Milica Šterić was a Serbian architect who worked at Energoprojekt for many years, founding and heading its architecture department. She is also responsible for many of the power plants built in Yugoslavia, which helped rebuild the country's economy after the Second World War. Known for her modernist approach, she is one of the first women in Serbia to undertake large scale architectural projects.
Career
Šterić was born in Smederevo, Serbia and studied architecture in Belgrade, graduating in 1937. Once World War 2 was over, she was hired by Elektroistok in 1947. She then worked at Energoprojekt from 1951 until 1985, where she became their chief architect. She initially focused on constructing industrial and infrastructural buildings for both companies, designing several power plants throughout Yugoslavia. Her first thermal power plant was built in Kostolac in 1948 and was called Mali Kostolac. She went on to construct Kolubara A in Veliki Crljeni in 1956. She also built the Kakanj plant near Zenica and the Velenje plant in Slovenia. In 1957, Šterić spent half a year in the Netherlands working at the architectural firmVan den Broek and Bakeme where she learnt more about the Bauhaus style. After returning to Serbia, she applied her new skills and built a commercial building on Carice Milice 2 street. Constructed in 1957, the building's facade is a combination of steel and glass, underscored by horizontal bands of windows. Just down the road, Šterić also built the headquarters of Energoprojekt in 1960, which later became the Beobank building. It was the first structure in Belgrade with free standing pillars and a transparent glass facade. Several housing projects in Bor, Bijeljina, Kladovo, Smederevo, and Herceg Novi were designed by her in the 1960s, as well as a power station in New Belgrade. From the 1970s onwards, she was responsible for the construction of various public buildings in Smederevo, such as a department store, a children's institution, and cultural center. Šterić participated in international competitions, winning several contracts. During the 1970s, she co-designed the ministerial building in Kanou, Nigeria, along with fellow architect Zoran Bojović. She also built the Cimpata military settlement in Zambia and co-designed a Bedouin settlement in Kuwait consisting of 5,000 houses.
Awards and Honours
In 1984, Šterić received the "Grand prix d'architecture" from the "Union of Architects of Serbia". In 1994, she was a member of the committee that created the "Academy of Architecture of Serbia" the following year. In 2015, the "Belgrade International Architecture Week" festival organized a walking tour of Belgrade buildings that were constructed by women architects such as Šterić. That same year, she was one of several female pioneers reviewed in the book "Women in Architecture - Contemporary architecture in Serbia since 1900". Šterić's Beobank building will be transformed into an eco-center sometime in 2018. Located in the Zeleni Venac neighbourhood, the structure won her the Sedmojulska nagrada when it was built. In 2018, Šterić and other Yugoslav architects will be the focus of an exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art called "Towards Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980".
