Vila Prendić: Proof that demolition is not the solution

BINA, the 19th Belgrade International Week of Architecture, is entering the last quarter of this year's program.

There are two main program lines: one deals with contemporary architecture, and the other with the restoration of the architecture of the 20th century, i.e. the heritage of the modernist period, which is now an extremely topical topic due to the case of the General Staff, Belgrade Fair, Neimar, Slavija, Šećerana...

On this occasion, at BINI, ways of restoring and reconstructing heritage, ways of protecting it by the profession and wider social community are discussed, endangered heritage is discussed and ways to preserve it as a memory of this city.

This year's BINA started with the latter, with the preservation. One (only?) example of good practice was presented with the exhibition "Vila Prendić - new view, new duration" by the architect and senior conservator of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade, Aleksandra Šević, in the Art Gallery of the Belgrade Cultural Center.

Milan Zlokovic

Vila Prendić is located at Osmana Đikića 20, in the Palilula neighborhood Učićelska kolonija. It is listed as a cultural monument, plus it is also part of the architectural-urban complex of the Professor's Colony, which is the spatial cultural-historical complex of Serbia.

As Aleksandra Šević explains, the villa was built in 1932/33. year, and is a significant author's work by the prominent architect Milan Zloković. It was designed for the married couple Prendić, lawyer Jovan Prendić and dentist Dragojla Prendić. It is one of the most representative examples of modernism in Belgrade, in which the concept of architecture of the modernist movement was consistently implemented with purist treatment of facades, organization of compact space and strict functionality of the base.

The exhibition shows the reconstruction of this villa, its transformation from a dilapidated to a representative building. The author of the exhibition, Aleksandra Šević, says that "this is an example of good practice, which should be emulated in the future by people who are faced with having real estate - a cultural monument, or who decide to buy it."

In the first years after the end of the First World War, the application of traditional materials, techniques and constructions continued, recalls Šević, and says that only in the mid-twenties of the last century, modern ideas, which are widely present in developed European centers, bring novelty in construction practice. "The general acceptance of modern architecture can date only after 1930, when the most successful and representative buildings of this direction were created. That process began with the construction of family houses in which the principles and possibilities of the development of modern architecture were applied and realized. Modern architects of Belgrade take over the traditional model of the functional organization of the apartment, without radically changing the program scheme."

Residence

Villa Prendić was designed as an independent building with a view of the park to serve as a residence, but also to house a medical office; consists of basement, ground floor and first floor. The medical part consists of two rooms, a waiting room and the surgery itself, and the residential part consists of a reception area with a hall, living room and dining room located on the ground floor. The living area is raised one meter above the work area, while the service area, kitchen, basement and toilets are located on one level at the height of the house behind the office. The private part of the house includes bedrooms and a bathroom and is located on the first floor.

Aleksandra Šević says that "Zloković's villa project for the married couple Prendić sublimates a rare and truly modernist spirit, consistently and uncompromisingly realizing the concept of interior space based on functionality appropriate to the family structure and lifestyle of the user." He assesses that the villa testifies to the level of awareness and education of Prendić and Zloković "to create together a first-class place of residence that reflects the flourishing of Belgrade's civil culture between the two wars".

The villa was abandoned for many years, and then it got a new owner "who readily accepted the challenges of reconstruction and, recognizing and accepting the values ​​and qualities of the living space designed in this way, created his future living space", says Aleksandra Šević.

The reconstruction preserved all the original values ​​of Villa Prendić, which is why it was declared a cultural monument. "I think the result restored faith that such types of renovation can happen nowadays, that it is not necessary to redo everything, shape it differently and adapt it to some current moment and model of life," says Aleksandra Šević.