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BELGRADE'S COMMUNIST UTOPIA - Exploring the Brutalist Bloks with Marina of Yugotour

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A Film for Lovers of Yugoslavia, Lovers of Belgrade, and Lovers of Brutalism!
In post-war Yugoslavia, under the gaze of President Tito, there was a desire to develop a new way of living with an approach to architecture and planning that was a radical break from the past. gargantuan Bloks housing thousands of people that would provide for a family’s every need. The objective was a communist utopia. Nowhere in the country epitomised these ideals more than Yugoslavia’s capital, Belgrade, where a whole new city was laid out on the west bank of the Sava river. It was called New Belgrade and these days it is a district renowned for some of the world’s best examples of the forms of architecture known as brutalism and modernism.
For a trip back in time to Yugoslavia what better than a Yugo (courtesy of Yugotour). Now the Yugo was regularly voted the worst car in the world. And for good reason. Luckily I’m not driving it - Marina (architect and fan of brutalism) is far more used to the challenge of driving this car.
Come with us as we visit the Western Gate (Genex Tower), Blok 23, the Contemporary Art Museum, the Palace of Serbia and the Eastern Gate. Learn how these Bloks really did try to enhance the lives of their thousands of residents during the communist times - when social clubs were preferred to shops, common areas were kept tidy, and graffiti was unheard of.
Communism, Tito and Yugoslavia have all drifted into the history books. New Belgrade may not quite have delivered the promised utopia but thousands of residents are still proud to call these bloks home.
For your own tour of Belgrade in a Yugo check out the tours offered by Yugotour on their website - www.yugotour.com
Filmed - May 2024
Jonathan Wheeler
Travel Obscurer
RU-vid, FB and Instagram
(see also Eye Scotland YT channel)
Music licensed through Artlist
Drone footage from Envato
#brutalism #bloks #brutalistarchitecture #belgrade #communistarchitecture #modernism #yugotour

Опубликовано:

6 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 58

@strelov1520 Месяц назад

I have moved to New Belgrade from Kiev, and I love this architecture style. Yards inside of the most of the block are renovated pretty recently and look very convenient, especially for kids. I consider New Belgrade as the modern place from young families for comparatively affordable rent cost

@DragoBoss 2 месяца назад

Well, apart from some confusion concerning the cars, there are other common misconceptions about these blocks. First of all, they were made to be practical, not aesthetically pleasing. However, there was a certain level of modernist appeal to them. The reason why it's mostly gone now is the lack of good maintenance. The privatization of public ownership eliminated the vast majority of state-run and -funded systems that were supposed to take care of the blocks, as well as upgrade them. All that is now in private hands, leading to a quite obvious lack of collective(ist) urban planning.

@WorkingBrother 2 месяца назад

Your comment is visible. Mine is still restricted 😎

@DragoBoss 2 месяца назад

@@WorkingBrother freedom and democracy, man.

@bumbar7 2 месяца назад

I'm not from Belgrade, but been to Belgrade quite a bit. Last time I was accomodated in Block 22, opposite of Block 23 and I had an opportunity to explore this area... even that this was built in a communist time (and the general opinion is that communism was bad, but that's whole another debate) it's still relevant to this time, lot of green areas, basketball courts on every 500m, even full scale football field can be found in the Blocks, parking space still let's say available and traffic not congested (exept the transit highway that goes here), lot of shops for everyone not just grocery but barbers, pharmacies that works 24/7, cafes, restaurants, pizza places, book stores, electronics stores, malls and larger stores like Dechatlon in the nearest Blocks etc, and because it's green and spacious you can feel the calmness even that you are in a 2 milion people European capital city. You can hear the sounds of kids playing under the apartments buildings, you can feel the nature in a way... it still looks somehow organized. You say "utopia" but this looks usefull and relevant even for today standards having the fact that it was built 50 years ago

@TravelObscurer 2 месяца назад

Yes, I agree. I don't think the planners were as far away as creating a social "utopia" as most people think when looking at those towers. I was amazed how green, spacious and quiet it was in the middle of Blok 23. If only the common areas were maintained better. However, even then, Marina issued me that most people were happy with living conditions in New Belgrade.

