Beogradjanka Tower

Beograđanka (Serbian Cyrillic: Београђанка; pronounced [beǒɡradʑaːŋka], literally: the Belgrade Lady), officially Belgrade Palace (Serbian: Палата Београд,Palata Beograd, [palǎta beǒɡrad]) is a modern high-rise building in the Belgrade downtown area. It is 101 m (331 ft) tall. It is one of the symbols of the city and representative of the "golden age" in the development of Belgrade, a tenure of mayor Branko Pešić (1965-74).

Location

It is situated on the crossroads of Kralja Milana (central city street), Resavska and Masarikova Streets. It is located near the tripoint of the Savski Venac (to which the building belongs), Vračar and Stari Grad municipalities. Neighborhoods in the vicinity include Cvetni Trg to the east, Krunski Venac to the northeast, Andrićev Venac to the north, London to the northwest and Savamala to the west. Three parks are close to the building: Pioneers Park, Manjež and Park Gavrilo Princip. Students Cultural Center and Yugoslav Drama Theater are just east of Beograđanka.

History

Construction of the building began in 1969. It was built by two people of the same name and from the same part of Belgrade, Zemun: mayor of Belgrade Branko Pešić and architect Branko Pešić, who designed it.

During the digging of the foundation, ten strong water springs were discovered. Eventually, they were all conducted into the city sewage system. The construction was executed using the latest methods in constructing and during the next 5 years, some 20,000 workers of all kinds were employed in erecting the building. Beograđanka was completed five years later in 1974.

Characteristics

The building is located in the heart of old city center, stretching from Terazije to Slavija Square, with an emphasized aspiration to dominate with ist high 24-story part as the city's reference point.

In the 1980s, the disco club Šestica (The Six) was located on the building's sixth floor . Though operational for only three years, it was quite popular because it provided patrons with an excellent view of the city. It was the only club in Belgrade at the time that was not located in an adapted utility room or a basement.

The top floor once also featured a restaurant, but it has been closed since the 1990s for safety reasons.[ clarification needed]

Tenants

The building is almost completely owned and operated by the City of Belgrade. The first several stories are occupied by the "Beograd" department store; on the other floors offices of Studio B (city-owned TV and radio station) and Happy TV station are located. On the other floors, there are business premises, as well as the head offices of IKEA for Serbia and other Belgrade media are also located in the building. Blic daily still has some offices in Beograđanka although they have moved most of their business to a new building. The ground floor features a Robne kuće Beograd store. As of June 2012, the basement floor is occupied by a Mercator retail store.

Renovation

The city of Belgrade plans to renovate the buildings exterior facade, reconstruct the main entrance and reopen the restaurant on the top floor.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Beograđanka" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.