Throughout Serbia and across much of southeastern Europe, unfinished homes are a common sight. Whether stalled for lack of funds, left intentionally incomplete as part of a tax avoidance strategy, or slowly built out over a decades-long period as part of an incremental and inter-generational process, half-completed buildings dot the landscape. Typially defined by a concrete structure filled in with a façade of exposed red cinder blocks, these varied forms constitute a de facto local vernacular. From a distance, the Danilo Dangubic Architects-designed Skew House could almost be mistaken for one of them.
Up close, the multi-family building tells another story. Located in the city of Pančevo — a historic municipality just outside the national capital of Belgrade — the compact five-storey form hints at the region’s informal development, with an exposed concrete skeleton complemented by a brick-red outer skin of perforated aluminum panels. Here, however, the vivid hue is not a sign of stalled progress but of progressive vision, with the scalloped enclosure wrapping both fenestration and loggia-style terraces in a movable shell that residents can utilize to mitigate solar heat gain and preserve privacy — or open a window to the world. In the evening hours, the interplay of lit and darkened windows adds another layer to the composition.
While the building’s pared down exterior expression creates a dialogue with a decidedly more haphazard local context, the design is rigorously ordered and intentional. The interplay of concrete and aluminum creates a pleasantly balanced geometric grid, while the movement of the outer shell makes for a varied rhythm on any given day. And although the rectilinear facade conveys a boxy structure, the 2,557-square-metre Skew House is named for its slightly irregular rhombus shape, which was carefully contoured to make the most of an awkwardly shaped infill site.
Thoughtful, efficient design carries through to the interiors. Organized around a single interior stair (which is accented by the building’s trademark red-orange hue) and a compact central elevator, the floor plans (made possible by relatively permissive European building codes) maximize livable residential space while minimizing the space lost to shared circulation. On a typical upper floor, six units comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites, accommodating a range of lifestyles and demographics, including families. In each suite, every bedroom opens to a generous window.
Completed in late 2023, Skew House presents an elegant and thoughtfully elevated infusion of mid-rise density. The Belgrade-based team at Danilo Dangubic Architects has introduced an addition to the urban fabric that stands apart from its surroundings — and fits right in.
In Suburban Belgrade, a Lantern of a Mid-Rise
Local designers Danilo Dangubic Architects unveil an elegantly streamlined apartment building with a movable outer skin.