Old Belgrade indeed has some cool things, namely the majority of cheap boozers, and the scars of NATO bombings that serve as a poignant reminder of a brutal decade in the Balkans, before the turn of the millennium.
Yet, just across the river, lies a different world altogether. New Belgrade, is a bastion of modernity and innovation rising from the ashes of the devastating global destruction of the Second World War. New Belgrade has something better: Brutal, brutal vibes including the infamous Genex building that serves as the Western entry gate to the city. New Belgrade was established in 1948 as a source of new housing following the destruction of the majority of the city.
It embodies the Yugoslav ethos of communal urban development. This school of thought envisioned easily accessible green areas, communal facilities such as schools and sports areas, and economic centres of daily life such as the grocer and the butcher to all be within a 5-minute walking distance of the locals who use them.
The development consists of several “blocs”, wherein brutalist housing structures are erected within a square containing several facilities on the ground floor such as grocery stores around a larger public building such as a school. Blocs 21, 22, 63, and 64 are of particular beauty, we recommend you have a gander.
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