Branko Jovanovic - Belgrade urban spine

[d.sign]

Hi everyone,
finaly decided to join in.
It is going to be difficult to catch up after month of the contest, but there is still time ahead...
Anyway, after giving this some thinking, I have realized that my attempt to the architectural wonder need some roots in social concius ideas that we can folow form the rise of modern architecture to the present day, from Le Corbusiers proposals for Algiere and Amazonia, his Unite in Marseilles to the Rem Koolhass proposals for Holland urban redevelopment...

I did not go far for my site, I stayed in my hometown...
Below you can see the map showing the city divided by the river.
Right side (magenta) is old town, very interesting mixture of different cultural and archiecturall traditions, very dense and live, but under attack of growing tendency to destroy old ambients just to get more inhabitable sqare meters...
Left side (greenesh) is new town, built after WWII, based on interpretation of modern architecture ideas deformed by insane ideology and who knows what sensless urge...Rather empty, low dense, sleeping room town...

[d.sign]

Next diagram shows spirit and morphology of this two different poles of my hometown...
I think that pictures speak for themselves

[d.sign]

Now here is the idea shown in diagram below:
Let us try to create the structure which will start on the right side, take some of the spirit and density found there and bring it across the river to the left side, give it some life, some sense. Give it a breath of real city, serve as generator of reasonable urban development around it, as a pedestrian zone, as a shortest walkway line form left side to right side of town.
It will be on pilotis (pilons, feets), using as much as possible of existing old railroad structure and infrastructure...
It will be modular structure with variable content, free for people to plug in and build their own content - houses, shops, etc. The position and density, variety and equall terms will be provided by computer calculation...

[d.sign]

Here are some initial sketches of how this will eventually look like...
Structure will incorporate the inhabitable bridge, internal pedestrian street going up and down...
It will consist of typical segments connected by joint ellements with reinforcement and comunication inside. On some distance there will be empty segment -for internal street to flow out and form a square. Around squares there will be complementary content distributed - cinemas, theaters, sport and recreation, gallerys etc. All that is missing on that side of town... Of course that content will be in separate containers, just connected to the main structure through the sqare ellement...

[d.sign]

Here is the diagram showing the elements of the structure...
For next update I will make diagrams and analysys of typical segment and some details showing characther of the structure...

I hope this make sense for you people, I hope to hear some comments...
Although this structure is not so high, wide, not even spectacular in it form, I hope that it's length and continuity qualify it for architectural wonder...

[TheAllusionist]

Branko,
Welcome to the contest, looking forward to see what is next. Interesting concept, a structure that kind of snakes through an urban context.

[neha]

Hey Branko...very interesting concept...waiting for updates

[pradipta]

Hey Branko in the house , it's great to see you enter. excellent concept and beautiful sketch. waiting to see some modeling ...

[d.sign]

Thanks...
Yes the snake or the spine which should give some sense and dense to wildness of the postapocaliptyc site of New Belgrade... also should stop idiotic and chaotic urban development which taking place in last year or so, due to a lot of free space and no plan or idea about it. So, thiis is kind of my cry for a bit of thinking before building here and there and completely destroy any trace of real city on this side of the river...
Here are some photos of the points where this snake/spine should go through... old railroad structure, place where it should cross the river - old railroad bridge which will be transformed etc.
If i forgot to say, the structure should be flexible as possible, for people to transform it and form it's shape acording to the guidlines of regulative plan based on computer calculation...

[anonyma]

Hi there d.sign!

mmm very powerful concept you have...and nice to see you entered the contest...

regarding your concept i'd like to comment:
1. i think it is in the usage or the inducted use that someone try to put in an architectural proposal and is what makes it different from a simple (bad tagged) "problem or necessities solver"...so i feel like sharing same feeling about this contest...not only in the mood of showing a great building but also working with the intention mud of ideas to model...

2. i designed an urban corridor proposal in tlaxcala mexico like four years ago when doing social service...and this idea of the spine that could articulate and COMMUNICATE was the actual strategy to influence on areas that inititated in a historical religious building and ended on the other edge at a regular "modern" mall...so the challenge to infiltrate a city with such a intervention (i think) is worth it.

3. and about your sketches...i'd only suggest you to take in count what kind of action you'll take not only in the central (pedestrian as i understood so far) section, but in the probable nodes that it'll create all over the streets, and the river itself, that could give you extra challenge on how to illustrate the hybridation of the city, the zones, and finally the people usage...

liking a lot the whole concept

keep going and will keep an eye on your work!