Hasta La Ideas

Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled new images and a movie showing the studio’s proposals to convert an old textile factory in Belgrade, Serbia, into a free-flowing complex of apartments, offices and leisure facilities.

Presented during Belgrade Design Week 2013, Zaha Hadid’s designs show how the curving buildings will integrate with the riverside neighbourhood of the city’s historic Dorcol quarter.

The 94,000 square-metre complex will replace an unused and inaccessible site with a five-star hotel, art galleries, a conference centre, a department store and shops, as well as residential accommodation and offices, just 500 metres from the city centre.

Speaking at the presentation, Zaha Hadid Architects’ Christos Passas said: “All of our projects are unique and every time a project is proposed to us we know we have to create something new, to design something that is distinctive and adapted to the task, to the client, to local context.”

He continued: “This one should not only fit in, but also have a positive impact on the environment in which it is located, and of course, the integration between nature and architecture is also very important. New architecture, in terms of vision, should not be constrained by old forms. Architecture operates on many levels, it should include a particular location and context, and the building can also absorb the context in various ways, which makes the entire complex functional.”

“This project is very sensitive of the environment, but at the same time it can be a symbol of a new era for Serbia,” he concluded.

Construction of the Beko Masterplan will commence next year as part of a €200 million regeneration project that also includes a waterfront public space by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and a new bridge across the Sava River.

Designs for the site were first revealed in 2012. See more images of the project in our earlier story.

Zaha Hadid Architects is also currently working on designs for a 215-metre Miami skyscraper, a mountain museum in the Dolomites and an apartment block beside New York’s High Line.

The studio also has several projects nearing completion, including a Hong Kong university building, an undulating cultural centre in Azerbaijan and an extension to the Serpentine Gallery in London.

See more architecture and design by Zaha Hadid »
See more architecture in Serbia »

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