Lost in Translation - War Island in Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

“Architecture and Nature” Design Studio of the Architecture Bachelor third year proposed architectural insertions while investigating on recovery strategies for an extreme and fragile territory – War Island in Belgrade. The paper synthetically presents results of such an exercise evoking crucial issues with the aim to show that architecture and landscape cannot be seen as a shift in scalar thinking, but as overlapping inseparable fields, occupying the same territory. “War Island” is a natural resort in the middle of Belgrade, a piece of sandy wetland on the confluence of the river Sava and Danube. Throughout its existence it was changing its position, shape, morphology and character. Its remote landscape is vague and unmemorable and its cultural value ephemeral. It is a lost space, an exquisite ecosystem full of protected species, but somehow a real terrain vague. Together with students, we have conducted a research which was analytical in terms of exploring the island through place-based methodology, descriptive in terms of looking for available data on island’s topography, hydrography, ecology and biotop and speculative in proposing different scenarios for its recovery looking for new culturally constructed ecologies. At the level of design, the results reflect two major points of recovering a fragile territory. Biophilia (physical, emotional, cultural etc. access to nature) is crucial, thus walkability is essential. Particular features of fragility have to be understood as positive resources providing interactive, reflective and dynamic environment, becoming a driving force of the concept. We have come to the conclusion that designing in extreme and fragile territories where conventional thinking struggles to respond, architecture and nature have to work together, to create a resilient system a dynamic, adaptive and responsive environment. A new perspective lies in creating a particular socio-ecological system ready to challenge rapidly changing environment.