Beton Brut – Raw Belgrade

The publication "Beton Brut – Raw Belgrade" presents an intimate topography of growing up among concrete buildings in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

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

Although more of a 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 a single word, cast-concrete buildings with visible traces of formwork.

Brutalism is the dominant architecture of monumental unambiguity. It was criticized for ignoring the surrounding historical buildings.

This style of modern architecture takes its name from the French term "béton brut," meaning "raw concrete," introduced by the French architect Le Corbusier.

This style continues to attract international attention, and many of Belgrade's brutalist buildings are featured in international surveys of the style. In 2018, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) hosted a six-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. It is set in DIN, a 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 its condensed nature, which makes it suitable for all kinds of layouts. It is geometric and functional, just like the architecture of the Yugoslav period.

The brochure includes the following buildings: the Monument to the Kosmaj Partisan Detachment, the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade, the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia, Genex Tower (West Gate), Konjarnik Heating Plant, New Belgrade – Block 61, Rudo Tower (East Gate), and the Singles' Hotel on Pančićeva Street.

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