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Photos: Reviving the relics of former Yugoslavia’s brutalist architecture

Brutalism was popular throughout the eastern bloc but the former Yugoslavia made it its own - seizing on it as a way to forge a visual identity poised between East and West. The architecture was supposed to show the power of a state between two worlds - Western democracy and the communist East, looking to forge its own path and create a socialist utopia. Many of those pieces of art remain in disrepair, such as The Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija. But interest in the style is soaring - particularly since a 2018 exhibition in New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) called Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980.

Updated on: Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM IST

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The Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija stands in Petrova Gora, Croatia. Brutalism was popular throughout the eastern bloc but the former Yugoslavia made it its own - seizing on it as a way to forge a visual identity poised between East and West. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

The Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija stands in Petrova Gora, Croatia. Brutalism was popular throughout the eastern bloc but the former Yugoslavia made it its own - seizing on it as a way to forge a visual identity poised between East and West. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Genex Tower is unmissable on the highway from Belgrade airport to the centre of the city. Its two soaring blocks, connected by an aerial bridge and topped with a long-closed rotating restaurant have made the 1977-build tower magnet for tourists despite years of neglect. Today one of the pillars is empty, while the other is residential. The rotating restaurant was last open in the 1990s. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Genex Tower is unmissable on the highway from Belgrade airport to the centre of the city. Its two soaring blocks, connected by an aerial bridge and topped with a long-closed rotating restaurant have made the 1977-build tower magnet for tourists despite years of neglect. Today one of the pillars is empty, while the other is residential. The rotating restaurant was last open in the 1990s. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Clinical Hospital Dubrava stands in Zagreb, Croatia. Genex is one of the most significant examples of brutalism - an architectural style popular in the 1950s and 1960s, based on crude, block-like forms cast from concrete. Interest in the style is soaring - particularly since a 2018 exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) called Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Clinical Hospital Dubrava stands in Zagreb, Croatia. Genex is one of the most significant examples of brutalism - an architectural style popular in the 1950s and 1960s, based on crude, block-like forms cast from concrete. Interest in the style is soaring - particularly since a 2018 exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) called Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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A formally used Yugoslav passenger aircraft sits in front of the Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade, Serbia. “We have dozens of people every week interested in taking our Yugo tour around city landmarks built from the 1950s to 1980s,” said Vojin Muncin, manager of the Yugotour sightseeing agency which guides tourists around the Serbian capital in Yugos - former Yugoslavia’s once ubiquitous car. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

A formally used Yugoslav passenger aircraft sits in front of the Aeronautical Museum in Belgrade, Serbia. “We have dozens of people every week interested in taking our Yugo tour around city landmarks built from the 1950s to 1980s,” said Vojin Muncin, manager of the Yugotour sightseeing agency which guides tourists around the Serbian capital in Yugos - former Yugoslavia’s once ubiquitous car. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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The Eastern City Gate apartment buildings complex stands in the Konjarnik neighbourhood in Belgrade. After World War Two socialist Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito set out to reconstruct a land destroyed by fighting. Initially allied to the Soviet Union, Tito broke with Joseph Stalin in 1948. Residential blocks, hotels, civic centres and monuments all made of concrete shot up across the country. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

