Activism (and idealism)

Community activation in Serbia

These organisations extend their architectural mission to a broader professional and social community, which is professionally interdisciplinary. Through architectural tools, they increase the potential for societal development and demonstrate the mission of architecture, as well as its expanded social and humanistic branches, in the sincerest manner. Architecture also enters the field of activism, and while this is sometimes politicised and criticised, activism and idealism are intuitive conceptual extensions of architecture and design.

Ko Gradi Grad (KGG)

In 2012, Ko Gradi Grad (KGG – Who Builds the City) initiated activities in Belgrade to co-create tangible housing alternatives in the hands of citizens. Their primary activities involve pioneering a cooperative, community-led housing model emphasising citizen involvement, accessibility, affordability, and collective ownership. KGG established the Pametnija Zgrada (PZ – Smarter building) cooperative – Belgrade’s first housing cooperative in two decades. KGG extends its work regionally through the European Cooperative Society MOBA Housing, developing and promoting cooperative housing solutions across Central and Southeastern Europe. In 2023, KGG and PZ started the Centre for New Cooperative Housing, creating a safe space for housing communities to form and collaborate with KGG to undertake pilot housing projects rooted in cooperative principles. Furthermore, KGG conducts groundbreaking research, influences local and national housing policies, and shares its expertise internationally.

Team members: Ana Džokić, Marc Neelen, Marko Aksentijević, Predrag Milić, Nataša Žugić, Milena Tomić, Milja Vuković, and others.

Grupa arhitekata (GA)

Grupa arhitekata (GA – Group of Architects) is a voluntary, non-governmental, and non-profit professional association, founded in Belgrade in 2010. GA works on various projects in rural and urban environments, organising research, studies, workshops, lectures, and site-visits, promoting ecological principles in construction and reconstruction, organising scientific, professional, and multidisciplinary collaborative projects, publishing printed and electronic materials, and cooperating with universities, professional associations and other organisations in Serbia and abroad. GA’s main projects are: annually held Summer Schools of Architecture in Bač and Rogljevo, “Inappropriate Monuments”, partnerships on “WCSCD Rural”, “Prefabricating Solidarity”, “Docomomo Serbia Digital Library”, “Lifting the Curtain”, and “Unfinished Modernisations – Between Utopia and Pragmatism”. GA has carried out several projects and studies for the restoration of Rogljevo wine cellars and houses, Bač Lower Town housing assessments, and studies for the protection and preservation of New Belgrade’s Central Zone, as well as Experimental Blocks 1 and 2.

Active members: Jelica Jovanović, Dragana Petrović, Goran Radivojević, and Ivan Vukdragović.

BAZA

https://mismobaza.org/

BAZA – Spatial Praxis Platform is an organisation that operates in the field of architecture and related disciplines, with the aim of including them in research and spatial design practices and the education of citizens, especially students and young professionals in the domain of spatial culture and the interpretation and promotion of architectural heritage. Through local and international transdisciplinary and trans-sectoral cooperation, BAZA shares global knowledge on the principal spatial practices and agencies through architectural design projects, publications, and events, opening the wider debate on crucial ideas and initiatives. All its activities are directed towards creating strategic narratives of new urban development in the context of modern society and technology, and mediating the encounters between citizens and the architectural heritage of the city, which is otherwise not readily transparent and accessible. BAZA has been active since 2019.

BAZA – Spatial Praxis Platform founding members: Bojan Stojković, Višnja Žugić, Dragana Konstantinović, Maja Momirov, Miljana Zeković, and Slobodan Jović.