The question of non-place is a philosophical spatial question that architects ask themselves after trying to identify with the built environment. The passage as a (non)place has been processed through various forms of fiction to the extent that it has become a form of motif when discussing the physical manifestations of a non-place. Its name, location or appearance locates us in the urban map of the city, yet gives us a minimal sense of the surrounding urban context. A passage as a micro-context\space is used as a tool to introduce translatory stream line movement into a formally static space. It represents a metaphor for transformation, the unconscious, and a model of parallel reality in which we transcend from one point to another. Shifting in its disjunctive nature, the passage introduces its user to the underbelly, exposing the true makeup of the city’s urban life. In this research, we are reevaluating the position of the passage in the city’s urban landscape. This research focuses on the modernist passage, as it is one of the most common yet often overlooked elements in the urban collage of Belgrade, Serbia. Tracking its trajectory from modernist ambitions to post-socialist dismantlement, whilst reflecting on the social impact these spaces offer. Non-Places, as defined in Auge’s theory, are becoming more prevalent; many of which transform from presumed Third Places or translational spaces. Belgrade has a unique geomorphology, with most of the city centre being on top of a hill overlooking the Danube and Sava River. In order to connect main city points without disrupting an already dense city grid, a few key passages were formed around Terazije Square. Consulting archival city plans, user experience and other relevant theoretical research done on similar examples, this paper aims to illustrate the trajectory of transformation throughout shifts in socio-political context.
Bibliography
- Augé, M. (1995). Non-places: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity. London: Verso.
- Bauman, Z. (2013). Postmodernity and its discontents. Polity Press.
- Benjamin, W. (1982). The arcades project. Harvard University Press.
