Ljiljana Bakić

Architect

Renata Detka

Name:

Ljiljana Bakić

Life Dates:

1939 – 2022 

Positions:

„Vrtna Arhitektura“ 1964 – 1965

„Said Breik & Marwan Kalo Consulting Engineers“ in Kuwait

„Energoprojekt“ 1970 – 2001

Field of expertise:

Architectural design

Education:

Faculty of Architecture at the University of Belgrade (1962)

Awards:

Velika nagradu Beogradskog arhitektonskog salona (1974)

Grand Prix award (1978)

“Nagrada za Životno Delo” Društva Arhitekata Srbije (1944)

„Ranko Radović” award (2013)

Short Biography

Ljiljana Bakić (née Vuković) was born 1939 in Belgrade and graduated from Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu (the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Belgrade) in 1962. In 1964, she started working at the company „Vrtna Arhitektura“ (“Garden Architecture”) where she stayed for one year. In 1965 Ljiljana Bakić and her husband Dragoljub Bakić moved to Kuwait, where they designed residential buildings. While Dragoljub Bakić worked for the Yugoslav company “Energoprojekt” under the management of the architect Milica Šterić, his wife Ljilana Bakić was employed at a local Kuwaiti architecture company, called „Said Breik & Marwan Kalo Consulting Engineers“. After giving birth to two daughters, Ljilana Bakić took some time off for parental leave. In 1970 she continued her architecture career. This time she started working together with her husband at the company „Energoprojekt“, where she was hired permanently after a successful competition entry for which she assisted at the company.

During her career Ljilana Bakić worked in several countries like Japan, Switzerland, Poland and Venezuela. In Zimbabwe she designed several buildings, for example in collaboration with her husband the Sheraton Convention Center and the hotel „Sheraton“ in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. From 1994 to 2001, the couple mostly resided and worked from Harare.

Bakić was a member of the Academy of Architects of Serbia. She was also the author of the book “Anatomy of B&B Architecture”, a monograph detailing her and her husband’s careers, as well as the socio-political elements that influenced their architectural works. Furthermore she wrote articles about architecture for professional magazines. Bakić retired in 2001, and spent the rest of her life in a home she designed together with her husband in Belgrade’s Višnjička neighbourhood. Ljiljana Bakić died on the 9th of july 2022 in Belgrade.

Work

One of the most significant projects that Ljiljana Bakić worked on is the “Pionir” sports hall, which was renamed to „dvorana Aleksandar Nikolić“ (“the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall”) in 2016. This multi-purpose facility, which she designed together with her husband in 1973 has 6,000 seats and is the second largest arena in Belgrade. The complex consists of a sports hall, a swimming pool and a velodrome. The building was built in a postmodernist style. In 1974, Bakić and her husband received the „Velika nagradu Beogradskog arhitektonskog salona“ (the “Grand Prize of the Belgrade Architectural Salon”) for their design of the Pionir sports hall. Four years later they received another „Grand Prix“ award for the ice rink of the sports arena.

From 1974 to 1975, Ljiljana Bakić worked on the design of the “Institute for Rehabilitation of Non-Specific Lung Diseases” in Soko Banja, and she worked together with her husband on the design of two residential complexes in Nova Galenica and Višnjička Banja.

In 1994, Ljiljana Bakić received the “Nagrada za Životno Delo” Društva Arhitekata Srbije, (“the Lifetime Achievement Award” of the Association of Serbian Architects). In 2013 she won the “Ranko Radović” award of Udruženje primenjenih umetnika i dizajnera Srbije (the Association of Applied Artists and Designers of Serbia) for her book “Anatomy of B&B Architecture”.