Događaji
From Heritage Alert to Future Actions
Case of Post-World War II Modernist Belgrade and Beyond
The Context
ICOMOS and its International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage (ISC20C) issued in November 2024 a Heritage Alert to respond to the imminent risks of demolition and alterations that could diminish the character of 20th-century heritage in the Serbian capital, more specifically, the Dobrović’s Generalštab and the Belgrade Fair complex, both recognized as part of Serbia’s national cultural heritage and valued as significant local assets.
Dobrović’s Generalštab
The Dobrović’s Generalštab complex, consisting of the General Staff Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence, is an architectural and urban ensemble designed by academician and architect Nikola Dobrović. It is located at the crossroads of two major streets, Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina Streets, in Belgrade, originally the political and military centre of Serbia since the beginning of the 19th century.
Completed between 1956 and 1965, this complex represents a significant achievement in Serbian and Yugoslav late-modernist architecture. It is the only work in Belgrade by Dobrović, one of the most prominent Yugoslav architects, theorists, and educators of the 20th century.
Belgrade Fair Complex
The Belgrade Fair complex is a cultural monument comprising a group of buildings and the surrounding designed fairground, situated along the banks of the Sava River and Vojvode Mišića Boulevard in Belgrade.
The innovative urban and architectural solutions applied — particularly the impressive construction methods — contributed significantly to Yugoslavia’s international reputation in civil engineering in the 1950s and 60s. The Belgrade Fairground stands as one of the most valuable works of Serbian Modernist architecture.
Objectives of the Webinar
The webinar, “From Heritage Alert to Future Actions: Case of Post-World War II Modernist Belgrade and Beyond”, is primarily an attempt to create an open platform for discussing the values and state of conservation of modernist architecture in Europe.
It showcases and discusses heritage alert as a tool for intervening in development processes, as a heritage expert organisation. ICOMOS used a heritage alert for the first time in 2009 for the Stockholm City Library, and since then, dozens of alerts have been issued on a global or regional level.
Eastern Europe is very rich in modernist heritage, however its values are often overshadowed by political and dissonant aspects.
Target Audience
The event aims to engage globally with multiple sets of stakeholders, including Conservation Practitioners, Heritage Advocates, Academics, Trainers and Students; Architects, Engineers; Schools of Architecture, Engineering, Conservation and, above all, the people of Serbia.
Webinar Program
Sanja Kesić-Ristić, President, ICOMOS Serbia
Danica Petrović, ICOMOS EPWG Germany, ISC20C
Introductory Words on ISC20C and Heritage Alerts
What Do We See When We Look at the General Staff Building?
Belgrade Fair: Rupturing the Heritage
Belgrade Urbicide
Students for Heritage
Lessons Learned from the Viking Ship Hall Case in Denmark
Moderated by Silvio Oksman, Vice-President, ISC20C, and Danica Petrović, ICOMOS EPWG Germany, ISC20C
Riin Alatalu, Vice-President, ICOMOS International
Speakers’ Biographies
Riin Alatalu
Riin Alatalu, Vice-President of ICOMOS; Associate professor of cultural heritage and conservation in Estonian Academy of Arts; UNESCO Chair in Heritage Studies in Estonian Academy of Arts; vice-chairperson of Estonian Heritage Conservation Council; member of ICOMOS University Forum, Rights-Based Approaches working group, CIVVIH, ICLAFI and ISC20C.
Alatalu has worked in National Heritage Board, Tallinn Culture and Heritage Department and Estonian Ministry of Culture in leading positions.
Sanja Kesić Ristić
Sanja Kesic Ristić, art historian, working as a conservation adviser at the State Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Belgrade – Serbia. Focal point for the World Heritage in Serbia 1992-2007. Worked on a few nomination files for inscription in the World Heritage List (Monastery Of Decani; Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (Serbia).
In recent years she is mainly concerned with the application of international documents in contemporary heritage protection practice and presentation of heritage. General Secretary in National Committee ICOMOS Serbia 2010-2021, NC ICOMOS Serbia President 2022-present.
Danica Petrović
Danica Petrović, doctoral researcher at the University of Groningen, working on the project “Place and Identity in Journalism in Former Yugoslavia.” Trained as an architect in Germany (as a DAAD scholar) and Serbia, she has worked on heritage conservation projects across Europe.
