Miloje Savic Photography
Concretopia
Concretopia is a personal journey through a concrete utopia, combining the double meaning of the word concrete, referring to both the material and the idea – in this case the utopia of the socialist state of the former Yugoslavia revisited through its architecture.
Socialist architecture of Yugoslavia has outlived its country. However, the legacy and its position on today’s urban, cultural, and political maps are constantly changing. Concretopia pays tribute to this unique cultural heritage and assesses its importance in the remembrance of one generation and today’s societal landscape.
I have revisited and recreated parts of my own Concretopia that took place in the spaces where my friends and I used to live, play, fall in love and say goodbye – outlining my personal vision through the synthesis of the aesthetics of the socialist architecture and the vivid memories that chronicle the first 28 years of my life in Yugoslavia.
My cousin (left) and I (right) making first steps into rebelious youth at FC Partizan fans’ turf. Blind spots in a concrete maze of Block 62, New Belgrade, were perfect hideouts.
My friend Lidija with parents visiting her aunt at the iconic “TV building”. The building got its nickname due to its concrete window frames which reminded people of the old TV sets from the 70s. Constructed in the early 70s in Block 28, by architect Ilija Arnautović, two parallel buildings are a matter of heated debate even 50 years after their construction.
My mom and I in a stroll in Block 62, and the common view of the concrete skyscrapers’ cascades. Inhabitants of New Belgrade blocks represent a true mix of the Serbian population. Most people living in blocks received their apartments through government-funded social programs, thus the population is very socio-economically mixed – it is quite common to have a bus driver living next door to a neurosurgeon.
My friend Miloš (first on the left) and his cousins demonstrating the characteristic partisan salute from the World War II with a closed fist. “For the homeland with Tito, go forward!” The atomic shelters (Block 63) built in the 70s, located in-between the buildings, used to be our playgrounds. Who could imagine that we would use them again and for real during the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999.
The memories of my friend Miloš: “Going to the movies was a weekend privilege and we used to get dressed nicely and be on our best behaviour”. Miloš (left) and his elder brother Srdjan. The shopping and cultural center "Fontana" by architect Uroš Martinović, was finished in 1968, and considered an "architectural wonder" at the time. It contained a popular cinema Fontana (in the backdrop), which was shut down in 1991 but later restored and reopened in 2012.
The first grade elementary school class of my friend Miloš wearing pioneers’ caps and scarfs. The school used to be known as “The Republic of Užice” (referring to a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in the World War II Europe that existed in the autumn of 1941 in Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. The Republic was established by the Partisan resistance movement).
My elementary school class in front of Tito’s life-size bronze sculpture (work by Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić (1900-1974)); all dressed up like Tito’s pioneers with red scarves and caps. I am the only one without a cap – the first sign of disagreement with the mass opinion?
We used to call these spaces between two New Belgrade’s solitaires ‘the hole’. They provided convenient clandestine playgrounds where we used to hang-around, smoke our first cigarettes, run out of school, write graffitis... Here is my friend Miloš with his best buddies in one of the holes of Block 63; now-days it is mostly ‘dedicated’ to deceased FC Partizan fan Demir Jukic (1999-2017).
Yugoslavia’s national basketball team became one of the dominant powers of the world basketball in the 70s and the 80s, side by side with the USA and the Soviet Union, winning 5 Olympic and 8 World Cup medals. Many world-recognized basketball players started their careers at New Belgrade’s turfs, and so did some lesser known like my friend Miloš (on the left).