Belgrade, Serbia

Railroad Furnace

Gallery
The project is being developed by four independent entities to create mutual synergy. Individual development strategies have been developed for the facilities of the Railroad Furnace, Annex, Water Tower, and Ground Floor, which take into consideration the phased implementation of the project, preservation and revitalization, and the typology of facilities. The Railroad Furnace building and the water tower are protected objects of industrial heritage and as such require a special approach to revitalization and bringing them to a new purpose, which conditioned the time frame for their realization. An annex is an object of modern business, independent in a spatial, urban, and functional organization, while the ground floor represents an organized open public area. The composition of these four entities (+ the "Gazelle" overpass) was formed through time and mutual tensions as a connecting element between them. The horizontal form of the mathematically perfect arch of The Railroad Furnace at the very beginning as opposed to the vertical form of The Water Tower. With the construction of the Gazelle, a part of the perfect arched form of The Railroad Furnace was eroded, and The Water Tower was spatially separated from it. The project takes erosion and division as elements of devastation that have defined this space and uses them as generators of the new. The annex is represented by a perfect 32x32x32m cube that is placed near The Railroad Furnace, creating tension between the two forms that connect them at the same time. Using the urban parameter of the distance from the neighboring building, the "cube" is eroded by the "proximity" of The Railroad Furnace. Most directly, The Railroad Furnace shapes the form of The Annex building. The ground floor is a horizontal surface of stone paving that clearly defines the space of the railroad furnace complex. In terms of its design, it does not compete in any way with the facilities of the railroad furnace, The Water Tower, and The Annex, leaving room for free interpretation and interaction.

location Belgrade, Serbia

year 2021

status Competition

program Mixed use

area 10989 m²