How "dotted urbanism" threatens Podgorica: Can the solution from '97 be used for the square?

Architect Andrija Markuš says that for the solution of the main city square, it should be considered to apply the plan for which the architect Pavle Popović received an award in the competition in 1997. Popović's plan included redesigning the area of ​​the Bek area, and the square behind it, where the parking lot is now located.

Markuš claims that businessman Bogoljub Karić was also interested in that investment at one time. That plan provided for the construction of ground-floor buildings, plus three floors, on 15 to 20 thousand square meters, all of which was integrated into the surrounding environment of the town of Mirkova. Business premises, apartments, a large number of craft workshops and service shops, which are characteristic of the old Podgorica, were also planned in that area.

Beka designer Božidar Milić was not against Popović's project either.

"It is very important that the project for the development of the city center was made in such a way as to respect the DUP Nova varoš, which was carried out by the planner Mileta Bojanić, which included the entire area between the Morača and Ribnica rivers, today's Ivan Crnojević Boulevard and Marko Miljanova Street, because they used to be like that plans worked. Specifically, Bojanić worked on that plan from 1989 to 1993," says Markuš.

Markuš points out that he fully agrees with the assessment of his colleague Per Vukčević, that Podgorica is endangered by the so-called "spotted urbanism", in which plans are made only for one building, or for example, only for the eastern stand of the stadium, a wider plan is not considered, but individual architects meet the demands of big capital and individuals who have money and dictate their own rules. Markuš does not even accuse businessmen for what is happening with the plans in Podgorica, but exclusively fellow architects who agree to meet people with capital for money.

"For everything that happens in our plans, which distorts the face of the city, destroys its image, soul... I blame individual architects, my colleagues. First, I blame the architect Nikola Drakić for Podgorica, because he is directly responsible, in my opinion, for what happened to the hotels Crna Gora and Podgorica. Now we have the construction of Carine Hotel, which I personally call a "four-star prison", because it is dangerous from all sides with built-up buildings... I am also against the idea of ​​building a new large business center on the area of ​​the current Bek, because the tendency is for such centers are built outside the city... We had the example of the "Nikić" business center, which is located almost in the very center, and the function of that building has already been repurposed, it is now a hotel, because it did not come to life as a business center. The time has passed for you to offer people only a coffee shop next to a coffee shop. We seem to be the richest country in the world, so now the demolition of the Hotel Ljubović is being announced, which I am against, of course..." says Markuš.

He points out that he even believes in the good intentions of the leaders of the city, those who work in the Secretariat for Urban Planning, the chief architect, but that they should consider more carefully what each of the architect planners has done so far, which projects and what are the consequences of their work, so to decide who to hire for specific plans....

"The problem is neither in the government, nor in the opposition, not even in the new capitalists who want to fertilize capital quickly, the problem is the Alawites and unprofessional architects," says Markuš.

As for the Njegoš Park, Markuš says that he is afraid that if the construction of the buildings continues, it will be reduced to sand around the Njegoš monument itself.

"You can collapse Njegoš's park without touching Njegoš's sculpture. So they collapsed the Clock Tower by building tall buildings near it. When it comes to Njegošev park and Morača barracks, you should know that the river is not only limited by its banks, but also by the greenery around it. The first plan for the barracks was ordered from a specific architect who was more concerned with how much he would earn. I called that plan a jumping-off point, that was inadmissible... The city must preserve old buildings, it must preserve its soul, from the center to Morača we should have balance, not shock planning, not buildings that stick out..." says Markuš.

Connect Stara varoš with the center with a pedestrian bridge

When it comes to traffic regulation in the city center, Markuš is of the opinion that the Old Town, which needs revitalization, should be connected to the center via a pedestrian bridge, which would be built between Blažovo and Braće Zlaticanin bridges.

"It is very important that we prohibit the demolition of the existing old buildings in the center, so that we do not meet individual investors, because chaos will arise.

At one time, the architect Slobodan Dragović, who worked in Paris, our man, told me how it is possible to build a garage under the entire Independence Square, to carry out all this undertaking so that it does not interfere with the life of the citizens in the center. If we are thinking about closing the streets, we have to be careful, because it is also necessary to leave the possibility that some streets will be open for cars, the center must be supplied..." says Markuš.

Our interlocutor says that a law should be proposed to prevent the demolition of old buildings in Podgorica, even though they are not cultural property.

Students planted pine trees in Gorica

Andrija Markuš is a child from Podgorica and remembers that the area of ​​the city, after the Second World War, was bare without trees.

"It was so hot in the summer, and there was no ice anywhere, you couldn't hide or move on the embers. You could rot an egg if you put it in the sand. And the winds were stronger, it seems to me, someone older had to take us children across the bridge, when there was a strong northerly wind, at least when we were going to elementary school.

Reforestation of Gorica, Mali brdo, Momišić polje, today's Tološka forest, began in the 50s of the last century with work actions, and we students participated. When the forest was planted in those locations, the government at that time did not know how to preserve it, I know that my grandfather Veliša then suggested that they allow the poor to pick the lower branches and those that fell, take them home for firewood, and that was accepted by the municipal authorities at the time authorities. Under the old government, holes were dug for planting trees, it was not believed that the city would grow so quickly. For us, the children who went to school in the center, those holes were big traps and dangers, when it rained heavily, we regularly fell into them.

I am saying all this so that it is clear to everyone how much I am against the disappearance of green areas. Because parks are the soul of the city. New York would not be the center of the world without Central Park," says Markus.

Budva and Podgorica most threatened by the construction boom

The transition to a new social order, which began in the nineties and coincided with the fratricidal war in these areas, created chaos in the sphere of construction and spatial planning, says Markuš.

Under socialism, the poor, those who could not get an apartment, built wildly. We now have the example of DUP Kruševac B, where the entire neighborhood was illegally added to build two more floors on the existing buildings. So now we have a situation where wild construction is being forced by those who need it for Seychelles.

Municipalities collect contributions from wild construction, fill their budgets, and will not give up that source of money. The most pronounced situation is with Budva, partly with Podgorica. I recently published a book, in which the chapter Adolf and Tito in Budva. We are talking about Adolf Sibirovski, an architect who once designed the Southern Adriatic. Tito, who was coming to Budva for the summer, told the local managers that if someone wants to block the view from the hotel, they should inform him personally... Now you have the case that from the highway in Budva to the coast you have 1.600.000 square meters of construction space. You have buildings that in that space have more square meters than all the houses in the entire old Budva city. You have the architect Miodrag Ralević, who, in my opinion, is the main culprit for the construction chaos in Budva. Something similar happened in parts of Podgorica. That's why I claim that my fellow architects are the main culprits," says Markuš.