On January 21, 2016 The Government of Montenegro made a decision about national participation at 15th International Architecture Exhibition, when the topic and the concept of Project Solana Ulcinj has been approved.

The Project Solana Ulcinj, commissioned by Dijana Vucinic andcurated by Bart Lootsma and Katharina Weinberger, is the Montenegrin contribution to the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. The Montenegrin pavilion hosts four projects outlining four different sustainable futures for the former saline “Bajo Sekulic” near Montenegro’s most southern town Ulcinj. This is a completely artificial, man-made biotope, which has become an almost global importance as a crucial node in the migratory patterns of birds. As such, the Solana Ulcinj is the front line of all kinds of conflicts: between nature and culture; the local and the global; economy and environmental awareness. The projects are developed specially for the Biennale by four practices: ecoLogicStudio from London, LOLA form Rotterdam and LAAC from Innsbruck, while a fourth project is decided upon following a national competition in Montenegro. The project is accompanied by a series of three symposia in Montenegro and in Venice.

With a surface of 14,9 km2 Solana is one of the largest salines of the Mediterranean region.It is a completely man-made, artificial landscape which, founded in the nineteen twenties, turned into a biotope of global importance. The Monopoly Management of former Yugoslavia looking for lands suitable for industrial salt production selected the area around the Zoganjsko Jezerolake, in the delta of the delta of the Bojana-Buna Riverand close to de Adriatic Sea. At a height of 10 meters above sea level the plateau can become hot and there is a constant wind. These conditions are favorable for the evaporation of water, which is essential for salt production. Between 1926 and 1934 the first salt pans, buildings and machinery were constructed and in 1935 the first salt was harvested. The area was increased in size in the course of its history several times.

The aftereffects of the last Balkan war, notably the international embargo related to it, the falling apart of former Yugoslavia and the political and economical transformations in Montenegro afterward caused the Solana Ulcinj to go bankrupt in 2005. The salt production was no longer protected by a state monopoly and the value of salt on the world market had drastically decreased, since most of the world’s salt coming is from China these days. Therefore, the industrial salt production the Solana had focused on was no longer profitable. The Solana Ulcinj was privatized and came into the hands of a few major stakeholders. Ever since, the status of the Solana is unclear, which explains why it is in urgent need of renovation and reconstruction today. Its future is torn between the commercial interests of the current owners and the international pressure of conservationists, supported by the EU, to turn it into a nature reserve. The Parlament of Montenegro tried to turn the Solana into a protected area by law but the decision was partly revised by the Constitutional court, while at the same time the ownership of the Solana is disputed in Economical Court. 

The Solana Ulcinj is an unreal man-made artificial and abstract landscape, in which only a few machines stand out, which look like huge animals made of rusting steel. Far away, in the background, one can see mountains topped with snow. These are the only elements that define the place, forcing one’s gaze to focus on small or even tiny plants and animals. Some are only visible through a microscope or binoculars, but here, undisturbed by any other distractions, this is exactly what makes them fascinating. As such, it is a landscape with a high cultural value. More importantly, the process of salt production in series of salt pans produces a great diversity in chemical conditions. This not only lends the Solana a great color palette, but also great diversity of conditions for different flora and fauna. When the sea water is pumped up, small organisms and shrimps come with it. Fish and and other animals feed on them. This is the main reason that the Solana Ulcinj currently houses 250 of the 500 kinds of birds that live in Europe for longer or shorter periods every year. Of those 250, 70 are protected under the Bird Directive of the European Union. The Solana Ulcinj is a resting place for protected bird species on the Adriatic flyway from northern Europe and Siberia to Asia and Africa and vice versa and a wintering or breeding place for others.Special is the appearance of the Dalmatian Pelican and the Greater Flamingo. Therefore, in principle, the Solana Ulcinj meets all criteria to be listed among the most important protected nature reserves in Europe.

As the saline is out of use since 2012, sea water has not been pumped up for a longer period. Also, there has hardly been any maintenance on the extremely vulnerable infrastructure of dikes, buildings and machines. All infrastructure for bird watchers, like a museum and the watch towers, has been destroyed. Poachers enter the area relatively easily and shoot protected birds. Pending definitive decisions, the Montenegrin state and the city of Ulcinj together have taken a series of provisional measures to keep the ecosystem and avoid the worst until definitive decisions are made, but it is clear that this situation is far from ideal for many different reasons.

The Project Solana Ulcinj addresses this years Biennale theme “REPORTING FROM THE FRONT”, by reporting about this crucial project in Montenegro caught up in struggles between the local and the global, nature and culture, tourism and sustainability, economy and the social realm, offering spatial strategies that may guide new syntheses for these conflicts. As currently the Solana Ulcinj is torn between conservation and economical interests, which creates an impasse. It is therefore crucial to develop new plans for the future of the saline, which are both ecologically and economically sustainable. The Project Solana Ulcinj takes the challenge to come up with new proposals how to save the important ecological position and the unique cultural qualities of the landscape, while at the same time enabling and regulating economical interests in the area.

To generate a public debate in Montenegro, four practicesare selected. All four of them represent very different positions in the field of landscape architecture and sustainable development. This will give new input to and thus enable to open up and speed up the decision making processes around the Solana Ulcinj. It will also stimulate the debate about architecture and landscape architecture in Montenegro and establish an international exchange.