Has the concept of a garden city been disturbed: Urbanism and architecture of the Profesors' colony

Abstract

The idea of a garden city, which was formed near the end of the 19th century England, also affected the building of 'The Professors' colony' in the former northeast Belgrade. The constructions started in 1926, and they were completed during the initial months of the following year. Our intention was to consider the urban and social influence of the garden cities idea to the Belgrade 'colony', through critical contents. The fact we support in the text, is that the primary plan of Ebenezer Howard's had been realized here, only it resembled Hempsted (near London) more than the garden cities soon to come. The professors' colony, build to match the ideas of the garden cities, contained formal elements: radial, diagonal and arched streets, semi and full circled squares, as well as irregular parcels and blocks. Primarily conceived as London suburbs that are now those of Belgrade, today they are blended in with the environment, and represent elite neighborhoods with a wealthy population. There are differences between the two examples that are reflected in Hempstead's keeping its autonomy as a whole, with all its needful contents, while 'the colony' is just a settlement, still dependent on the city to tend to its needs. Also, in our work, we keep track of individual edifices, built in the spirit of modern architecture in the Professor's colony.