Russians Make Proposition for Sava Bridge – Memorial Complex Instead of Demolition

Icarus, a community of urban activists consisting of around three hundred Russian architects and designers who are currently active in Belgrade, has proposed to the local public an interesting solution to the problem that has been troubling the Serbian capital for years now. Recently, they presented the project Half-Bridge of Memories – The Program of the Revitalization of the Old Fairgrounds Space as a Place for Remembrance through the Legacy of Sava Bridge.

At the head of the eight-member team which is behind this idea is the architect Vitaliy Sadnyikov of RBTS, and the proposed concept, as explained, entails the preservation of the Old Sava Rail Bridge as an integral part of the memorial area dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide over the Serbs and the Roma and the crimes against those who opposed the occupying forces during the Second World War.

Steel arch integrated into the composition of the complex

The idea is for the steel arch of the bridge, along with fragments of the lateral spans, to be integrated into the composition of the restored complex of the Old Fairgrounds (Staro Sajmiste) concentration camp along the axis of the main monument.

– In addition to the function of a memorial site and a museum, the Old Fairgrounds possess an apparent potential to realize the function of a research and education center in the field of humanitarian research with a permanent event program – they say at Icarus.

As proposed, the preserved pavilions of the Old Fairgrounds and their spacious flat area could become hosts not just for exhibits, but also for thematic film and theater festivals.

The bridge, preserved in fragments, would be turned into a half-bridge, an unfinished structure connecting the two banks, but with a break above the river, in whose preserved and recognizable structure there would be a glass passage refracting above the river.

39,000 wind chimes

According to the author, this composition should make for an emotional impression of the unreachability of the city on the other side of the Sava “as a symbol of freedom for those who fell into captivity at the concentration camp.”

– The echo of remembrance is drowned out by the hum of the trams, and the proposed composition creates a space of tolerance – Icarus points out for the Gradnja.rs portal.

The project also features a composition consisting of 39,000 wind chimes, which alludes to the number of the victims of the death camp on the left bank of the Sava.

RBTS

Icarus

Staro Sajmište

Old Fairgrounds

Vitaliy Sadnyikov

demolition of Old Sava Bridge

construction of Sava Bridge

construction of memorial complex