Declaration on the fate of the Belgrade Fair and the General Staff - Press release

 Based on the acclamation expressed opinions of the Forum - more than 350 architects and engineers of various professions, conservators, spatial planners, lawyers, economists, art historians - representatives of institutions and organizations of the Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia, the Academy of Architecture of Serbia, the Association of Architects of Serbia, the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Belgrade , Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade, Association of Architects of Belgrade, Association of Architects of Novi Sad, Association of Architects of Niš, Association of Architects of Zrenjanin, Association of Architects Valjeva, Association of Vranje Architects, Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning of Serbia, Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade - Department of Spatial Planning, Association of Urban Planners of Serbia, Women's Architectural Association, Association of Conservators of Serbia, Do.ko.mo.mo. Serbia, Europe Nostra Serbia, the Ministry of Space, the Regulatory Institute for Sustainable Energy, New Planning Practices, the Center for Experiments and Urban Studies, the Association of Landscape Architects of Serbia, held on April 23, 2024 in the building of the Technical Faculties in the Ceremonial Hall of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, on that occasion The formed Working Group summarized the positions and demands regarding the announced demolition and radical change of purpose of the Belgrade Fair complex and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense:

The architectural constructional importance of these buildings has been expertly verified multiple times as the top value of Serbian construction in the second half of the 20th century. We consider the announcement of their partial or complete demolition completely unacceptable.

The significance of the Belgrade Fair complex as a public asset of the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense as administrative and administrative facilities of the Republic is irreplaceable. We consider the announcement of a radical change in their purposes and functions to be completely contrary to the public interest of our society as a whole. These construction works form the cultural identity of our country and people, especially in the case of the consequences of NATO aggression in 1999.

The city of Belgrade must develop in accordance with the public interest as a sustainable and fair place to live with a valuable cultural identity. The development of Belgrade is not a service for realizing private interests and increasing capital with incalculable harmful consequences for the living environment, social justice and the cultural and historical heritage of the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia.

Residents of Belgrade have the right to their city, the right to pursue their common interests
and participate in making decisions about the development of the place where they live. It is unacceptable that laws and urban plans are misused by state and local administration, that public opinion is manipulated and that decisions about the future development of the Belgrade Fair complex and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense are made exclusively by incompetent people from the top of the state.

The Belgrade Fair complex and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense are protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia as cultural and historical heritage of common interest. The preservation of cultural heritage and the development of the built environment is the collective responsibility of all citizens of Belgrade and Serbia, the entire professional public, professional architects, urban planners and planners, and especially the public institutions of the city of Belgrade and the Republic of Serbia and decision makers at both the local and the highest state level.

In accordance with all that has been said, we expressly request:

• Repeal of the existing and adoption of a new decision, which corresponds to the original decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia no. 633-5959/2008 from 15.1.2009. on the declaration of the Belgrade Fair complex as a cultural monument as a whole, which would protect Halls 2, 3 and 4, which are by all accounts a whole with Hall 1, from demolition, and determine protection measures for the Belgrade Fair as a whole. Also, we seek to achieve a broad consensus on public interest in its further planning development.

• That the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense be restored and rehabilitated in accordance with the already established measures for the protection of cultural property, which prescribe the restoration to its original state, as well as the preservation of its administrative purpose. We are also looking for a higher degree of categorization of that architectural work into the status of a cultural property of exceptional importance for the Republic of Serbia.

• Annulment of all decisions, agreements, contracts and plans that are directly contrary to the Constitution, laws, and binding acts of the State of Serbia.

An integral part of this announcement is the Declaration on the fate of the Belgrade Fair and the General Staff.

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A working group with legitimacy gained at the large Forum of over 350 architects, engineers of various professions, conservators, urban planners, spatial planners, lawyers, economists, art historians from all over Serbia on April 23.04.2024, XNUMX, analyzed the previous activities and available documents related to the fate of the Belgrade Fair complex. and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense. In the course of the analysis, all received letters and requests from scientific and professional institutions from Serbia that reacted to the announcement of the demolition and radical change of purpose of the Belgrade Fair complex and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense were processed, as well as comments and suggestions of Forum participants. The Working Group carried out a detailed analysis through a synthesis report with seven aspects and arguments of importance for the fate of these two complexes. On that basis, the Working Group defined.

