The Western City Gate (1977), aka Genex Tower, by Serbian architect Mihajlo Mitrovic in the brutalist style, in Belgrade, Serbia
The Western City Gate, also known as the Genex Tower is a 36-story skyscraper in Belgrade, Serbia, which was designed in 1977 by Mihajlo Mitrovic in the brutalist style. It is formed by two towers connected with a two-story bridge and revolving restaurant at the top. It is 117 m (384 ft) tall (with a restaurant at 135-140 m (443–459 ft)). It remained the tallest building in Serbia and Belgrade for 42 years, until being surpassed by West 65 Tower in 2021. It was also the tallest building in the Balkans for 14 years, until being surpassed by Akbank Tower in Istanbul, Turkey in 1993. The building is designed to resemble a high-rise gate greeting people arriving in the city from the West (the road from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the city centre leads this way). Disputed and criticized during the designing and construction process, the building is today a dominant landmark in Belgrade. One of the towers was occupied by the state-owned Genex Group. The tower got its popular name "Genex" after this group, while its official title remains Western City Gate. The second, taller tower, is residential. The tower formerly occupied by the Genex company is empty, while the residential tower is still home to scores of people. The revolving mechanism under the restaurant on top never became operational. In November 2021, the building was declared a cultural monument and placed under protection. The declaration refers to the building as an "urban lighthouse" and calls it the most striking motif of New Belgrade, and a visual benchmark for the entirety of the capital.
Size: 3840px × 5760px
Location: Narodnih Heroja, 11070 Belgrade, Serbia, Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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