and business functions to the urban matrix of city. The parking was solved by repurposing the hangar of the Port of Belgrade. In this way, the initial node of revitalizing the space is networked with the rest of the city, accessible to all users. It reuses two units, the existing hangar and the converted and extended cargo center of the Port of Belgrade, with purpose of as an infrastructural facility with commercial functions and cultural center. The ground and first floor are a collecting points for the metro, tram, vehicle, boat traffic users and pedestrians, with fast commercial functions. While in the second unit, parking and transformable multifunctional public spaces are organized. The subway platform is organized underground and the tram platform is on the second floor. The third and fourth floors in the first unit are planned as spaces for the cultural center, which are connected by a footbridge to the parking lot in the second unit. The idea is that all approaches to the cultural center take place in the central lobby, from where the spaces for lectures, workshops and exhibitions have been designed. The structure of the building is such that the grid follows the existing buildings, which maintains rhythmicity, and its design represents a contemporary interpretation on the theme of the constructive system, with the aim of preserving the identity of the place.