SOFIJA KALJEVIC

The Museum of Contemporary Art was planned to be located in the place of the old post office in Uzice downtown, which was destroyed in the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Directly facing the largest city square - Partisans' Square - the location is surrounded by other cultural institutions such as the celebrated national theatre, public library, city cinema, other museum buildings and galleries, schools, etc. The development of the project included numerous challenges that greatly influenced the design and development of the building. These challenges included the hilly terrain of the city; the existing building morphology and urban elevations; carefully designed open city views by famous Yugoslavian architects after World War II; the limited size of the building lot with no possibility for expansion; the necessity to follow an extraordinary architectural style - a version of Yugoslavian modernism, paying homage to the building that previously occupied the site; selecting the right building typology to continue promoting city cultural events; and last but not least, satisfying the sensitive, protective, and creative, but most importantly, opinionated Uzice citizens.

Consequently, the project required extensive research and analysis of the existing physical and historical space in order to develop the designs. I appreciated the unique position of the site, which allowed for direct exposure of the building to a large number of people on a daily basis, inviting them to actively participate in and experience the museum's content.

The shape of the building was designed to represent a gentle concrete flow that follows the city's terrain, with the highest point in the back—visually touching the mountain—and the lowest point in the front, as a transparent glass entrance that directly faces the openness of the square and provides astonishing views of the city. The design aimed to provide excellent physical integration while discreetly incorporating the entrance area into the existing pedestrian communication.