Cerak Vinogradi

Cerak Vinogradi is bordered by the neighborhoods of Cerak and Filmski Grad to the north, Rakovica and Skojevsko Naselje to the east, Vidikovac to the south and Ibar Highway to the west. Across the highway are the southern sub-neighborhoods of Žarkovo, Bele Vode and Rupčine. It is divided in two sections, Cerak I and Cerak II. "Pilota Mihajla Petrovića" Street, which divides Cerak Vinogradi and Vidikovac is also a municipality border between Čukarica and Rakovica. == History ==

Initial archaeological work discovered a previous settlement at the site, dated to Lower Paleolithic period and Vinča culture. The area was previously covered in Turkey oak forest, which was cut long before the construction of the neighborhood began, However, it gave it the name as cerak in Serbian means "Turkey oak forest" (cer, Turkey oak). The other part of the name comes from the narrow strip of vineyards (Serbian vinogradi) along the Ibar highway which existed at the time. By the time construction started, the area was a rangeland on Belgrade's outskirts. However, in January 2022, it became evident that city plans to completely change the original plans, which would open door to the different styles of construction in the protected neighborhood. After public outburst, headed by Milenija Marušić, one of the original architects, city backed off from drafting a new plan. == Characteristics ==

The elevation difference in the neighborhood is , in the Kneza Višeslava Street-Ibar Highway axis. The buildings were projected to appear as if they are bending along the former slopes. The buildings are either three or six storeys high. They were built with the "Žeželj method" - use of prefabricated modular elements made of reinforced concrete. The facades are made of red or yellow bricks and the roofs are slanted, which was another deviation from the usual design of the day which included flat rooftops. and 13,091 in 2002. Administratively a local community, sub-municipal administrative units since the 1980s, it merged with the neighboring Cerak and Sportski Centar local communities prior to the 2011 census. United Cerak local community had a population of 43,993. As of June 2015 it has three large supermarkets, a medical center, "Ujedinjene Nacije" elementary school == Assessment ==

The neighborhood features in the New York's Museum of Modern Art 2018 exhibition exploring the architecture of the former Yugoslavia, Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980. The museum researchers preparing the exhibition, stated that Cerak Vinogradi is the only modern neighborhood in former Yugoslavia that hasn't been ruined by additional construction on the green areas and that ambient unit hasn't been devastated. Due to architectural-urbanistic value, the area was originally under the regime of "full protection", meaning complete preservation of the area, with no changes (possible use changes inside particular objects, with preservation of the authenticity and architectural values of the object) - Criteria K2, K8, K6. On 18 January 2019, Cerak Vinogradi was placed under the state protection and declared a cultural monument, as the first modern neighborhood in Belgrade to be protected. The neighborhood remains one of the last integrally planned urban units in Belgrade and the superior achievements in the entire Yugoslav architecture. Authors (Milenija and Darko Marušić and Nedeljko Borovnica) won The October prize (Оktobarska nagrada) for the Cerak Vinogradi project in 1985. == Transportation ==

Cerak Vinogradi is a few minutes away from the park-forest of Košutnjak, a short bus ride from major commercial center of Banovo Brdo, river Sava and the island and lake of Ada Ciganlija. It is also well connected with the rest of the city by public bus (GSP Belgrade) lines 23, 37, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 59, 89, 531, 532, 533 and 534. == References ==