85-meter-high ferris wheel and an 5,000 m2 aquarium planned near Usce - Architects to give suggestions for exact locations

As part of the competition for the conceptual design of the Museum of Natural History in Belgrade, announced by the Museum of Natural History in Belgrade and the Society of Architects of Belgrade, an urban-architectural competition for the area of Friendship Park-Usce is planned.

Within this competition, participants are expected to, in addition to the Natural History Museum, make proposals for the locations of the Museum of 21st Century Art, the aquarium and the ferris wheel.

As stated, the aquarium should be planned within the public green area of the park, so the maximum area under the facility does not exceed 5,000 m2.

- Based on statistics related to tourist needs and demographic data, the annual capacity of 500,000 to 600,000 visitors has been tentatively set. Regarding the standards related to this type of program, the planned number of parking spaces is around 150, with adequate space for parking buses for organized student visits - according to the statement.

The minimum number of employees will be around 40, whereas the main aquarium will have a volume of 2 million liters.

The maximum height of the ferris wheel provided for in the plan is 85 m.

- The panoramic wheel, in relation to all other contents provided for in the planning documentation, is of temporary nature. In relation to the objects of culture and national importance and the aquarium itself, whose durability derives from the size of the construction project, the location for the Ferris wheel program should be planned as a secondary and accompanying one.

The participants should also determine the most favorable location for the expansion of the capacity and development of the existing Museum of Contemporary Art. A special architectural competition will be planned for the conceptual design of the Museum of the 21st Century.

- Within this competition, the first task calls for the proposal of the most favorable spatial program, taking into account positions of other objects, based on which the location for the facility with maximum area up to 8,000 m2 is planned - as per the text of the competition.

At the initiative of the Museum of Contemporary Art and based on an idea that existed in the 1962 plan, the new building of the Museum of 21st Century Art was planned as an expansion of the capacity for the inheritance of contemporary art in the new century and within the framework of the formation of the museum complex.

The construction of the aquarium and Ferris wheel in Usce Park was announced back in 2018. At the time, the Ferris wheel's announced height was 85 meters, higher than the wheel in Vienna (65 meters), and was planned to weigh 240 tons.

During the presentation of the plans for EXPO 2027, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, announced the construction of a "large aquarium" near Hotel Jugoslavija. The construction of the national concert hall of the Belgrade Philharmonic is also planned near that location.

According to Vucic, the first Natural History Museum will be built near the Museum of Contemporary Art in Usce in Belgrade, where a "museum quarter" or "culture quarter" will be built, because the Philharmonic and the aquarium in Zemun will be built nearby.

I. Z.

Prirodnjački muzej Beograd

SAS-DAB Beograd

Natural History Museum in Belgrade

Association of Belgrade Architects

construction of the Natural History Museum building

Natural History Museum in Friendship Park

Natural History Museum Friendship Park New Belgrade

Friendship Park New Belgrade

formation of a museum district in Friendship Park

Museum of 21st century art

aquarium

ferris wheel

construction aquarium at Usce