@bumbar7 2 месяца назад

@@TravelObscurer Sure I agree, this should be maintaned better. In post-Yugoslav countries there is a "joke" that people who are pro-Yugoslav, pro-communist tell to the new democratic authorities, it goes like "You can't even paint what we have built back in the YU times", which maybe is somehow true :D

@ninaveskovic6841 Месяц назад

uvod razreda zakljucak

@prepecenihleb1679 20 дней назад

Communism was great the architecture and spaces are being neglected by the Nato imposed neoliberal capitalist government so maybe meditate on that 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

@heypbolon1941 2 месяца назад

Few years ago I hit a girl from Block 23 at here place. For some reason, I woke up at 6 AM the next morning. With nothing else to do, I wandered into the kitchen to make some coffee. Her kitchen windows were positioned similarly to the ones shown at the 8:17. The early morning sun combined with all the trash outside made the scene incredibly depressing. I had never felt so sad just by looking at a view before. It was as if the early morning stillness amplified every lonely thought I had ever had. It felt surreal, almost like I was in a different world. But at the same time it was beautiful in a strangely unpleasant way. Words cannot describe it. It’s a shame I can’t share a picture I made.

@Filiplego1 Месяц назад

Also, urban planning for New Belgrade was inspired, or taken by Le Courbusier's "futuristic city" plans, they were nothing like Soviet or Eastern European urbanism. I was in both Soviet and of course Belgrade block and they feel different.

@predragmanov6341 Месяц назад

When I was a kid in the 1970s we called Zastava 101 Stoyadeen (Stojadin). It's a Serbian spin of the word Sto yedan (101) and Stoyadin is a typical Serbian rural name. It is documented in the pop culture, movies and lyrics of the 1970s and 80s (Šarlo Akrobata: "da operemo našeg Stojadina" etc.). In the late 80s and later young people started changing the name of that car into Kec (ace, or number one in Serbian slang)

@TravelObscurer Месяц назад

Fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

@theoztreecrasher2647 2 месяца назад

An interesting look at Titoist Belgrade made more entertaining by the guiding of an engaging and intelligent young woman! Some locals from near my own home went back recently to visit the wife's cousins in Belgrade. Unfortunately I've not had the chance to hear her impressions of the place.

@gazibengazi 2 месяца назад

Why is it "most important" that the building was designed by a woman? A meaningless statement. The first woman who graduated in architecture and work in Belgrade was Jelisaveta Načić back in 1900.

@TravelObscurer 2 месяца назад

That was a joke. Irony.

@ilijacar3 2 месяца назад

As someone who has lived in New Blegrade all my life (block 38 for my childhood and teens and now block 37 where I live with my financé, both are just next to Genex tower), I just love them. I briefly lived in other parts of Belgrade (Zemun and near Vračar), but I just kept coming back to New Belgrade. I think it’s the wide, walkable, and breathable streets, safe for kids, pedestrians, cyclists, the trees, the nature, the shops, the overall vibe. It feels safe for people, families with kids and pets, and it’s very peaceful. It’s very funny because my fiancé is a proud Zemun-native and so we always banter about which part of the city is better. As you said, I just wish it was maintained more, and that we could do something about the pollution during the winter (due to heating)

@TravelObscurer 2 месяца назад

Really interesting to hear that. Before I went I would not have imagined anyone choosing New Belgrade over Zemun, but I was so surprised by how safe and peaceful the blocks were. There is an entirely different feeling to the brutalist blocks in the UK - many of which have been demolished because they were just centres of crime.

@MSordernature Месяц назад

You could have wide, walkable, breathable streets and still have buildings that have some aesthetic value. Not grey, sharp rectangulars that eat the soul.

@lukavranes2492 Месяц назад

Great documentary, I really enjoyed it as would anyone else from Belgrade

@TravelObscurer Месяц назад

Thank you for the great feedback!

@patanouketgersiflet9486 2 месяца назад

Are these drone shots yours? If so, they're a nice addition. A neighbor of mine had one of these Yugo cars, butt ugly, very reminiscent of the East German Trabant, like they came out the same mold ( which in a way, they did ). She stopped using it after a long while, and it became a wreck, sitting in the parking lot. I'll be honest, that corporate "double tower" looks rather neat. Some of these brutalist buildings don't look that bad actually, if you can look past their age and less than fresh looks. I for one appreciate that blok utopia, like a small town with all commodities located close to home. I'll bet many people from these generations look at those with fond memories.

@TravelObscurer 2 месяца назад

Yes, the message I got was that most people living in the books are far happier than one might think. The internal gardens were very peaceful and great for children. It's just a shame that the common areas that were well maintained in Yugoslav times now seem to be left in limbo with nobody taking responsiliblty. The drone shots are from stock footage. My drone wouldn't get that high and I doubt I'd have got permission either.

