Cerak Vinogradi () is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the municipality of Čukarica. Completed by 1988, in January 2019 it became the first modern neighborhood of Belgrade which was declared a cultural monument. It is registered at the Docomomo International and is represented at the permanent exhibition in the New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Location
Cerak Vinogradi is bordered by the neighborhoods of Cerak and Filmski Grad to the north, Rakovica and Skojevsko Naselje to the east, Vidikovac to the south and Ibar Highway to the west. Across the highway are the southern sub-neighborhoods of Žarkovo, Bele Vode and Rupčine. It is divided in two sections, Cerak I and Cerak II. "Pilota Mihajla Petrovića" Street, which divides Cerak Vinogradi and Vidikovac is also a municipality border between Čukarica and Rakovica.
History
Initial archaeological work discovered a previous settlement at the site, dated to Lower Paleolithic period and Vinča culture.
The area was previously covered in Turkey oak forest, which was cut long before the construction of the neighborhood began, However, it gave it the name as cerak in Serbian means "Turkey oak forest" (cer, Turkey oak). The other part of the name comes from the narrow strip of vineyards (Serbian vinogradi) along the Ibar highway which existed at the time. By the time construction started, the area was a rangeland on Belgrade's outskirts.
Construction began on the Christmas morning, 7 January 1979. Belgrade's mayor Živorad Kovačević initially visited the construction site every Monday. The first residents moved in during 1981. As the official investor was the Ministry of Defense, the ceremonial moving in was attended by the minister, military band and president of the municipality. The arrangement of the neighborhood was fully finished in 1988, when it was visited by Raisa Gorbacheva.
Until the end of the 1980s, the authorities stick to the original plans, demolishing any attempted edifice in the neighborhood which wasn't envisioned by the general plan. Once considered one of the most modern and beautiful boroughs of Belgrade, in the 1990s, together with the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions of the country, Cerak Vinogradi saw the effect of low maintenance, degradation of the environment, etc. The neighborhood remained one of the few which during the 1990s avoided the faith of other city parts which were clogged with kiosks and market stalls, giving Belgrade the moniker "Kiosk City". By 2021 the buildings deteriorated further, but the open and green areas remained reasonably well preserved.
In May 2021, city announced plans for the neighborhood, which include cultural center, sports complex with swimming pools, park and four new buildings. Some of these venues were already planned at least since 1981, by the original design, but were never built. However, in January 2022, it became evident that city plans to completely change the original plans, which would open door to the different styles of construction in the protected neighborhood. After public outburst, headed by Milenija Marušić, one of the original architects, city backed off from drafting a new plan.
Characteristics
The elevation difference in the neighborhood is , in the Kneza Višeslava Street-Ibar Highway axis. The buildings were projected to appear as if they are bending along the former slopes. The buildings are either three or six storeys high. They were built with the "Žeželj method" - use of prefabricated modular elements made of reinforced concrete. The facades are made of red or yellow bricks and the roofs are slanted, which was another deviation from the usual design of the day which included flat rooftops.
One building was selected for further experimenting. It was the first building in Belgrade with solar thermal collector on its roof. It was used for the solar water heating, while the walls were additionally projected for internal heating. The same building was also used as the broadcasting center of one of the first cable networks in Belgrade.