The publication “Beton Brut – Raw Belgrade” presents an intimate topography of growing up among concrete buildings in Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.

Prominent brutalist buildings include the Belgrade Office of urban planning by Branislav Jovin and the Genex Tower by Mihajlo Mitrović, as well as the modernist building SIV, by architect Vladimir Potočnjak.

Although more of an modernist building, SIV certainly fits into the concrete vision of the new Yugoslav state that was emerging in the second half of the 20th century.

Buildings and monuments made of raw concrete sprang up all over Belgrade in the years after the Second World War. Many of them marked the Yugoslav era.

The term Brutalism arose from the practical need to define in one word cast concrete objects with visible traces of formwork.

Brutalism is the dominant architecture of monumental unambiguity. It was criticized because it ignored the surrounding historical buildings.

This style of modern architecture is named after the French term “Béton brut” which means “raw” concrete, introduced by the French architect Le Corbusier.

This style does not cease to attract the attention of the world public, and many objects of Belgrade’s brutalism are included in the world reviews of this style. In 2018, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has hosted an 6 month exhibition “Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980” exploring the architecture of the former Yugoslavia.

The brochure is printed on rough paper, which resembles concrete in its texture. The printout is in DIN font, which is sans-serif typeface widely used for technical applications. Designed in 1931 for the German standards organization DIN – Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization), DIN is always our first choice for architectural use.

DIN’s main advantage is it’s condensed nature, which makes it suitable for use in all kinds of layouts. It is geometric and functional, just like the architecture of the Yugoslav period.

The brochure includes the following objects: Monument to Kosmaj partisan detachment, Belgrade Office of urban planning, Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia, Genex Tower (West Gate), Heating Plant Konjarnik, New Belgrade – Block 61, Rudo Tower (East Gate), Singles’ Hotel in Pančićeva St.

Project: Beton Brut – Raw Belgrade
Print Design, Photography
StrongWeb Creative Group
Year: 2019