The Eastern City Gate apartment buildings complex stands in the Konjarnik neighbourhood in Belgrade. After World War Two socialist Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito set out to reconstruct a land destroyed by fighting. Initially allied to the Soviet Union, Tito broke with Joseph Stalin in 1948. Residential blocks, hotels, civic centres and monuments all made of concrete shot up across the country. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Laundry hangs out to dry inside Belgrade’s Block 23 apartment neighbourhood. The architecture was supposed to show the power of a state between two worlds - Western democracy and the communist East, looking to forge its own path and create a socialist utopia. But after Tito died in 1980, and economic crisis took hold, the new elites sought to distance themselves from the socialist regime, including its architecture. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Laundry hangs out to dry inside Belgrade’s Block 23 apartment neighbourhood. The architecture was supposed to show the power of a state between two worlds - Western democracy and the communist East, looking to forge its own path and create a socialist utopia. But after Tito died in 1980, and economic crisis took hold, the new elites sought to distance themselves from the socialist regime, including its architecture. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Karaburma Housing Tower, also known as the “Toblerone” in Belgrade. In 1991 the series of wars began that led to the collapse of Yugoslavia. “Now enough time has passed and people have begun to appreciate the architecture of Yugoslavia,” said Alan Braun, lecturer at Zagreb University’s architecture faculty. He said the style was unique because of its visible influence from the West, reflecting Yugoslavia’s unique position. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Karaburma Housing Tower, also known as the “Toblerone” in Belgrade. In 1991 the series of wars began that led to the collapse of Yugoslavia. “Now enough time has passed and people have begun to appreciate the architecture of Yugoslavia,” said Alan Braun, lecturer at Zagreb University’s architecture faculty. He said the style was unique because of its visible influence from the West, reflecting Yugoslavia’s unique position. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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A staircase in The Great Hall inside The Palata Srbija building in Belgrade. Keen to capitalise on the interest, Belgrade authorities are now considering opening parts of this masterpiece of Yugoslav brutalism, which is currently only open once a year. The building hosted former world leaders such as US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Russian leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

A staircase in The Great Hall inside The Palata Srbija building in Belgrade. Keen to capitalise on the interest, Belgrade authorities are now considering opening parts of this masterpiece of Yugoslav brutalism, which is currently only open once a year. The building hosted former world leaders such as US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Russian leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Chairs line up inside the Yugoslavia Saloon, inside The Palata Srbija building. Each of the former Yugoslav republics had its own salon with a central room called the hall of Yugoslavia. Furniture and carpets were custom made and some of the most prominent artists produced paintings and mosaics. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Chairs line up inside the Yugoslavia Saloon, inside The Palata Srbija building. Each of the former Yugoslav republics had its own salon with a central room called the hall of Yugoslavia. Furniture and carpets were custom made and some of the most prominent artists produced paintings and mosaics. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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The outside of the building is concrete, but the inside is marble. Its centrepiece is this crystal chandelier beneath a 19 metre dome weighing more than nine tonnes. “It is a shame to keep such a master piece away from the eyes of the public,” said Sandra Vesic Tesla, curator of the building. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

The outside of the building is concrete, but the inside is marble. Its centrepiece is this crystal chandelier beneath a 19 metre dome weighing more than nine tonnes. “It is a shame to keep such a master piece away from the eyes of the public,” said Sandra Vesic Tesla, curator of the building. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Other examples of Yugoslav brutalism include the huge memorials commemorating the struggle against fascism by Tito’s partisans, often placed in dramatic rural settings. Many of those pieces of art remain in disrepair, such as the monument to the uprising against fascism in Petrova Gora. However, the Tjentiste memorial (pictured), commemorating the killing of 7,000 people by the Nazis was renovated last year. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Other examples of Yugoslav brutalism include the huge memorials commemorating the struggle against fascism by Tito’s partisans, often placed in dramatic rural settings. Many of those pieces of art remain in disrepair, such as the monument to the uprising against fascism in Petrova Gora. However, the Tjentiste memorial (pictured), commemorating the killing of 7,000 people by the Nazis was renovated last year. (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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Miodrag Zivkovic, poses for a picture with the original maquette in his home in Belgrade. Zivkovic, the 91-year-old sculptor Tjentiste memorial was among the first artists in the former Yugoslavia to use concrete. “For every project back in those days there was a national contest, and artists from all over the country had the opportunity to apply, and that competition produced quality.” (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

Updated on Nov 01, 2019 12:27 PM

Miodrag Zivkovic, poses for a picture with the original maquette in his home in Belgrade. Zivkovic, the 91-year-old sculptor Tjentiste memorial was among the first artists in the former Yugoslavia to use concrete. “For every project back in those days there was a national contest, and artists from all over the country had the opportunity to apply, and that competition produced quality.” (Marko Djurica / REUTERS)

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