Eagles,
Army Headquarters and Football Films, 2014-present
Since
2014,
I have been photographing and documenting three specific
sites in
Belgrade’s ever-changing urban landscape. These locations
show condition where
conflict, economic speculations, and historical
revisionism have disrupted and
damaged not only the physical environment and
infrastructure of the city but
also the social and cultural networks.
The
photographic
series focuses on architecture and its role as a “material
witness” in this process. As
the
transformation appears unstoppable and its duration unknown,
my project aims to
document and archive these sites, providing a visible record
of the steps and
processes that will shape the future.
The
Army Headquarters
The building of the Army Headquarters, also known as the Ministry of National Defense in Belgrade, was a seminal architectural project that symbolized a new national identity, built between 1954-1963. Architect Nikola Dobrovic's scheme won the competition held by the Yugoslav Army, as he distinguished his design from the Soviet counterpart in Moscow by stripping it of any classical representations of power. Instead, he created "Bergson's diagrams" (referring to French philosopher Henri Bergson) based on the void where the nation's identity was to be found, in non-matter and in the action of the individual moving through the void.The complex's only (physically) recognizable symbol is an evocation of the Sutjeska canyon, the site of one of the greatest battles against Fascist occupation in WWII. |