Big Guns in Montenegro

I'm currently on site in Montenegro, which inspired the following . .

Tivat, Montengro - A sleepy backwater of the Albania Veneta until the Austrian army realised its potential as an inland port and created a naval base and arsenal there in the late 19th century. The town grew rapidly, witnessed a workers revolt in 1918 and then became a naval base for the Yugoslav army following WW2.

Submarine bunker nr. Tivat, Montenegro

Forward sixty years and a new revolution is taking place as Montenegro tries to shrug off its recent past; rescinding its tawdry reputation as a cheap 'place in the sun' to become the next luxury playground of the deserving super-rich. There is, we're told, a chronic shortage of superyacht berths available in the med . . .  Given the proximity in scale between a modern superyacht and a cold war frigate, the docks of Tivat are converting from a battle ship gray to well maintained teak. Where once there was there were barnacled balkan sea dogs knecking slivovitz in cramped barracks, there are now the supercilious mega-rich, sipping chablis with their sycophants. 

Portomontenegro development plan

Architectural legacies from the previous era still litter the site, with many arsenal buildings, barracks and hangars awaiting demolition or rehabilitation. Most imposing is the ex-milliray HQ - a robust piece of futurist modernism clad in over-sized white fans - clip-on military regalia in pre-cast concrete. The building now houses the offices and marketing suite for the new developments, the underground bowling alley once reserved for privileged officers now in the hands of Gucci clad sales execs. Its unrepentant design stance stands in stark contrast to the conglomerated mix-up of vernaculars that forms new development. There is a clear attempt to avoid the overbearing modernism of nearby coastal locations - but that's hard to do when you're jamming the apartments in. What results is a cascade of terraces allowing an intimate scale at quayside but scaling up to a mountainous heap when viewed from a distance.

Naval HQ, Tivat

 

Elsewhere the walls that once kept the curious public away have been opened up to allow pedestrian routes along the seafront. But although there are openings, the wall is still defiantly there - a reflection of the master-plan concept which suggests they want to interact with the rest of the town but are not quite sure how to do it. It must bemuse locals who have lived their lives unable to enter this large expanse in the middle of town. Now the wall is open, but what lies within is perhaps just as impenetrable as what was there before. Inside has been made for people form a different world - geographically, socially but most of all economically. 

It's easy to understand Montengro's desire to lure the big spenders in, and pursuing a plan of low density marine led development will certainly do that. But can this policy result in more than a series of foreign owned ghettos for the rich, offering nothing to those living next door but antagonism ? It's not an unusual situation for tourist development - think barefoot luxury resorts in rural India - but this is not an isolated peninsular but an urban centre. Potromontengro will change Tivat forever, let's hope this is done with  considered urban design principles and change is for the better.

Yugoslav submarines, Tivat

The same dock 10years on. A 100m megayacht filling up on €200k of fuel