Aleksandar Deroko: Rebuilding Smederevo after 5 June 1941 explosion

Abstract

Aleksandar Deroko had a noteworthy and decisive impact on the architectural culture of Smederevo. This paper will not treat the issue of his exceptional work on evaluating and protecting the medieval Smederevo Fortress, but rather it will focus on a very specific period during which Deroko, as an architect, set up a significant number of parameters for a new vision for Smederevo’s urban culture. This vision is embodied in his projects and architectural realisations in one of the most delicate periods of the town’s history, during its reconstruction that lasted a few years after a horrific wartime explosion nearly wiped Smederevo off the map, on 5 June 1941. In spite of many different ideological and political reason, as a comprehensive historical and monographic assessment of Deroko’s works in Smederevo had not been made to this date. This paper will assess subject such as Deroko’s relationship with the city’s historical and cultural heritage, political and ethical qualities of this relationship during a delicate period in Serbian history, and architectural and aesthetic principles that affected the way Deroko would shape his work in Smederevo and his vision for a rebuilt city. Lastly, this paper will hint at the qualifications of his work in Smederevo and its impact on the present-day town.