DECLARATION ON THE FATE OF THE BELGRADE FAIR AND THE GENERAL STAFF

1. Starting from the "Agenda 2030 for sustainable development" (UN, 2015) and the goals of sustainable development as a globally established development framework signed by the Republic of Serbia among the 193 member states, through other global documents also signed by the Republic of Serbia, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia which determines the principles of sustainable development (Article 94 and Article 97 Point 9), and the series of Laws and strategies which determine the principles of sustainable development, we assessed that the implementation of the project so far "Belgrade on the water" as well as the suggested planning solutions of the investor Belgrade on the water doo are taking a path completely opposite to the principles and goals of sustainable development.

2. The "Belgrade on the Water" project was initially based on the violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Serbia, so all subsequent activities on its expansion must be viewed through that prism. Its unconstitutionality and illegality cannot be validated by any subsequent activities and/or regulations and cannot be viewed in isolation from the previous phases of this project. The unconstitutionality of the project is reflected in the adoption of the Law on Determination of Public Interest and special procedures for expropriation and issuance of building permits for the implementation of the "Belgrade on Water" project. This law establishes the public interest in the realization of a completely private project of commercial content, to which the institute of expropriation cannot be applied in any way, which
contrary to the Constitution of the RS, in this case it limits private property.

3. In the same way, construction land and grossly damaged buildings belonging to the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense are illegally handed over to a foreign investor, with the right to intervene on it through architectural and urban transformation according to private will, ignoring the fact that the buildings are protected by law as public cultural property and that on three grounds.

4. The project of the investor Beograd na vodi d.o.o. instead of an urban plan uses a spatial plan of a special purpose area (PPPPN), which was later legally regulated in favor of such projects (Article 21, paragraph 5), thereby derogating from the rights established by the Constitution (Article 2) sovereignty of local self-government units (municipalities of the City of Belgrade), with the tacit consent of the City of Belgrade administration. By relinquishing the property of construction land of over 320 hectares, the state enables a foreign investor from the United Arab Emirates, who is fully legally protected by contracts with the state, to establish extraterritoriality on the territory of Belgrade, with planning and architectural solutions that deviate in everything from the environment and the principles of sustainable architecture and urbanism.

5. The decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (2024) to amend the PPPPN in order to expand the "Belgrade on the Water" project to 327 hectares also includes buildings and complexes of public importance, the largest and most important of which is the Belgrade Fair complex, which according to conceptual solutions of a foreign company scheduled for demolition and conversion into a residential area with a business annex. Instead of preserving and protecting the Belgrade Fair as a single entity, the conceptual solution offers an impersonal complex of residential and commercial buildings. This disrupts the functioning, communal system, identity and social cohesion of Belgrade and
Belgraders, for whom the Belgrade Fair represents a public good of special importance.
In addition, the expansion of the scope of PPPPN and new construction on the Sava coast can significantly threaten the already severely damaged green infrastructure of the city, with additional negative consequences on air quality, temperature regulation and the risk of flooding during stormy rains, which has the effect of endangering the health of the city's residents.

6. The ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense as an urban unit, established and recognized as a benchmark for the identity of Belgrade, with exceptional author's ideas of modern architecture, in the hands of a potential foreign investor is moving in the direction of its architectural and urban devastation, changing the appearance and character of the complex, instead of being restored according to the original project of arch. Nikola Dobrović. Preserving its history and tradition through works of art such as the restored buildings of the General Staff and the Ministry
defense, Serbia would also preserve a significant part of its national identity, which does not have any ideological determination.

7. As for the Belgrade Fair as a whole according to the original plan and projects, there is a possibility of interventions - reconstruction and introduction of new or renovation of old contents (TV studio into a museum, recreation, green belt towards the Sava river, etc.), in cooperation with the protection services cultural goods. In the same way, the initial idea of ​​the investor Beograd na vodi doo to turn Hall 1 at the Belgrade Fair into an opera and ballet, in addition to not being studied technically, functionally and artistically, is structurally unacceptable because it totally ignores
constructive solutions recorded as unique in the world.

