Reconstruction of Contemporary Arts Museum, Belgrade

Architects: Dejan Todorovic (2017), Ivan Antić, Ivanka Raspopović (1965)
Text: Éva Lovra
Photos: Éva Lovra, Bojana Janjic / MSUB

The awards ceremony of the Mies van der Rohe prize in 2019 was held in Barcelone on May 7th with the opening of the exhibition titled -What’s Old, What’s New. This survey of a total of 383 nominated buildings paid special attention to the 40 finalists, among them the reconstruction of the Belgrade-based Contemporary Arts Museum (Muzej Savremene Umetnosti, Beograd – MSUB). The buildings receiving priority focus reflect to potentials and trends in contemporary European architecture such as the adaptive reutilization, liveability and civilisation. The museum was reopened to the public after a decade-long reconstruction and modernization project on October 20th, 2017. The crystallized, simple facade and spaces of the museum imitate the transparency so typical of Mies van der Rohe’s architecture. The reconstruction was inspired to recreate the chief values of the museum opened in 1965 which have been preserved in their intact unchanged forms ever since.

Architect: Dejan Todorović
Cultural heritage survey: Svetlana Marković
Interiors, furniture design: Milena Kordić
Elevation: Termoinženjering
Client: Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Culture and Information; Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade