WORDS: MIA MEDAKOVIC
INTERVIEW: SONJA RADOVIC JELOVAC
PHOTOS: VLADIMIR POPOVIC, RELJA IVANIC
Sonja Radović Jelovac, an interdisciplinary architect, with a Doctor of Science degree in ecological design and planning from the University La Sapienza in Rome.
She researches the field of eco-urbanism, resilient adaptive urban design and strategic planning. With over 23 years of experience as a designer, she successfully practices the experimental trans-disciplinary approach through her work in Studio Synthesis Architecture & Design, of which she is the founder and lead architect. She is also the founder and a member of the scientific board of the Scientific Institute Panarchy 11 – Research for Resilience of design research.
She completed the basic architectural studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade and then won a scholarship to study at the La Sapienza University in Rome at the Faculty of Architecture “Ludovico Quaroni”, where she obtained her master’s degree at the department of spatial planning, arrangement and requalification of urban spaces of the developing countries. She then went on to win an international scholarship for doctoral studies at the La Sapienza University in Rome, where she completed her doctoral studies with her thesis “Projective Resilience Assessment for Water Sensitive Adaptive Urban Design”.
In her role as curator of the 16th Venice Architectural Biennale she conceptualize the theme “Emerging Resilience. Reimagining voids through sharing values” when she led an multidisciplinary international author team. She was the commissioner of the Balkan Architectural Biennale: BAB 2019, BAB 2021, and BAB 2023.
Two designs were nominated for the Mies Van Der Rohe prize: Villa The Two (2024) and Betula Design Centre (2022). Jelovac won several awards for the building Contemporary Chalet, such as the Architecture Master Prize in the category of Architectural Design – Residential Architecture (Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao), was a winner of a German Design Award, received special recognition at the S.ARCH conference in Hong Kong, won the CEMEX Building Award, Loop Design Award, BigSEE Award and other significant recognitions and awards from the regional saloons of architecture and urbanism. She is one of the co-founders of the Female Architectural Society ŽAD in Belgrade and a member of the jury in numerous competitions (Expo Milano 2015, Expo Dubai 2021, Expo Osaka 2025).
She is the winner of numerous awards in Montenegro and abroad. She participated in multiple architectural exhibitions, enjoys education with architecture being her true passion.
THERE IS ENORMOUS LOVE AND WORK BEHIND A BIOGRAPHY SUCH AS YOURS. SO, WHAT IS YOUR SUCCESS FORMULA?
I am a firm believer in order and disciplined work because that is the only way to obtain clarity and profoundness of one’s creation. At the same time, perseverance leads me through uncertainty which is an unavoidable part of the creative process. For me, the key to success is in researching one’s own art and the beauty of the very creative process. I find my inspiration in nature; it is my most authentic teacher of harmony, of my own boundaries – yet, often pushing them to the breaking point. I believe true creativeness is formed outside the comfort zone. It is the moment when I meet myself, when directions that guide me into the unknown are created, bringing new dimensions to my work.
I also find creative stimuli in exploring personal freedom, the inner one, which is not linked to experience or external circumstances. It is the type of freedom Schopenhauer spoke of, the freedom that exists when we abstract it from mundane and touch our own essence. It is precisely those moments where I find directions that lead to creating something authentic.
My success formula, if I may call it that, is that I remain true to myself, my work and my passion for creation.
HOW DO YOU FEEL – LIKE AN ARCHITECT ARTIST OR ARCHITECT ARTISAN?
As though everything in my life had to be built in the same way a good house is built: on solid grounds, with well-designed structure and an envelope filled with beauty.
I grew up in the duality of principles instilled in me by my father and my mother. My father, a structural engineer, was the embodiment of stability, perseverance and responsibility. He taught me the value of pragmatism and devotion to work. On the other hand there was my mother, lover of contemporary art and design, who introduced into my life lightness, vibrancy and the beauty of living. She was the teacher of life and an artist of the every-day who shaped my sense of harmony by “washing with beauty”. She taught me to recognize the supremacy of simplicity and beauty in every moment. This duality of strength and stability on the one hand and sensible elevated beauty on the other was imbedded in me since my childhood. It was there where my relationship towards architecture was formed, where beauty is not a finishing layer, but an inextricable part of every creative process. Practicing to “coat” my works in beauty even before they are created has become my instinct. Dealing with science during my doctoral studies has given me the freshness of analytical insights and ability to go back to the foundations with deep understanding.