Her Master’s thesis on the protection of Cinema L’Aiglon in Berlin has received the 2024 Student Prize from the Berlin Heritage Authority. She was named among Tagesspiegel’s “100 Minds of the Capital of Science” for her heritage preservation practice. Danica is a representative of the EPWG ICOMOS Germany and a member of ICOMOS ISC20C.
Zoran Đukanović
Zoran Đukanović, full professor, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Architecture. Initiator and leader of the international, interdisciplinary research Program Public Art & Public Space. Visiting professor at Sapienza University of Rome, Politecnico di Milano, Keio University of Tokyo, University of Sassari, Politecnico di Bari.
Special critics, guest lecturer, and mentor of diploma/PhD studies at several universities in Serbia, EU, USA, AUS, JP. Member of several scientific and editorial committees, as well as of several management, consulting and advisory bodies of the cities, public/private institutions, and NGOs in Serbia and abroad. Corresponding member of the Academy of Engineering Sciences of Serbia.
Jelica Jovanović
Jelica Jovanović is a PhD student at the University of Technology Vienna, with the topic Possibilities for sustainable restoration of the second half of the 20th century mass housing of Yugoslavia. Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. Co-founder of DOCOMOMO Serbia and Grupa arhitekata NGO in Belgrade.
Curatorial advisor to the Museum of Modern Art MoMA for the exhibition Towards a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948-1980. Co-author of the book Bogdan Bogdanović Biblioteka Beograd – An Architects Library, and projects PATINA / ПАТИНА; and PREFABRICATING SOLIDARITY: IMS-Žeželj Between Yugoslavia, Cuba, and Angola.
Nikolina Đorđević
Nikolina Đorđević (b. 2003, Serbia) is a student at the Faculty of Applied Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade, Department of Conservation and Restoration. She is engaged in the field of heritage protection and contemporary interpretation of cultural heritage.
She is a member of the Initiative Ansambl Generalstab, actively involved in heritage education, public programs, and exhibitions. The initiative was awarded the Silver Medal by the University of Arts in Belgrade (2025) and the “Heritage Heroes” Award by Europa Nostra. She has contributed to conservation projects across Serbia and was part of the authoring team of the exhibition Architecture of Yugoslav Modernism, Belgrade: 7+1 at the Museum of Yugoslavia (2026). She is also a visual artist and a NextGen Heritage Ambassador at the European Heritage Hub (2026).
Ognjen Marković
Ognjen Marković (b. 2004, Serbia) is a student at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, where he also works as a teaching assistant in Descriptive Geometry I and II, Architectural Design, Space and Form, and Structural Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures.
His interests focus on heritage protection and the contemporary interpretation of cultural heritage. He is a member of the Initiative Ansambl Generalštab, contributing to heritage education, public programmes, discussions, and exhibitions. The initiative received the Silver Medal from the University of Arts in Belgrade (2025) and the Heritage Heroes Award by Europa Nostra.
Silvio Oksman
Silvio Oksman (1972) is an architect and urban planner with a PhD and postdoctoral degree from the University of São Paulo (USP). He partner at Metrópole Arquitetos Ltda. In the last 20 years Oksman has developed several restoration projects and conservation plans for modern buildings.
He is also the vice-president of ICOMOS’s Scientific Committee for the Preservation of 20th Century Heritage and has represented the Institute of Architects of Brazil in local heritage preservation councils.
Grethe Pontoppidan
Grethe Pontoppidan is a Danish architect and heritage advisor with a Nordic Post graduated Master in Architectural Heritage. She leads arkitekturet aps, focusing on strategy and planning for modern built heritage.
Grethe has worked across the Nordic region and beyond, lecturing, publishing, and advising on key preservation projects and World Heritage nominations. She is Co-President of ICOMOS ISC20C.
Dag Petersson
Dag Petersson is Associate Professor in philosophy, research theory and architectural theory at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation. His research is about the political dimension of architecture with a particular focus on spatial temporalities, including questions of heritage, historiography, urban development, project-making and democratic citizen involvement processes.
Join the Discussion
Join the conversation on the future of modernist heritage in Belgrade and beyond.
Register for the Webinar