Following an international competition, London-based architecture studio AL_A has been selected to design the new Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall. The project will become a landmark for the Serbian capital, as it represents the biggest cultural investment in the region in the last decades. Located near the historic Palace of Serbia in New Belgrade, the Concert Hall features multiple performance, rehearsal, and creative spaces, including a 1,600 seats symphonic concert hall. The design team led by AL_A also includes landscape designers VDLA, engineers AFA Consult, and local architects Zabriskie. They are joined by Arup, who coordinates the acoustic and theatrical design.
In 2021 the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched an international design competition on behalf of the Government of Serbia in partnership with the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the City of Belgrade, and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. The initiative resulted in an international competition for which 37 applications were received from 15 countries. After passing through several stages, the jury, comprising of architects, concert hall specialists, representatives of the organizing bodies, along with Arup’s culture planning consultants, chose AL_A as the winner of the commission.
The Belgrade Philharmonic Concert Hall will become the largest cultural infrastructure project in Serbia and the Balkan region. The project is seen as a key investment in the culture and education of the country, while also helping to renew Belgrade's tourist attractivity. Located in a large expanse of green spaces near the Palace of Serbia and overlooking the Danube River, the building aims to take advantage of this position and orient itself toward the surrounding landscape. The clean white cross-shaped volume of the building also creates the potential for several outdoor spaces to be organized around the Philharmonic Hall. These spaces can become venues for outdoor concerts, exhibitions, or performance shows.
You couldn’t dream of a better site than this to message Serbia’s vision for the future. The magnificent setting of Ušće Park, on the banks of the River Danube, sends a powerful message about transforming and rewilding our cities to make them greener, more beautiful spaces. The Concert Hall will be an expression of harmony between nature, architecture and music, at a pivot point in Europe where East meets West. It will be a place where people from all places and cultures, of all ages and abilities, come together to delight in music from every genre. - Amanda Levete, principal of AL_A
AL_A is an international architecture studio based in London, UK. Recently they have revealed the design of the world’s first magnetized fusion power station set to be built in Culham, United Kingdom, in collaboration with Canadian energy firm General Fusion. They are also the designers behind the redesign of V&A’s former boilerhouse yard on London’s great cultural artery, Exhibition Road, and the MAAT Museum in Portugal.