@mikevarga6742 4 дня назад

The part about the yugo car. Now USA”s auto lobby is keeping out the cheap well built affordable cars of China. Even so called low priced Kia and Hyundai had to build more expensive “affordable “ cars. I think it’s no accident. Our gvt will keep out the most affordable things. Do not believe anyone when they call USA a free market. It’s not. But I luv Belgrade. My wife is fl from there. Belgrade is where I found her. It’s my second home. And one day soon, it will be my true second home. I’d luv to spend 3 to 6 months a year there. Working on buying the empty lot next to her family.. they treat me like a king. It took a while to get used to all the socializing and parties lol. I also get a kick out of Serbs being such the boogie men of Europe lol. I hope Serbia keeps improving and wages increase

@Popicile 3 дня назад

2:44 not Militina Milankovica but Mihajla Pupija

@Jugozvuk Месяц назад

THIS ARTICLE IS A GREAT SPIN! This is not "brutal communist utopia" it is a type of architecture produced under the influence of top architects from the world, like LE CORBUSIER! THIS IS NOT NICE TO SAY ABOUT OUR ARCHITECTURE! You are a disgrace!

@dusanpiscevic6213 10 дней назад

Communist utopia?! New Belgrade or Belgrade in general was never built to be "communist utopia"?! No, it was built to be modern city, in line with contemporary most modern urban planing, architectual design and construction techniques, to rival any city in a world. Only trick is that, at the time, most modern construction was Le Corbisier's philosophy, which was phased out and abbandoned in just few decades, tragicaly when yugoslav wars started and it froze brutalist Belgrade for about 20 years and when "new arcitecture" arrived after 20 years, it was glass and steel monstrocities! Le Corbisier philosophy failed spectaculary and there is lot of failed brutalist cities, built as "future city" and now considered ugly, most notably-Brazilia, but also in every major city like Paris and London, where whole new brutalist towns-estates were built (Alexandria, Barbican, etc.). Anyway, although ugly and with delapadated look fron onset, good thing in brutalist estates, is that, there are parks, greenery, playgrounds, sport pitches, parkings, kindergardens and schools everywhere, so kids can play and go to school without adult supervision and be safe and building quality is optimal, so living is fine. And, architects of Belgrade brutalist estates received highest international contemporary architecture accolades and rewards! Also, that Zastava car is italian-FIAT designed for Yugoslavia market, with FIAT engines and all 70s optimal specs. The trick is, it was never improved or replaced in decades after.

@TravelObscurer 9 дней назад

Really interesting points. I think the reference to communism is valid though as the blocks were all about providing everything the population needed with, as you say, sports facilities, clubs and schools. The brutalist estates in London or there UK cities had very little of that philosophy, which is why they quickly became havens for crime and have been universally hated. The Barbican is an exception because it is in an affluent area. The different feeling walking through New Belgrade was not something that I had expected having only seen photos.

@dusanpiscevic6213 8 дней назад

@@TravelObscurer Well, Belgrade was not only city in ex Yugoslavia (re)built in brutalist style nor residence estates are only brutalist construction done. For example, small city of Užice is described in early 20th century by Edith Durham in her traveling book ’’Trough the land of the serb’’ as follows: ’’ the prettiest Httle town that I know in Servia - a place that no traveller in the country should omit to visit. It sprawls through two wooded valleys in a mountainous country as beautiful as anyone need wish to see. Poked away in a lonely valley in a far corner of Servia, has a very good school, well fitted with modern apparatus, is well lighted by electricity, and has started an electric cotton and linen weaving factory, works the 1 50-horse-power electric engines, and high on the opposite hill tower the ruins of the big castle that once guarded the town. Everything else in Užice is new, except the stone bridge over the river, which is mediaeval.’’ Here: Through the lands of the Serb : Durham, M. E. (Mary Edith), 1863-1944 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive . Now, after modernists tore down most of old secession and art-deco buildings and built brutalist structures, consensus is that one of the ugliest (although I find it appealing): files.pedja.supurovic.net/foto/uzice/noc/uzice-nocna-panorama-06-predrag-pedja-supurovic.jpg First brutalist structure in Užice were not high rises, but city square with open modern sculpture gallery, park, theatre, library, residential buildings, first ‘’mall’’ and post office (in 1999 bombed and demolished two times by NATO while CNN reported both times that ‘’major communication center of Yugoslav army was destroyedJ). Here is a glimpse: libergraf.rs/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Trg-partizana-768x469.jpg For this modern urban city planning, Užice architects received major international architectural rewards and as recent as 2015 it was centerpiece of International architectural fair as one of the most successful projects in urban planning. I admit, square itself is good, but rest of towns buildings are brutalist ugly. Here is missing post office: th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.Aihi2EqHIBHvpErI11trOwHaE9?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain And here is a glimpse of remaining secession architecture in Užice: www.turizamuzica.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/uzice-24-1024x663.jpg . So, housing was not only neither main driver for brutalist architecture which replaced old 19th , early 20th century neo-roman and secession buildings, but notion that modern architects are really ‘’improving’’ habitat. My father was one of Užice city architects and he is still somewhat proud of his achievements although now yelling at a cloud when some investor replaces what old building with generic residence estate. He was not neither a devoted communist not he has been ordered to build like this or like that! And most definitely nobody in Užice ever though that we live in communist utopia. Speaking of that, I see that notion of life in communism among westerners is cartoonish and with lots of misconception and prejudices. It is like you learning history of Wild West from John Wayne movies. As for London brutalist estates, I know that they are full of crime. Belgrade blocks were also in the 90s. The consensus was that because of the poverty because of sanctions (everything was banned, from medicine to oil, wages were just few dollars and black market prices were sky high). But later I found out that there were ‘’chavs’’ in brutalist blocks in Britain, infinitely more wealthy than Serbs, dressing the same, listening to same crappy hip-hop and doing petty gang street crime and drugs. Also in France, Russia (gopniks) and everywhere else. Here we didn’t have any immigrants so they are also not to blame. My theory is when ‘’youth culture’’ turn in some degenerative path and critical mass accepts it, than loitering residential estate gangs appear, complaining about lack of ‘’opportunities’’! Oh, common, I had nothing to eat during my high school while bombs fell on me, what are you brits complaining about? McDonald’s? British brutalist estates appeared after WWII to solve housing crisis, government demolished swaths of slums and built them. As to my knowledge, working class took very much pride in them and they were thriving communities but later, when financial wealth started pouring in from British overseas tax heavens, somebody told these people that they are living in ‘’modern slum’’ and collapse begin. Here, it was the opposite. After working families started repopulating estate blocks in 2000s and 2010s, and ‘’community of dads’’ was informally formed in neighborhood and playgrounds, street crime disappeared from blocks by itself. Now people took pride in their estates. And why not we? At least, most of us will be repaying housing loan on these overpriced real estate until pension. By the way, Only fools and horses are one most popular shows in Serbia and constantly on re-run and most of the audience know dialog by heart. Del and Rodney live in brutalist dilapidate estate but in all honesty, Peckam looks better than Belgrade blocks.

