BIGZ building

[1] Ministry then decided to relocate the project and construct the building on the lot of the Gođevac brothers, in the industrial zone between the neighborhood of Senjak and the bank of the Sava.

Brašovan travelled through Europe to visit various large press houses in order to refine his project and make it more modern and functional.

The solution for the structural load was over one meter thick plate of reinforced concrete on which the entire building rests.

The press house was to become operational in the autumn of 1941 but this was prevented by the April's massive German bombardment of Belgrade, as part of the Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia in World War II.

[1] After World War II ended, the Belgrade's Publishing and Graphics Institution (Beogradski izdavačko-grafički zavod, abr.

[2] As of 2018, its units currently house printing offices, warehouses, music and art studios, night clubs, a capoeira school, radio-stations, a cultural center, a circus, etc.

Many bands practice in the building, such as: Vizelj, The Schtrebers, DžDž, Metak Za Zlikovca, Stuttgart Online, Autopark, Petrol, Repetitor, Sinestezija, Tobija, The Branka, Damjan od Resnika, Bolesna Štenad, Brigand, Figlio Di Puttana, Vox Populi, Dažd, S.A.R.S., Very Heavy Sars, Pozdravi Kevu, White City Massive, and many others.

[2] Canadian company "Tippin Corporation", which is specialized in purchasing and renovating old edifices in central and eastern Europe, was interested in buying the BIGZ building.

They planned to restore the façade to its full splendor, while the interior will be adapted in the modernized space for artists and musicians.

Hotel was opened in December 2014 and since 2015 "Soravia" has been in negotiations with Matić and minority owners to purchase the BIGZ building, too.

In January 2018, mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali announced that "Soravia" will buy the edifice and that reconstruction will be entrusted to the architect Daniel Liebeskind.

Austrian company stated that the purchase might be concluded in February and that they plan to adapt the building into apartments, galleries, restaurants, business and artistic space,[2] though they added that Liebeskind's involvement was "just an idea".

At the same time, it was announced that "Marera Properties", after negotiating with Matić since the mid-2018, will purchase the building for the total amount (price and future investments) of €50 million.

[8][9] Reporters discovered that "Marera Properties" basically exists only on paper, and that behind it is the Russian fund seated in Cyprus connected with offshore companies from the British Virgin Islands, which also recycles money from Serbia.

Several present and former executives of the company turned out to be, directly or indirectly, connected to Siniša Mali, Serbian finance minister and former mayor of Belgrade.

Discreet nods to the Bauhaus style are evident in the round, brittle-appearing extension surrounding the staircase at the very top of the building, and an elegant fence on the roof terrace with candelabra which appears to be hanging when looked from below.

The terrace itself differs from the rest of the building, resembling a deck of an ocean liner or penthouse of a luxury hotel.

One of the horizontal sections has a basic form of the much lusher facade Brašovan will use after World War II on the Hotel Metropol.

With two monumental symmetrical staircases, elevators in metal cages and apparently endless, half-illuminated labyrinth of corridors, it resembles sets from the Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis.

[2] Most recently the BIGZ building is in the process of inclusion to Docomomo International project's list for protection and preservation as a cultural monument of modernist architecture.

BIGZ building