Belgrade Fair and its Hall One

Belgrade Fair with its exhibition halls and urban concept is one of the most interesting works of Serbian post-war architecture and construction. It reflects the creative and technical rise in the society and architecture in the late 1950s and early 1960s in former Yugoslavia.
Located in an attractive location on the right bank of the Sava River, near the traffic junction of the city, between the green lungs of Belgrade and the centre, the fair complex has been easily accessible and recognizable landmark of the city for more than 6 decades.

In the architectural competition for the fair 1953, the first prize was awarded to Arch. Milorad Pantović and civil ing. Branko Žeželj and Milan Krstić. As a young architect Pantović worked with Le Corbusier and gained experience designing sports stadiums and industrial facilities.
The construction of the Fair began in 1953 and lasted four years, on an area of 300,000m2. The exhibition space with four halls makes up one architectural unit with a area of 40,000m2. Each of the buildings is an interesting constructive solution, but the most impressive is certainly hall one.

Pantović was looking for a solution that relies on traditional forms of Byzantine domes. The hall is circular in shape and covered with a prefabricated dome of overstretched concrete. Along the ribs of the dome there are linearly arranged round and along the entire ground ring of the hall there are concrete Y supporters. With a span of 109 m, a height of 30.78 m and with a thickness of less than 10 cm at the top, hall 1 has been for years the largest dome in the world made of overstretched concrete.

The hall has several levels: basement, arena, floor and two galleries. In the basement there are utility rooms, warehouses and offices, and all other levels serve as an exhibition space. The total area of the hall is 21280 m2.

Unfortunately, panorama of Belgrade fair domes will disappear after 2027. The further expansion of “Belgrade Waterfront” project is planning residential buildings on the fair location. Although the entire complex of the fair is one architectural unit, only the “hall one”, due to its architectural solutions and construction has been recently declared as a cultural monument and placed under protection. There are ideas of bringing the Belgrade opera into the hall one.

Text by: Vesna Vučinić and Violeta Vujovic, 360BEOGRAD

 

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https://www.gradnja.rs/rusenje-beogradski-sajam-beograd-na-vodi/