@peterjaniceforan3080 2 месяца назад

🫣

@Jugozvuk Месяц назад

THIS is an insult of our great architects of former YUGOSLAVIA! This article should be banned from RU-vid!

@TravelObscurer Месяц назад

Given that there is no criticism of the architecture or planning (just the maintenance) and both Marina and I are fans, what the hell are you talking about?

@Jugozvuk Месяц назад

@@TravelObscurer YOU ARE calling it COMMUNSIT ARCHITECTURE and you are insulting our architects this is very low from you both. First you will have to remove that dissgusting title for our best YUGOSLAV ARCHITECTURE or I will take iit and make a critic on this disgusting article by myself. But difference between you and me is that YOU ARE NOT ARCHITECTS and I am!

@user-nc4su8qc3o 2 месяца назад

Preko. Nekad. Genkeasa. Fireme Amaricacke Te. Miona. Odevde. Iznela Seiselsaka Ostarva. Baxami Banke.

@konstantinub Месяц назад

колико си ракија попио пре него што си написао ово?

@Jugozvuk Месяц назад

You are not even architects!

@user-ii3eu6xd8h 2 месяца назад

Terrible architecture. They are big buildings, but that doesn't mean they are nice. Grey, depressing, and not maintained.

@YoutuBerry1993 2 месяца назад

It's the opposite. Really beautiful!

@alohallo2879 2 месяца назад

Beautiful made for people to.enjoy and live in it... I hate how westerns think their system is the best but it sucks

@FilipCordas 2 месяца назад

Ugliest city in the world.

@Pauli650 2 месяца назад

they are not maintained because Yugoslavia was destroyed and bankrupted and there was no money to maintain them. Back in the 70s they looked much nicer.

@FilipCordas 2 месяца назад

@@Pauli650 no they didn't it was ugly when it was new as well

@bogotvor-rs Месяц назад

marina sounds so obnoxious because of her lack of speaking ability

@TravelObscurer Месяц назад

What a stupid and obnoxious comment

@bogotvor-rs Месяц назад

@@TravelObscurer lmfaoooo

@adnanbosnian5051 2 месяца назад

The blocks are not crumbling. Why did you say "crumbling blocks"? tf

@TravelObscurer 2 месяца назад

No disrespect meant. From what I was told and what I saw, many of the facades are crumbling and would benefit from some maintenance. However, that is simply cosmetic, the basic internal and external structures are absolutely fine. The blocks are in a much better state than many of the brutalist blocks in the UK.

@adnanbosnian5051 2 месяца назад

@@TravelObscurer Yes. Best thing that these "elected" Zionist representatives can do is paint some of the infrastructure that was build during Tito. Just vote and wait for change.