"Bajloni" brewery in Belgrade - possibilities for protection, revitalization and re-use

Abstract

In the last decades, the development of Belgrade has had a negative effect with regard to the industrial heritage built in the 19th and early 20th century. In order to stop this tendency and to demonstrate a will to achieve further sustainable development, it is necessary to redefine the approach to the protection of the Belgrade industrial zones, creating a new one for urban and spatial planning, taking into account all the specificities, tradition, authenticity and identity. With all the reconstructions and inadequate changes in the city industrial zones, particularly along the Sava and Danube banks, the historical cityscape, with its characteristic morphology and typology, is gradually fading away. The education process for the students of architecture, the future builders, provides possibilities to comprehend the problems of the city's industrial heritage protection, its historical and urban context, its genesis and cultural and architectural values. Furthermore, it also provides possibilities of comparing different approaches in its presentation and modern utilization. This paper will present a search for possibilities of protecting the “Bajloni” Brewery in Belgrade, its presentation and inclusion in the modern way of life. It was a part of the master's academic program at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture. Through a designing process, the students put an accent on comprehensive investigations of its entire history: various changes in its structure, from the middle of the 19th century to the present day. The goal was to define a sustainable solution that would protect all the development stages of the complex. On the other hand, the idea was to make the complex active and useful once again and to reintegrate it in its immediate surroundings. Consequently, the students proposed a number of modern cultural, educational and artistic uses of the complex, which would be in correlation with its character and significance, thus providing a way of achieving an active future.