My creation lies in intertwining the pragmatism of masonry with the depth of science and the freedom of art. This is my personal triptych, a space where functionality and philosophy together tell a story, where each boundary becomes a point of encounter with something greater.
DID YOU OUTGROW YOUR MASTER/TEACHER? HAVING A ROLE MODEL AND AN INSPIRATION IS STIMULATING.
My only true teacher and constant inspiration is nature. It is my guide to the inner perfection and creative work that does not strive to dominate but support its principles. As for the role models, my “teachers” and authorities are our contemporaries – architects and thinkers that shift the boundaries and set new paradigms in architecture and urbanism. Their work is not just inspiration but a reminder that the learning and improvement process is continuous.
YOUR RESPECT AND LOVE FOR NATURE ARE IMMEASURABLE. WHAT IS IT THAT NATURE TEACHES US AND HOW DO YOU APPLY THIS IN YOUR FIELD OF WORK?
Nature teaches us continuity, cyclicity and transformation. Its shifting processes – the passing of seasons to natural successions of the ecosystems – show how life adjusts and regenerates. This course of changes is not just inspiration for my work but a guide for deliberation of space and time. To become relevant and sustainable, architecture needs to be part of this cycle, adjustable and dynamic very much like nature.
The ability of architecture to recognize its role on all levels, from micro-interventions to global strategies, is vital for its longevity and impact. Small changes in space may trigger bigger transformations in community which teaches us the importance of well-designed multi-level acting.
Architectural succession like natural developments entails adjusting the space through time, allowing its regeneration and new life. Ecology, urbanism, sociology and culture together shape spatial interventions that are sustainable and socially beneficial. Without this cooperation, architecture risks becoming static and unsustainable.
NOWADAYS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND INTERDISCIPLINARY APROACHES ARE SOUGHT IN NARROW EXPERT FIELDS. ARE YOU ONE OF THESE ARCHITECTS THAT LEARNS AND WORKS DAILY AND EXPANDS THE POSSIBILITY OF CREATING IN ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN AND SPATIAL PLANNING?
In my designs I strive to develop an experimental and research approach which is not just the result of personal devotion but the need to respond to more complex demands set by the contemporary urban context.
Urban design in its nature is multidisciplinary, positioned somewhere between comprehensive abstractions in planning and concrete singularities of architecture. For good results, especially in complex spatial units, an interdisciplinary approach is needed. This entails developing new methodologies for collaborative strategizing and an apparatus for evaluation during the implementation process. In my so far work, I have had the opportunity to work with experts from different fields – biologists, ecologists, hydrologists – and this cooperation confirmed that urban design is a complexly integrated process. Each project brings new questions, challenges and opportunities for innovation, while the interdisciplinary aspect enables shaping of spaces which are not only sustainable but functional, but is also connected on a deeper level with life and nature which they belong to.
WHAT ARE THE NEW PARADIGMS IN ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM? WHAT IS YOUR VIEW OF THE URBAN DESIGN OF TODAY?
The definitions of urban design are many. Common thing for each of them is system knowledge and understanding of processes, i.e., functioning of complex socio-eco system to devise integral solutions that may be adapted and enhanced in time. Urban design is a collaborative and multidisciplinary process of shaping physical surroundings for a life in an urban context. Today’s cities are sooner observed as dynamic landscapes rather than static structures. Architecture, on the other hand, becomes a living organism – flexible and adaptable.
The theoretical framework that significantly shapes my research work relies on contemporary principles of landscape urbanism and their implication in architectural and urban discourse.
The principles of landscape urbanism as a new paradigm find their sense and support in the capacity of covering theoretically the themes of the space, the theories of ecosystems, network and infrastructure in order to plan complex urban areas. The very term underscores horizontality a connectedness of earlier ideas to form theories of the cities as a landscape, i.e., “multivalent medium for the creation of a new form of the cities”, but to introduce landscape elements into the city which is the basis for planning of green infrastructure models.
City as a landscape and architecture as organism are not just metaphors; it is a call to action to shape new spaces that will be resilient, adaptable and in harmony with the world we belong to.
