Unforeseen Impulses of Modernism: The Case of New Belgrade Blocks

Obsolescence and urban decay are usual attributes of the Modern Movement buildings and areas worldwide, especially of the post-war large-scale housing settlements. Therefore, the question of reuse and improvement guidelines for these settlements is becoming increasingly important. The paper addresses this issue, taking New Belgrade housing blocks as a case study. The current condition of the New Belgrade blocks that, indeed, can be characterised as obsolete and not adequately maintained, even degraded, is nevertheless a perfect platform for reading of the architecture and the space values, and how it was changing during the time. The study aim was reading the unforeseen impulses of modernism: identification and mapping of socio-spatial relations in environment (reactions on and interventions in space that were generated during the time), reading and interpreting them as impulses of the user behaviours and lifestyles, and further proposing future transformation tactics using the mapped elements and principles. The research framework was a workshop-seminar organized by the authors at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Using this research tactic, the particular elements and spaces within the blocks were mapped, identified, classified and systematized according to their flexibility to react and accept contemporary impulses of life. The study reveals common spaces of the New Belgrade blocks, or spaces between private and public, as the key elements in managing the urban decay and prompting adaptation, and hence investigates on the potential of their adaptive reuse initiating transformation of the whole area, and further achieving its attractiveness, openness and better accessibility.