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Belgrade “City on Water”

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Al Abbar presented project “Belgrade on water” to Vucic

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First Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has attended the presentation of the project “Belgrade on water”, done by Muhammad al Abbar, the director of the newly founded “Eagle Hills” company. The investor from the UAE is ready to put more than three billion dollars in the project. The company has started the works on the project with the support of the Serbian Government, with the goal of building a world class center in Belgrade. Vucic has pointed that the realization of the project “Belgrade on water”, along with the growth of the automotive industry and agriculture, would mean certain recuperation from the crisis for Serbia.

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In the past few decades, the biggest world cities have gradually discovered the potential of their waterfronts, transforming old and dysfunctional industrial zones into quality locations with mixed uses, combining residential, commercial, cultural and sport character. Those were architectural and town planning projects which had a key role in development strategies of such cities, establishing their competitiveness in the global hierarchy and competition over investments and visitors.

Belgrade is certainly among the last few European capitals which haven’t used nor integrated great potential of its waterfront into the existing city core. Current state shows inadequate and degraded facilities, along with devastated industrial zones. The potentials of big, neglected areas remain unused without attractive points and final destinations. In cooperation with today’s leading architects, Luka Beograd company took a highly important first step in the activation of Belgrade waterfront, by developing the project “City On Water”, which would spread over 96 ha from heating plant “Dunav” in Dorćol to Pančevo Bridge. One of today’s most celebrated architects Daniel Libeskind and a renowned consulting firm for public spaces Gehl Architects, were hired in order to develop, in cooperation with Luka Beograd, the vision of new urban complex and thus revitalize the industrial area in close proximity of the city centre.

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The initial vision was to activate great potential of the riverbank and to build a modern urban centre as an integral part of the city which will improve the appearance and importance of the location and the entire Belgrade.Based on the analysis of public life, the use of public space and urban matrix of Belgrade, consulting firm Gehl Architects formulated strategies and guidelines for the development of this area as framework of a detailed planning documentation and Master Plan. The basic idea of this consulting firm is that the use of public space is the essential moment for adequate life in an urban environment.

Established strategies and guidelines form a framework for the range of urban qualities of public spaces defined from the perspective of a man and his everyday activities. They should provide quality area along the riverbank, dynamic public life, social interaction and variety and diversity within new urban context which would become an integral part of the city.

Starting from the strategies and guidelines from Gehl Architects, Daniel Libeskind Studio began to realize the Master Plan which makes the structural basis of the entire complex, both its existing and potential assets.

Master plan is a sophisticated model which determines the instructions for public space planning, the way in which the streets, squares and open neighbourhoods are connected. It defines the height and dimensions of buildings, determines proposed links between buildings and open spaces and identifies pedestrian, cycling, vehicle and public transport network.



Master plan also defines the grounds for determining the most important infrastructure elements as well as functional needs and limits which stem from the location itself, thus linking physical form to social, economic and cultural environment.

Daniel Libeskind studio elaborated established criteria for the realization of urban qualities in order to activate great potential of the waterfront and transform its excellent location into Belgrade attraction and also to connect new urban development with its size and structure to the existing urban matrix, identity and dynamics of the old city core.

Integrated into the common vision, as a result of cooperation between two specific approaches of Gehl Architects and Daniel Libeskind Studio, the following elements represent a strategic basis for the development of the new urban centre:

Luka Beograd :: Master plan

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Sou Fujimoto Architect have shared with us their first place proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront Centre in Belgrade, Serbia. Contrasting the medieval fabric of the capital city, Sou Fujimoto’s “floating cloud” intertwines an array of social and transportation programs into an organized tangle of suspended ramps that emerge from the static platform of the Beton Hala. It was lauded by the jury to be a “brave proposal” that holds the “highest emblematic potential among all of Beton Hala entries”.

The new, vibrant pedestrian square will serve as the principle access point from the capital’s riverfront to it’s historic core. It will house retail space, cafes and restaurants, exterior exhibition space and a viewing platform, as it is perched atop a subterranean parking garage and transportation hub linking the ferry terminal, tram and bus.

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Beton Hala Waterfront Center / Sou Fujimoto Architects | ArchDaily

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The project focusses on the urban regeneration of an important site at the intersection of key cultural projects within the city of Belgrade. Following the region’s strong modernist traditions, the masterplan has applied new concepts and methods that examine and organize the programs of the site; defi ning a composition of buildings that addresses the complexity of 21st century living patterns. The design for BEKO is embedded within the surrounding landscape of Belgrade’s cultural axis and incorporates essential public spaces.

Beko Masterplan - Architecture - Zaha Hadid Architects
 
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BELGRADE - Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended on Saturday a presentation of the project Belgrade on Water, held by Mohamed Alabbar, owner of recently founded company Eagle Hills.

Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic, head of Belgrade provisional council Sinisa Mali and other officials were also at the event.

Alabbar also owns Emaar Properties, which build Burj Al Arab, the tallest building in the world.

He is willing to invest over USD 3 billion in the Belgrade project.

The project includes apartments, hotels, piers and an opera, said Vucic on Friday.

Eagle Hills is based in the United Arab Emirates and focuses on large realty project abroad.

Belgrade on the Water will push Serbia's economy forward
Head of the recently established company Eagle Hills Mohamed Alabbar has said that the initial investment in the project Belgrade on the Water will be EUR 2.5-2.8 billion.

He told reporters 90 percent of the work had been completed, and that what remained were details like the locations for parks, infirmaries, shopping centres and other facilities.

It is a large project at an interesting location and will result in a modern city that will push Serbia's economy forward, because it will provide a stimulus to all of its sectors, particularly construction, hospitality and tourism.

The project is without a doubt one of the most important for Eagle Hills, and the company's officials will work with the local authorities in the coming months to ensure the project is completed as soon as possible, he noted.

It is a very demanding project, whose realization has to involve environment protection, he explained.

The support from the national and local governments is unbelievable, he stated, adding that the project was an opportunity for everyone.

Head of the Belgrade provisional council Sinisa Mali said 80 percent of the project design had been harmonized.

"We should create a company named Belgrade on the Water as soon as possible, start expropriating the land not owned by the government and prepare planning documentation so the first stage of the project could be start by late 2014," Mali stated.

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