Block 23, New Belgrade, Serbia (Valentin Jeck, 2016)
As I walked through the Museum of Modern Art in search of an artwork to photograph and utilize for my next blog post, I came about a distinctly fascinating exhibition titled Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980. The exhibit chronologies and explores how Yugoslavia had to handle the competing forces of Western capitalist taste and investments with socialist demands and government authority during most of the Cold War as new cities were built or modified. Pleasing the architectural desires and practicality of both opposing economic and political forces resulted in the proposed creation of buildings ranging from International Style modernism to efficient Brutalist complexes. Both of these unique architectural styles illustrate the culmination of diversity, urbanization, technology, consumerism, and radical conservative and liberal ideas of socioeconomic policy in Yugoslavia during a volatile period of uncertainty. The exhibit showcases various completed buildings and models with their grandeur and style, while other images depict the deterioration and failure to finish many projects due to factors of funding and disagreements.
One image that caught my attention is this one titled Block 23, New Belgrade, Serbia. According to the accompanying exhibition label, four primary architectures worked on this building, and the construction began in 1968 and finished in 1974. This image shown in the Museum of Modern Art is a digital reproduction of a photograph taken by photographer Valentin Jeck. The image may appear as a dull, concrete scene indistinguishable from similar scenes in New York City. However, this image reminds me of a cyberpunk, futuristic theme of where society may be heading as urbanization and Brutalist architecture condenses society into tight, menacing areas. As I look upon the concrete structure, it evokes a sense of gravity and weight that attaches itself to the body of the building. Modern structures and real estate projects like those along the High Line or in Long Island City employ large quantities of glass to create a sense of openness, wealth, and an overall pleasant to the eyes of the viewer. However, these glass buildings come with various downfalls such as a loss of space and practicality as found in Brutalist architecture, costs to build and maintain the glass are significantly higher, and the glass creates a superficial environment of weightlessness. Whereas, the concrete utopia reduces costs and adds realistic weight to the foundation of the building. Both distinct forms of architecture have their pros and cons, as well as how people perceive the structures, but the concrete brings me a feeling of unnerving calm.
As previously stated, the image parallels similar scenes in areas of New York City. Along the bottom of the image around the stairs, there is black and white graffiti containing words and illustrations. To the left of the courtyard and in the top right near the windows, there are trees to add some sort of refreshing nature and tranquility to the setting. Observing the center top portion of the building, one can see the uniformed design of the floors mirroring one another to precise detail. These elements characterize the intimidating, block structures of Yugoslav architecture while also including open space for communal activities. With many major cities implementing open public space to encourage friendly social interaction, Yugoslavia was influential in the rapid increase and popularity of available open public spaces. While you may not see it in this photo as you would in the other photos in the exhibit, the goal of this architecture was to make people socially engage with each other instead of hiding in their homes and apartments. For some, glass structures may induce openness as a luxury commodity, but for others, concrete structures induce a shared vision of connectedness and reality that the majority of society can embrace.
—Patrick Perrigo
