07/01/2024
🔎 The Western City Gate of Belgrade, rising high above the highway, was built in 1971-79 at the centre of the modernist New Belgrade neighborhood.
It would become the ultimate icon of Yugoslav economic progress.
it is a massive portal that has been created by a couple of linked towers, capped with a restaurant as a crown.
With its' overall height of 140 metres it immediately became one of Belgrade's most memorable landmarks.
The "Genex tower" consists of two towers of unequal height: the lower was used by the state-owned Genex company and the higher (26 floors) was a residential block with eight units per floor. The towers are joined at the top by a two-storey bridge.
🛸 On top of the towers stands round, flying-saucer looking structure, originally a restaurant for the Genex employees. It offers a 360 degree view of Belgrade, and the original idea was to build a revolving restaurant but the mechanism was never installed.
"Genex – the General Export Company – was founded in 1952, and grew fast in the post-war climate of socialist Yugoslavia. Its success was a measure of Tito’s international diplomacy: particularly after 1964, when Yugoslavia signed a formal agreement of cooperation with the Soviet Union’s Comecon giving them access to Soviet markets while allowing them to maintain their politically nonaligned status. Genex thrived due to this ability to deal freely with partners in both the East and the West." (D. Richter, Ex Utopia)
The murals painted at the walls and ceilings of the bottom of the residential tower are original, painted by Lazar Vujaklija.
After years of being neglected, nowadays it enjoys the status of one of Belgrade’s iconic buildings. The towers are listed as cultural heritage.
You can visit the Genex tower on our tour!
Visit www.yugoverse.com 🌍
