Will Milan Vapa Paper Factory become new home to Nikola Tesla Museum?

The Nikola Tesla Museum will be located “on one of the stretches of the Belgrade Waterfront, toward the Fair” in the future, according to the state’s most recent plan for the new location of this cultural institution, as announced by the minister of culture of Serbia, Maja Gojkovic, who said that the project task for it was being prepared at that moment.

The minister, however, didn’t specify the precise location on that stretch that the state was considering, but several known factors when it comes to the future home of the Nikola Tesla Museum might help solve the question. It is known that the plan of the Belgrade Waterfront is to be expanded toward the Fair, and on the stretch between the Gazela Bridge and the Fair, the plans for the construction of new apartments have already been presented, that is, it is known how much surface they will take up. It is also known that, on that very stretch, one facility, which has had the status of a cultural monument since 2013, has to be preserved, as also envisaged in the initial Spatial Plan of the Special-Purpose Area for the Belgrade Waterfront. This is the “Fabrika hartije Milana Vape” (“Milan Vapa Paper Factory”), also known as the “Jugosped” building.

There is certainly the possibility of considering the construction of a whole new building for the purposes of the Nikola Tesla Museum in this part of the Belgrade Front, but on the other hand, as the presented projects for that part envisage new residential facilities, all things point to the state planning to move the museum to the former Paper Factory at 10 Vojvode Misica Blvd. That using the existing facility which has the status of a cultural good is more likely than the construction of a new one is also supported by the fact that, in the past ten years or so, all the state’s plans have always envisaged its moving from Krunska Street to some existing building. Previously, it was the Main Rail Station Belgrade building on the Sava Square, and until recently, the Thermal Power Plant “Power and Light” in Dorcol was also a serious candidate. Both these facilities also have the status of a cultural good.

If the Paper Factory truly becomes that location to which the Nikola Tesla Museum is definitely moved, it remains to be seen how that space, considering that it is a cultural monument, will be reconstructed for the needs of the museum and whether it will get an annex in the reconstruction process. Because, let us remind that, when the idea of having this museum moved to the building of the old Main Rail Station was being considered several years ago, certain architects and urban planners pointed out that it might not be the best solution if the plan was for the museum to be interactive and showcase Tesla’s experiments. The insufficient height of the ceiling in the building of the Main Rail Station, where the experiments would be presented, was cited as a problem. Therefore, it is not unrealistic to expect for the building of the former Paper Factory to get an annex for such purposes, if this concept for the museum is still planned.

To add to all this, the fact that the state plans to move and locate other cultural institutions to buildings which have to be preserved (the Main Rail Station, the “Lozionica” building, the old Post Office building on the Sava Square) in the area of the Belgrade Waterfront and its outskirts, such as, for example, the plan to move the Historical Museum of Serbia to the former rail station building, also speaks in favor of the intention to move the museum to the Paper Factory.

D. A.

Ministarstvo kulture Republike Srbije

Muzej Nikole Tesle Beograd

Beogradski sajam doo Beograd

Istorijski muzej Srbije

Nikola Tesla Museum Belgrade

Belgrade Fair

Historical Museum of Serbia

Fabrika hartije Milana Vape

Milan Vapa Paper Factory

Jugošped

Maja Gojković