HAVE YOU EVER TURNED DOWN A JOB BECAUSE YOUR ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION DID NOT COINCIDE WITH THE CLIENT’S REQUEST?
Of course, I’ve had a share of those, especially during the formative years of my professional path. Still, in time, architecture has become for me much more than a mere artifact – it became a collaborative process – an opportunity to learn through relationships with others and to explore what is beyond manifestation. In time, these cases became rare. I believe it is the result of “natural selection” where the clients that do not resonate our studio’s style and approach, just do not come to us for cooperation. Today I find this to be positive because it allows me to focus on projects with true synergy, which is always the basis for authentic and quality work.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ARCHITECTURAL STYLE?
For me, architecture is like a book – a layered story that you can come back to over and over, always discovering something new. I strive to make every project true, stripped of the excess, but abundant in meanings that depict the order of things. Those are spaces that honour context, nature and cultural heritage, life rhythm and social patterns, remaining authentic to their manifestation.
Architecture is becoming more a dialog between the client and the creator, space and time, shaped to be part of life, not outside it. Just like a good book, it does not dominate, but invites, does not close but connects. It is a space where harmony with the surrounding is felt, where each line, each detail, is part of the story you would like to go back to.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE FUTURE. IS TODAY’S ARCHITECTURE HEADED FOR TIMELESSNESS?
Architecture of the future does not stay still, it flows in the rhythm of changes, shaping and reshaping the space through time. Just like Heraclitus said “Change is the only constant”. Timelessness of architecture is not in its stillness but in its ability to adjust, to reexamine and evolve. The concept of timelessness depends on the context, architecture and client, but also on the very nature of the space that is created. We can seek and find it in different theoretical discourses – in architecture that approximates nature, acting as a living organism: free, adaptive and flexible in its function. Such architecture strives towards simplicity and minimalism, but at the same time it is socially responsible, introspective and technologically advanced.
Our responsibility is to create spaces that reflect connectedness with nature, which are resilient to change, adaptable and in harmony with the world we belong to.
Timelessness of architecture does not mean enduring in stillness but enduring in dynamics, relying on flexibility and responsibility to those that are coming.
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR STRENGTH IN WORK – FROM BEAUTIFUL, PRACTICAL AND USEFUL OR FROM ARTISTIC?
I draw strength from immense support of the family which is the foundation of my devotion and dedication. Their faith in me and my vision gives me strength to persevere, even when I deprive them of my presence for the moments of deep focus and devotion to work. I draw strength from philosophy of connectedness and uniformity. For me, every project is a place where functionality and rationality entwine with aesthetics of the space that is shaped in line with its contact and purpose.
Work process, even though often uncertain, for me is a challenge that brings forth the harmony between what I love and what I create. Each project is an opportunity for architecture to respond to specific needs, as connection of functionality and art, but at the same time to breath in beauty and sense into space it belongs to.
TO WHAT EXTENT DID ARCHITECTURE IMPACT YOUR DEVELOPMENT ON THE PATH TO YOURSELF? DID YOU CONSTRUCT AND SKETCH OUT YOUR LIFE THE SAME WAY YOU SKETCH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS?
Architecture inevitably shaped my personal growth and continued to be my guide through the school of life. I do not think that that impact will ever cease, because architecture for me is not just a profession, it is a way of thinking, creating and understanding the world. I learned the value of dialog from it, the art of accepting diversity and the importance of team work. I did not sketch out my life, at least not in a way architectural designs are sketched out. I believe in the alternating life order that brings us good moments, challenging ones and those that are not. It is precisely this unpredictability that shapes us, revealing our boundaries and helping us to overcome them.
I find inspiration in my own intuitions and deliberations, revealing new dimensions of my internal world. Just like architecture seeks deliberation and opening up to the unknown, the same way I, through introspection, build bridges to what is yet to come, staying true to the process of learning and making.
WHAT IS THE POWER OF THIS MOMENT, AND WHAT IS THE POWER OF THE ARCHITECTURE YOU DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE?
The power of this moment lies in perseverance and a strong focus on visionary projects, strengthened by discipline and authenticity in design. The architecture I create for the future is based on decoding nature, cultural heritage, and the social context, shaping long-lasting, multi-layered spaces with an educational character for future generations.
