Creating the Belgrade waterfront identity through a prism of architecture and urban planning competitions

Abstract

The architecture and urban planning competitions are a form of architectural activity that bring creative ideas important for parts of cities or territories, and they can precede the creation of future planning documentation. At the end of the 19th century and in the 20th century, the competitions were occasionally used for solving the most important problems in urban structure of cities. In this respect, Belgrade joined many important European cities. The great urban planning competitions influenced the urban planning solutions and the creation of the waterfront identity. This paper analyses three examples of great public urban planning competitions that were organized at the time of important turning point in the development of waterfronts of the rivers Sava and Danube. This research opens up the question of a specific role of competitions that marked the theoretical and practical problems of their time. Investigating the views of the city, authentic ambiences and recognizable images of the city, the participants provided numerous answers that have influenced the existing identity of the Belgrade waterfront area over time.