Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade – Design Planning Contracted

(eap) A new museum dedicated to the researcher and inventor Nikola Tesla is to be built in the Serbian capital Belgrade. The design planning for the attraction, which is to be realized in the city’s historic Milan Vapa Paper Mill, has recently been commissioned: As part of a design competition, the designs by the British architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects, conceived in collaboration with the Serbian Bureau Cube Partners, won.

Visualization of Atrium The planned Nikola Tesla Museum is intended to transform the now unused paper mill, which opened in 1924, into a cultural center that honors Tesla’s legacy as an influential electrical engineer while preserving its characteristic architecture. The building is under the protection of the Belgrade Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments due to its cultural significance. Its renovation as the Nikola Tesla Museum is financed is funded by Belgrade Waterfront.

The museum’s design is based on Tesla’s research into magnetic fields and wireless energy transfer: it incorporates dynamic elliptical curves radiating from the old factory chimney, the dominant feature of the site. A new circular opening in the west facade of the factory will be the public entrance, leading visitors into the central atrium. The museum’s first floor galleries will incorporate historical artifacts, interactive displays and immersive presentations. For example, an immersive “Tesla Electronic Transformer” gallery with a 12-million-volt transformer is planned, which will capture imaginations and showcase Tesla’s pioneering spirit. There will also be rooms for temporary exhibitions and events, a café and a rooftop restaurant with panoramic views of the Sava. The museum will cover a total area of approx. 13,400 sqm.

Nikola Tesla Museum North Facade Outside the building, Nikola Tesla Square will serve as a new public space for the city. Inspired by Tesla’s concepts of electromagnetic fields, the square’s flowing paths, gardens and plazas will improve accessibility and connect to the harbor district and the city’s transportation network. The restoration of the paper mill will preserve the historic facades, vaulted ceilings and masonry. At the same time, the use of renewable and geothermal energy is planned.

While Nikola Tesla, who passed away in 1943, is going to get a dedicated museum in Serbia, his person as an influential developer also moved into the “Croatia” theme world at Germany’s Europa-Park, which opened last season together with its main attraction, the Stryker Coaster “Voltron Nevera – powered by Rimac” from Mack Rides (c.f. EAP 3/2024). ■