8. Finally, for both projects there is an exceptional interest of the public, not only experts, so in that sense their implementation must not be carried out by direct bargaining and agreements with selected investors, in a non-transparent manner and without the active participation of the public and the profession free from political pressure.

According to the above, we believe that the main goal of Belgrade and its 17 city municipalities should be:

INCLUDE BELGRADE ON THE TRACK OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT with four specific requirements:

• Repeal of the existing and adoption of a new decision, which contains and materially corresponds to the original decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (No. 633-5959/2008 of 15.1.2009) on the declaration of the Belgrade Fair complex as a cultural monument as a whole, (which was illegally placed outside effective 22.1.2009) which would include Halls 2, 3 and 4, which are in every respect a whole with Hall 1, and established protection measures for the Belgrade Fair as a whole.

• That an urban development plan (PDR), but not a special purpose area plan (PPPPN), be drawn up and adopted for the entire area of ​​the Belgrade Fair, with the application of appropriate consultations and expert argumentation with the city authorities and investors, with the democratic participation of citizens, and after rehabilitation / return to the original Decision on the protection of the Belgrade Fair as a whole from 2009 and after the implementation of an international competition for the renovation, arrangement and improved solution of the Belgrade Fair area.

• That the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense be categorized into the status of a cultural property of exceptional importance for the Republic of Serbia.

• That the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense be restored and rehabilitated in accordance with the already established protection measures that prescribe restoration to its original state. That the strategic position of the aforementioned ensemble in the zone where other institutions of national importance are located (Government of the Republic of Serbia, MFA, Court of Appeal and Administrative Court) is respected, and that its administrative-administrative purpose is maintained, not allowing interventions and transformations according to the wishes of investors which desecrate the character of this space.

• To invalidate all memoranda, agreements and contracts, as well as to cancel all decisions that are directly contrary to the laws, regulations and binding acts of the State of Serbia, concerning the Belgrade Fair complex and the ensemble of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense.

With respect,
Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia (AINS)
Academy of Architecture of Serbia (AAS)
Association of Architects of Serbia (UAS)
Association of Architects of Belgrade (DAB)
Society of Architects of Novi Sad (DANS)
Association of Architects of Niš (DAN)
Association of Architects of Zrenjanin (DAZ)
Association of Architects of Valjeva (DAV)
Association of Vranje Architects (DVA)

Members of the expert Working Group:

prof. Dr. Borislav Stojkov, architect and urban planner
Bojan Kovačević, MA, architect
prof. Ivan Rašković, architect
academician, prof. emeritus Branislav Mitrović, architect
prof. Dr. Dušan Najdanović, civil engineer
prof. Dr. Jelena Ivanović Vojvodić, architect
prof. Dr. Marija Maruna, architect and urban planner
prof. Dr. Zora Živanović, spatial planner
prof. Dr. Tanja Damnjanović Conley, architect and conservator
Dr. Slavica Vujović, architect and conservator
Lazar Kuzmanov, MSc, architect
Vladislav Lalicki, architect
Dr. Iva Čukić, architect and urban planner
Ana Graovac, architect and urban planner
Miljan Salata, architect
Igor Mikitišin, architect
Aleksandra Vukićević, landscape architect
Jovan Rajić, lawyer, expert in energy and environmental law
Dragomir Ristanović, architect, public policy expert
Lana Trajković, architecture student
Anđela Šulić, architecture student
Matija Vujović, architecture student

The declaration was supported by:

Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade (AFUBG)
Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade - Department of Spatial Planning
Association of Urban Planners of Serbia (UUS)
Association of Conservators of Serbia (DKS)
Do.ko.mo.mo. Serbia (national section - International working groups for documentation and
conservation of buildings, places and units of the modern movement in architecture)
Europe Nostra Serbia
Association of Landscape Architects of Serbia (UPAS)
Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment (RERI)
Ministry of Space
New planning practice
SFERA (Platform for Dialogue and Promotion of Architecture)

Declaration on the fate of the Belgrade Fair and the General Staff