Architectural competitions and the issue of the autonomy of architecture: The case of Terazije Terrace

Terazije Terrace in Belgrade and many different architectural projects for this space produced over the last almost 90 years are the subject matter of the analysis. The research is conducted with the aim to recognize and present diverse currents in the development of an architectural scene and shed light on the role of architectural competitions in these complex flows. The 1929-1930 competition won by Nikola Dobrović, as well as the 1968, 1991 and 1998 competitions with the awarded projects are the focal point of the paper as the samples of architectural practice significant for the understanding of the relations between the treatment of “grand architectural themes” and the dominant orientation of a local architectural culture. The theoretical framework refers to contemporary theoretical debate on the autonomy of the discipline (Somol and Whiting, 2002; Aureli, 2008; Hays, 2010; among the others)