Out of the Sands, to Span the Future: The Architectural Image of Yugoslav Socialism in Belgrade

Abstract

After the the Second World War, the new socialist Yugoslavia was governed by the Communist Party which split with the Cominform in 1948, causing the country to embark on a long-lasting process of forging its own version of socialism. Architectural culture had a conspicuously important role in the process of cultural legitimization of the new Yugoslav socialist ideology, tailored to fit both the internal "self-government" and the non-alignment international policy of the state. One of the most vivid examples of this newly emerged architectural culture is the Fairground Complex built in Belgrade (1953–1957). While the technical aspects of the project epitomized quite literally the socialist regimes' obsession with conquering and taming nature, which represented the echo of authentic Marxism, the huge construction of the Fairground commenced to stage a self-indulged and calculatedly constructed image of superiority of socialist Yugoslavia and its what the communist elites saw as the tremendously advanced modernization of the country and society.