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Abstract: The goal of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of interwar Serbian architecture through a comparative analysis of
the competition entries and the executed design for the Agrarian Bank building in Belgrade (19321934). It points to the stylistic incoherence
and variability of architectural design and the societys tendency, expressed in the taste of a client, to suggest a desirable architectural model
as an image of its own identity. The clients preference for a modern but decorative design combined with an insistence on the classical model
resulted in classical motifs being translated into modern architecture through the stylistic mediation of art deco. Although a renovation after the
Second World War altered its original appearance, the building has retained all attributes of a prominent landmark of the central city area and
played a role in the shaping of the Square of Marx and Engels and the representative space in front of the National Assembly building. The most
important single architectural design of the Krsti brothers, Petar and Branko, the Agrarian Bank building reflects the client/architect relationship
and is exceptionally relevant for historical study and interpretation of interwar Serbia and its architecture.
Keywords: Agrarian Bank, art deco, Krsti brothers, Square of Marx and Engels, Serbian interwar architecture

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:
1] 1998: 158. 22] ., . . (1931),
, : 18. , -
2] 1996. 1996: 49.
3] , . 23/84. 23] Manevi 1979: 189; - 2001: 6668.
4] , 31. 1930; , 4. 1931. 24] .
5] 2013: 3642. : 2014: 409411.

6] , ., , - 25] . : Manevi 1980: 34;

. . Merenik 1989: 94; - 1999; Bogunovi 2005:
904908; 2014: 255259, 396399.
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2014: 534.
10] 1931.
30] Mitrovi 2005.
11] 1933: 5152.
31] :
12] , 2014: 66122.
- .
32] 2013: 39.
13] , 18. 1931; 1931: 7.
33] .
14] Markovi 2006: 127133. -
1929. 1931, 34] .
35] , 18. 1932.
1931. 19311932; . : 128.
36] -13-9-1932.
15] O
: Kadijevi 2011: 466477. 37] .

16] : Blagojevi 2003: 106 38] -

123; Bogunovi 2005: 761769; 2008: 100104. : 2014: 129134, 146148.

17] : Manevi 1981: 39 39] . 2005: 180.

44; 1995: 2324; 2005: 225240; - 40] . 2008: 105116; Manga Bilandi 2012: 116.
2013; 2014: 265266, 268270, 297311, 412413,
557. 41] 62 125-106-121; 2014: 423424.

18] 2014: 31, 99101. 42] . 1937: 9091.

19] 1996; Blagojevi 2003: 169175; Bogunovi 2005: 700 43] .

706; 2008: 2528. 44] .
20] 1996: 49. 45] Blagojevi 2003: 142.
21] . : 17. 46] 2014: 64.

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75


Summary: MILAN PROSEN

THE PRIVILEGED AGRARIAN BANK BUILDING

The building of the Privileged Agrarian Bank in Belgrade, constructed in 19321934 at the corner of present-day
Vlajkovieva Street and 11 Nikola Pai Square, is an anthological piece of Serbian interwar architecture and the most
important single architectural design of the Krsti brothers, Petar and Branko. Created in response to a major architectural
design competition, it reflects the client/architect relationship in the Yugoslav capital city and is exceptionally relevant to
understanding the interwar period in Serbia and its architecture.
Apart from a few architects from Zagreb and Ljubljana, most of the twenty-six entries to the competition launched
in late 1930 were submitted by Belgrade architects. Ranging from conservative and anachronistic to contemporary and
avant-garde, they display a miscellany of styles and mutually remote architectural ideas, offering in that way a cross-section
of the architectural trends of the early 1930s, which was one of the most important periods in the history of Serbian archi-
tecture in terms of scale, quality and diversity.
The selection of the third-prize entry and the decision to entrust the final design to the Krsti brothers indicates the
clients preference for a modern but decorative conception, while the insistence on the classical style suggests a certain
measure of conservatism. The mode of translating classical motifs into a modern architectural language, which both re-
flected contemporary trends and carried the required historical layer, was based on the art deco style. Art deco, a global
architectural phenomenon at the time, reflected the need of society for a modern and decorative architecture, and, radiating
an impression of splendour, implied the owners status.
The property of art deco to modernize motifs and to place them in a new context, different harmonies and contempo-
rary compositional patterns enabled the use of a wide array of motifs ranging from international, expressionist, cubist, mod-
ernist, neoclassical or neo-baroque to those characteristically local, endowed with the distinctiveness which was perceived
as being rooted in the national cultural or folk heritage.
The Agrarian Bank building achieved not only a successful combination of historical and modern styles, but also a
synergy of structure, function and urban contextualization of architecture with the use of applied sculpture and wrought iron
elements. Although a renovation after the Second World War altered its original appearance, the building has retained all
attributes of a prominent landmark of the central city area and played a role in the shaping of the Square of Marx and Engels
and the representative space in front of the National Assembly building, forming part of a stage set against which historical
events marking the life of the capital city have been taking place.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 Hugo Ehrlich, competition entry (Arhitektura)
Fig. 2 Marjan Ivaci, competition entry (Politika)
Fig. 3 Nikola Dobrovi, competition entry (Politika)
Fig. 4 Miladin Prljevi, sketch (Miladin Prljevi Private Records,
Museum of Science and Technology, Belgrade)
Fig. 5 Momilo Belobrk, competition entry (Arhitektura, Ljubljana)
Fig. 6 Vojin Petrovi, competition entry (Vreme)
Fig. 7 Dimitrije M. Leko, competition entry (M. Jurii collection)
Fig. 8 Nikolaj Krasnov, competition entry (M. Jurii collection)
Fig. 9 Unknown author (Duan Babi), competition entry
(M. Jurii collection)
Fig. 10 Krsti brothers, competition entry
(Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 11 Krsti brothers, second design (Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 12 Krsti brothers, final design (Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 13 Krsti brothers, final design, portal
(Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 14 Lojze Dolinar, metope with Mercury
(Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 15 Metope with a woman holding an ear of wheat
(Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 16 Detail of architectural ornament and the wrought iron window
grills on the ground floor (photo by M. Prosen)
Fig. 17 Entrance ornamentation, detail (photo by M. Prosen)
Fig. 18 Interior design for the lobby of the Agrarian Bank
(Krsti Brothers Private Records)
Fig. 19 Agrarian Bank building, 1980 (CHPBI Documentation)

76