Photo: Dragana UdovičićArchitectural entrepreneurship is a young activity in Serbia, since more than 70 percent of active bureaus and studios were founded after 2005, but just like all other entrepreneurs, architects of the new generation are above all enterprising. This was best demonstrated by the Association of Serbian Architectural Practices (ASAP), which, in just one year after its establishment, grew into a significant professional association with an increasingly loud and noticeable impact on the change of the business climate and culture, but also on opening a dialogue on numerous challenges the large architectural ecosystem in Serbia is facing. We asked the executive manager of ASAP, Igor Marsenić, what activities marked the first year of the Association's work and what the future goals are.
How would you summarize the results of this first year since your establishment?
I had the honor to present a report on activities during the first regular assembly of our association, and the common impression was that the results were really impressive. We organized more than 20 events of different formats, participated in the organization of the 45th Salon of Architecture, then participated in public debates regarding the amendments to the Law on Copyright and the Law on Planning and Construction, as well as in the drafting of the National Architectural Strategy. We provided our members with business support from Raiffeisen Bank, professional development services from Gi Group, as well as legal assistance from OAD Stojković regarding legal contracts. Our profiles on social networks are becoming a reference point for information regarding the development of architectural entrepreneurship in Serbia, and we are especially proud of our YouTube channel, the growth of subscribers, and the number of views of the content from our video library. Hence, we believe that it is understandable that the number of our members has increased from 13 to 47 in a year and that we are currently present in eight cities in Serbia.
What were your most important comments in the creation of the National Architectural Strategy for the period 2023–2025?
In our remarks and comments, we mostly insisted on the formation of the Chamber of Architects, changes to the competition and post-competition policies, and, consequently, the necessary changes to the Law on Public Procurement, but also the obligation that all media with a national frequency have a program that would influence the understanding of the importance of architectural work. Our representatives will represent our interests and the interests of the profession through numerous working groups that will be formed by the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure and that will deal with the implementation of the strategy. Special praise and thanks go to Mrs. Božana Lukić and Mr. Nebojša Antešević, who led the entire process on behalf of the Ministry of GSI.
What is your general impression of the amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction?
There are many important and necessary novelties in the draft amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction. We support everything related to the "green agenda", but we believe that a trend that has been going on for almost two decades has continued, which is that in the process of creating the draft law, consultations were not carried out with various architectural associations operating in our country. We hope that the drafting of new amendments or a new law will be an opportunity to change this policy.
ASAP was the co-organizer of the Architecture Salon this year. Are you satisfied with how the event went and with the cooperation with the Museum of Applied Art?
First of all, on behalf of ASAP, I would like to thank the Museum of Applied Art and its director, Biljana Jotić, for inviting us to participate in the organization of the salon. The museum showed, for our times, an unusual openness to non-institutional actors and civil associations and thus set a real example of how modern cultural institutions should work, which is to be a platform for dialogue within a community or profession. We accepted the invitation because we believe that architecture must return to institutions because only they have the capacity to simultaneously exhibit, document, archive, and evaluate the work of both individual authors and the entire era. These views of ASAP were presented by our representatives in the Salon Council. All the novelties of this year's salon stemmed from this approach of the entire Council: the introduction of the final report and handover of duties between the two Councils in order to establish continuity of action; mandatory public lectures by members of the jury, which this year was international and chaired by Werner Sobek; a panel discussion with live streaming; the introduction of the audience award; and, for the first time, the awards ceremony as a special event. Of course, one is always a bit nervous in these situations, but the audience, which returned in large numbers to the Salon of Architecture and visited the lectures and panels, as well as the number of views on the YouTube platform of our association, convinced us that with MAA we made important and good decisions for the further development of the most significant national exhibition of architectural creativity.
What are the key objectives you plan to strive for in the upcoming year?
Considering the continuous increase in our membership, one of our basic tasks will be to raise the organizational and management capacities of the association so that we can immediately include a large number of interested people in its activities. We will do this primarily through working groups but also through other forms of action, especially since we will elect a new Board of Directors and working bodies in the next assembly, and this transition will show how much we have matured as a business community. Of course, many ASAP meet-ups and Partner Day await us until the end of the calendar year. I invite your readers to follow our profiles on social networks and event announcements because we believe that they are becoming more and more relevant for understanding the development of architectural entrepreneurship in our country. Join us;, we can only get better together!
By: Petra Vasiljević
Photo: Dragana Udovičić
