Belgrade, Serbia _ Congress Center Sava
Architects: Stojan Maksimović, Aleksandar Saletić
Date: 1976-77

I made my way through New Belgrade’s many neighborhoods to find myself standing amongst taxi drivers , in the corner of the complex, amazed at the emptiness of the giant mega structure. For those of you not familiar with the project, the complex was designed to house and entertain guests coming to the area for various gatherings;meetings, confrences, performances, etc. It is made up of auditoriums and conferece rooms, a hotel and various small commercial shops providing various services for the complex. Anyway, I walked around the complex for a while taking in the various urban gestures. What appeared to be a street belonging to the city quickly became a raised entry platform for one wing of the building. Although the gestures appear very intentional, during my visit they were very inactive, with only one side branching out and stimulating pedestrian traffic from the freeway to the urban street.

The interior is an intriguing contrast to the exterior pallet of weathered concrete and murky blue-green glass. With very little interior updates in the last 40 years, the interior remains a mixture of orange, blue, green and metallic hues. It’s playful, colorful, almost optimistic - if optimism of the 70s had a color. However, this optimism is dated. It’s a living ghost still waiting to welcome the world.


Panorama of Sava Centar facing New Belgrade's Housing


Zoomed-in view of Sava Centar's facade


Panorama of Sava Centar's "other" entrance


Panorama of Sava Centar's "other" entrance


View from interior lobby of Sava Centar


View of interior lobby of Sava Centar from above


View of interior conference area of Sava Centar