BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC
CONCERT HALL

The project is in the new urban area that emerged in the fifties, known as New Belgrade, in the Ušće park of the Serbian capital, close to the Danube riverbank, the Serbian Palace, and the Ušće commercial area.

The five finalist teams were: Bevk Perović, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, MVRDV, Snøhetta, and AL_A.

We warmly congratulate the winner, the British studio AL_A led by Amanda Levete.

The competition was part of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on behalf of the Serbian Government in partnership with the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Culture and Information, City of Belgrade, and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.

To the four predefined areas of the program – Concert Hall, Recital Hall, Studio, and Podium – we’ve proposed an elevated plaza and exterior lobby that serve as a stage for spontaneous and urban music. This shared social space will link and connect different social groups, it will connect the city with the river and internally it will connect the four proposed performance spaces.

The program is organized in a clear volume, defined by two prisms: the transparent envelope of the common spaces and an elevated translucent prism that encompasses the large concert and recital halls.

The design of the new building uses the greatest possible compactness to offer a strong im­age, heir to modern Serbian architecture, but at the same time, light and diaphanous as an expression of a current culture that is projected into the future.

The proposal aims to be a reference in the landscape of Belgrade and an urban, cultural, and social icon.