Three Squares

The collaboration between 4 very popular names in the “digitalist” community – Isaie Bloch, Gilles Retsin, Igor Pantic and Soomeen Hahm – has resulted in a spectacular proposal for the redevelopment of three main squares in Belgrade (Serbia): the Parliament Square, Republic Square and Nikola Pasic Square. Their solution is both contextualized yet unique, creating a new sense of space and uniformity for a fragmented urban location.

Courtesy of Isaie Bloch, Gilles Retsin, Igor Pantic and Soomeen Hahm

The architects state that “the proposal redefines the three squares, developing a unique character and rich differentiation in the city center, while maintaining an overall coherence. The identity of the squares is reinforced, and sometimes slightly twisted to offer new insights in the urban fabric of Belgrade.”

Courtesy of Isaie Bloch, Gilles Retsin, Igor Pantic and Soomeen Hahm

Their concept derives from the idea of the squares or the public spaces being perceived as “clearly defined figures or objects within a city fabric.” The local situation is currently one of urban discontinuity, “where squares are diffused and have a distorted figure, often cluttered and scattered with randomly distributed objects”.

Courtesy of Isaie Bloch, Gilles Retsin, Igor Pantic and Soomeen Hahm

For the pavement design, local granite and marble were proposed, in order to unify the area by using Serbian materials. The pattern of the flooring creates an alternation in order to “accentuate one direction of the tiles through a different material, which creates a sensation of striations and linearity. At the same time, the pattern is able to accommodate to different directions from the surrounding context, which introduces difference in the system. Where to striations meet under an angle, there is a short moment of interweaving, similar to a fabric. Specific elements such as metro entries or bus stops are accentuated by a shift in the pattern. Bronze elements accentuate and enrich the pattern”.