Preserving in the Balkans

The course in Belgrade was my first experience outside of North America.  I didn’t know what to expect, and there were surprisingly similar aspects to life and work in the Balkans, as well as new facets to projects that I had never considered before.  Intangible heritage is one area that we are constantly struggling with in the United States, and how to integrate the unquantifiable with a physical structure.  In Serbia, the intangible is cherished and considered in close correlation to the physical elements.  We visited a grain mill in Kikinda, which made high quality flour, and is one of only two horse powered mills left in the Balkans.  The building is protected and valued, but the biggest story of the area was the edible heritage.  Gastronomic heritage is integral to the town of Kikinda, and they take pride in the wonderful food they have been making for centuries.

Over the course we partnered with students from the University of Belgrade. As much as I tried to learn some Serbian, cyrillic remained a mystery and would have been lost without the translating skills of the students.  They taught us about Serbian culture, laws, and important words such as ice cream (sladoled).  We traveled to different artist spaces, and talked to policy-makers, to gain insight about projects at all levels.  One of my favorite parts was seeing the unique ways different artists inhabit space, and the changes they make.  Belgrade was full of street art and graffiti added another level to many of the spaces.

Rules and regulations were another area that we had to tackle.  The federal government in Serbia has stronger protections for heritage buildings, but much weaker enforcement.  One aspect of their listing that I found useful is the different levels of importance attributed to different landmarks.  Buildings of the highest cultural importance were listed that way, and strict reconstruction and rehabilitation laws apply.  Many buildings are listed as cultural monuments, but not many have oversight, so with the regulations, changes are not always done legally.  There are also no guidelines or regulations for adaptive reuse.

The final day of the course, we presented our work at the Creative Economy Group (Grupa Za Kreativnu Ekonomiju) space in Belgrade.  As we proposed revitalizing historic buildings with the creative economy, we also proposed regulation changes which would allow greater flexibility in finding functions for historic buildings, and give clear guidance to the adaption of the physical fabric for contemporary use.

Andrea Haley is a first year student in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at PennDesign.  She moved from Pittsburgh, PA to attend Temple University for undergrad and has stayed in  Philadelphia since.  She is interested in vibrant, mixed-use communities and the combination of contemporary and historic design.