An overview of the activities of architect Branko Tanazević (1876-1948) in Belgrade

Abstract

Branko Tanazević (1876-1948) was a renowned Serbian architect active during the first half of the 20th century. The professional public recognized him as a great erudite and authority in his field of activity, thanks to his enviable skill, quality education and knowledgeable, carefully considered approach. He left behind dozens of works imbued with refined aesthetics and a high artistic scope. As a consequence of both the brevity of this work and the fact that Tanazević's approach to his creations deserves a thorough monographic analysis, it became obvious that some typological, chronological, topographical or other limitations needed to be applied. Therefore, the core goal of the study is to shed light on Tanazević's Belgrade oeuvre. This allows a broader view of individual artistic logic, education, imaginative potential and evolutionary process applied by the architect on a micro level, since some of his most significant works were created in the city. In addition to the professed aim of describing and analyzing his main accomplishments, the idea of this paper is to approach the subject of research from different perspectives, in an attempt to appreciate and study numerous interrelated layers and elements, in order to explain, in parallel at the macro level, Tanazević's position and importance in the discourse of the recent history of Serbian architecture and its characteristics and phenomena.