an unlikely scene in Podgorica, a lonely fisherman at the banks of the Moraca River, oblivious of the Brutalist explosion around him
The various guidebooks and websites identify exactly one landmark in Podgorica, the Millenium Bridge, a 176 m long cable supported bridge over the Moraca River. And indeed, in the late afternoon sunlight this is a nice, if humble sight. But those guidebooks and websites have obviously no eye for the real gems of the city, a couple of truly Brutalist buildings from the Yugoslav-era concrete construction boom, led by home-grown Montenegrin architect Svetlana Kana Radevic. Of whom there is a more-than-life-size mural in the downtown neighbourhood.
the only official landmark, the Millenium Bridge
a mural of Svetlana Kana Radevic, homegrown female star architect of Brutalism
the Hotel Podgorica
one of the Brutalist highlights of town
competing with the sports centre along the river
which displays concrete
in many forms and shapes
the building of the Communist Party Committee. aptly called ‘the two coffins’
Brutalist Gems
Radevic was the creator of the Pogdorica Hotel, her first major work, completed in 1967 and proof that Brutalist doesn’t necessarily needs to be tall – as long as there is sufficient concrete. The hotel did suffer disrepair in the 1990s, but after privatisation in 2005 is operating again, and quite successfully from the looks of it – although I wonder how the interior looks, right now. There is much more Brutalist architecture from Radevic, but we had to limit ourselves because of time. So we checked out other architects’ work with the nearby Sportski Centar Moraca, a collection of sports arenas under fabulously curved roofs originally constructed in 1979, as well as the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, also 1979, and nicknamed ‘the two coffins’. Fabulous buildings – if you are open to this type of construction, of course, locally called Socialist Modernism.
A little further from the centre is the Radio and TV Building, another concrete monstrosity, enlightened with glass-like towers, but in essence concrete slabs and concrete walls, in mostly straight lines. It was built as early as 1970, and it looks like it is still in use today.
the radio and TV building, concrete with a twist
like this part-glass tower
and layered concrete floors at the top
the apartment towers of Block Pet, five identical buildings, only differing – slightly – in colour
each tower intriguingly constructed with conspicuous bulges
and the ubiquitous staircase from top to bottom
individual balconies patched up and decorated
and some parts even brightly, daringly, painted
Block Pet
The real Brutalist neighbourhood is what is called Blok Pet (Block 5, in English), a collection of five tall residential tower, up to 16 floors high, and eight stretched out lower apartment buildings, in a community setting with play grounds, supermarkets and coffee bars that could compete with the structures in Belgrade’s blokus 62. The towers have odd protruding elements to them, at different heights, and vertical open stairwells – in some cases painted in a contrasting colour. The project was built between 1977 and 1984, and there is clearly some wear and tear, but residents do try to keep up the appearance, with occasionally jolly painted balconies. I manage to slip into one of the halls, and can confirm that these are too tall to have stairs only; there was a lift available.
Oh, and I almost forgot the most brilliant gem of all, the Catholic Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus, built in 1969. This is concrete as concrete is supposed to be used, brutalism as brutalism is supposed to look. We have seen quite a few churches during this trip, mostly elegant buildings with delicate frescoes inside. There is nothing elegant here, and inside – the ethnic-Albanian priest was kind enough to let us in – nothing delicate. But as a monument to Brutalism, this is fabulous!
the concrete-only Catholic church from the outside,
and the same, equally concrete-only, on the inside
minimalist in the extreme
the old town, miserable in miserable weather
and the only real attraction in the old town, a stone tower
complete with old houses, in a prime location, yet untouched
the town centre, domain of children’s cars
in a local outside bar the Dutch contribution to the collection is staggering: Bols and De Kuyper
The rest of Podgorica
Is there than nothing else, non-Brutalist, of interest in Podgorica? Hmm, the Old Town, a collection of slightly narrower, winding streets as opposed to the broad and straight boulevards that dissect the city, is in fact not much, except for two mosques, a few old houses in between nondescript others, and a tower. What is called downtown is mildly pleasant in the evening, with Independence Square where children drive around in toy cars, not very different from the way Montenegrin drivers drive their cars, equally chaotic only slower. The restaurants along the pedestrian street are mostly fastfood, and there is very little atmosphere – nothing like Ljubljana, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Prishtina, Tirana, to mention just a few. Podgorica was bombed in WW II and never really recovered, not even by having been called Titograd from 1946 to 1992.
the recently consecrated Orthodox Serbian Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection
with Biblical scenes, like this ark of Noah
the outside of the cathedral built from roughly hewn blocks, some carved
inside, an explosion of modern frescoes
like this one, not sure what to make of it
and what about this one? a form of hell, guarded over by the devil
in which we see Tito, Marx and Engels burning
OK, there is one building that attracts attention, whether you like it or not. The huge Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection, the Serbian Orthodox cathedral that has been under constructing for over 20 years, was finally consecrated in 2013. The exterior is unusual in that it is built from roughly hewn blocks, but in places decorated with carvings, of saints, and of scenes, my favourite being the Ark of Noah. Inside, the frescoes are strikingly modern, mostly depicting the usual bible scenes, but also showing what I would call normal people, even women (!) other than Maria. In the apse above the front entrance is a Judgment Day scene, with Tito, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels burning in hell – in itself a reason to come and see this church. In its modernism, it is actually not bad at all.
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