Vinča Belo Brdo public international urban-planning and architectural competition is open until September 4^th. This competition is organised by Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia and the Association of Architects of Serbia, in cooperation with the national platform Serbia Creates.

Announcing the competition is one of the steps in achieving the goal of making Belo Brdo archaeological site in Vinča into a well-developed archaeological park with various purpose-made elements. These elements will enable visitors to see and understand how people used to live in the Neolithic era, and researchers to apply and develop modern methodologies in the exploration of a multi-layered prehistoric habitat that has been going on without interruption for over a century.

The subject of the competition includes several units within the archeological site, primarily the construction of the future complex of the Scientific Research Center, which is conceived as a regional and European center for multidisciplinary research in the field of archeology, but also the construction of the future Visitor Center with a large green area. The competition includes the reconstruction of the narrowest protection zone of the archeological site, which becomes a kind of open-air museum and an active excavation site, as well as the complete arrangement of the coast from the mouth of the river Bolecica to the Danube and the arrangement of both banks, construction of a number of facilities such as – botanical garden, temporary facilities for the sale of souvenirs, space for children’s facilities…

Vinca Belo Brdo, with the Visitor Center and the Scientific Research Center, will become a center of development, innovation, and inspiration – an unavoidable stop on the cultural and tourist map of Europe.

” We expect that through the realization of the competition, we will re-examine the potentials and affirm the possibilities of shaping and developing the archeological park, which will be equally attractive to scientists and visitors, as well as to the local community. We hope that through the solutions of the awarded competition works, we will get a quality, conceptual spatial solution of the future well-arranged locality.

Through different levels of space use, visitors will be able to see and understand how life unfolded in the Neolithic era. The local population will get a quality and attractive living environment and new development opportunities. Researchers will be able to apply and develop the most modern scientific methods and research procedures in the research and interpretation of this multilayered habitat inhabited continuously for almost a millennium. The survey part of the competition will be further developed through planning documentation, while the architectural solutions of the Visitor Center and the Scientific Research Center, as well as the primary infrastructure network, will be prepared as soon as possible through detailed elaboration at the level of project-technical documentation for permits and construction.”, said prof. Dr. Dubravka Đukanović, director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.

“The international competition is only a part of the general strategy on site development, which includes numerous activities that will systematically, after decades of neglect, regulate one of the most important archeological sites in Europe”, said Bojana Višekruna, advisor to the Prime Minister for creative industries and science.

“In accordance with the further development of the site, the development of the Strategic Master Plan and the Study of Justification for the proclamation of tourist space is nearing completion. It is extremely important to recognize the further development of the site in the right way, to mark its borders and to continue the systematic investment in the survival and comprehensive promotion of the Belo brdo site. In that sense, the future development of this locality is based on three pillars – cultural heritage, science and tourism. In that way, we enable the sustainable development of the site, which will become a European cultural and tourist destination, from which the greatest social and economic benefits will come first to the residents of Vinča, and then to the whole of Belgrade and Serbia. The archeological site of Vinca Belo Brdo, with the Visitor Center and the Scientific Research Center, will finally become a center of development, innovation and inspiration – an unavoidable stop on the cultural and tourist map of Europe, “Visekruna points out.

The deadline for submitting competition entries is September 4^th at 11:59 pm, while the winning entries, no later than September 15, will be announced by a jury composed of: prof. Vesna Cagić Milošević, President of the Jury, Bojana Višekruna, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Creative Industries and Science; prof. Dr. Dubravka Đukanović, architect, director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Monuments; prof. Goran Rako, architect; Ilya Mikitishin, architect.

More details about the competition task, the way of participation and the propositions of the competition can be found on the official website vinca.konkurs.en