Bureau Savamala Belgrade

Governments utilize a variety of resources to compete with other cities worldwide for
investment, tourism, and riches. The flagship project represents a popular tool in this
competition; it seeks to draw attention through so-called star architecture. Whereas
at the end of the 20th century it was enough to have diverse cultural content like
museums, theatres, and libraries as flagships, the competition between cities intensified
in the 21st century to include the building of ever-taller towers. The Burj Khalifa
in Dubai currently tops the list with a height of 828 meters.
It is not surprising, then, that the Belgrade Waterfront project includes plans for
construction of a central tower in Savamala. With a height of 180 meters, it is supposed
to serve as a beacon of Belgrade’s future. The tower will house a hotel and gastronomic,
residential, and commercial spaces. However, the plans for the Belgrade
Waterfront project do not leave room for any cultural spaces, even though Belgrade’s
National Museum and the Museum for Contemporary Art in New Belgrade have
been closed for years.