Bruno Zevi Foundation - Bruno Zevi Prize 2009

Announcement of the Winner
and Motivations for the Awarding of the Prize

The Jury, composed of Giovanni Carbonara, Philippe Duboy, Mary McLeod, Sergio Pace, James Wines awarded the 2009 Bruno Zevi Prize to the essay Architecture and the Politics of Reading:

Architecture and the Politics of Reading: The Case of the Generalstâb Building in Belgrade
by Vladimir Kulic

The selected essay is written with a sharp critical approach and a broad horizon. It deals with arguments worthy of attention outside of Serbia, laying the foundations for the restoration of the building discussed, a monument to all effects and purposes, which suffered damages during the 1999 bombing raids.
The essay examines the Generalstâb, a complex realized in the centre of Belgrade to host the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the former Yugoslavia, designed and constructed by the architect Nikola Dobrovic between 1954 and 1963. The author reveals that historical-critical opinions, and the very meaning of the project have changed over the last 50 years with the mutation of the political, ideological and cultural context in Serbia.
Architectural criticism, for the author, has attempted to apply values to the building that neither the architect nor the client ever intended to emphasize, expressing value judgements that exalt the connection between architectural culture in Serbia and Central Europe, rather than recognising the building as a symbol of national identity, as per the intentions effectively expressed by its architect, whose objective was to commemorate a legendary battle between Communist Partisans and Nazi soldiers during the Second World War. The author of the essay frames the figure and work of the architect Dobrovic within his cultural and geographic context, highlighting his ties with French culture (in particular, the ideas of Henri Bergson); the author also reconstructs the ideative history of the building, accurately analysing the process that led to its design. The essay explains that its ‘canyon-like’ form alludes to the site where numerous Yugoslav Partisans lost their lives during the aforementioned battle.
The author also presents accurate archival references, an attentive and direct reading of the monument and a balanced framing within the historical-cultural context surrounding the development and construction of the building, maintaining a healthy distance from even the most recent historical and political events. A brilliant essay that is culturally open, well structured and clearly argued, and rendered original by the numerous approaches to interpretation it offers.

The Jury also awarded honourable mentions to two other essays.
The first dedicated to:
Restoring the Work of Franco Minissi. A Dialogue between History and Elements of Modernity [orig. title Il restauro nell’opera di Franco Minissi. Dialogo con l’antico ed elementi di modernità] for the clarity of its method, its accuracy and critical intelligence, as well as the explicit intent to defend a unique ‘contemporary’ heritage, currently subject to serious risks of damage and alteration resulting precisely from its undervaluation and incomprehension;
as well as the essay entitled:
The Form of Space. Art and Architecture in Russia-USSR (1910-1925) [orig. title Forme dello spazio. Arte e architettura in Russia-Urss (1910-1925)] for its original structure and solid philosophical support, for the coherence of its reasoning and excellent bibliography, as well as the difficulty of the literature examined.

Rome, October 2009