Baghdad

The first time I was in Baghdad was in 1974, as a student of the final year of studies (architecture) on the way back from India. Then again in June 1979 I went to work there (as contract manager and then project manager) till 1985. The last time, I went there in 1989, first as technical director and then as director of the branch office in charge of our works in Iraq. I stayed there till late 1990 when the Americans were about to invade Iraq.

I have only nice memories where Bagdad and Iraq are in question even though the country was at war almost all the time during my stay. Of, course, it was not always nice and danger free but, I remember only nice moments.

I felt safe in Iraq. The people of Iraq were friendly. I was a witness to how Baghdad and all of Iraq was built in front of my eyes. Not only military projects (it seems they were among the priorities) but the civil projects, irrigation, roads, infrastructure etc. all over Iraq. Iraq was one big building site with companies from all over the world being involved.

In the slideshow, I have shown the following:

A. Architecture (old and modern)

B. Monuments

C. Tourists' places in the city's outskirt

D. Some of the projects I was working on

a. Commercial projects

b. Military projects and projects of special interest to Iraq

E. Al-Jadriyah House (my residence (1989-1990)

Bagdad

Prvi put sam prosao kroz Bagdad 1974, kao apsolvent arhitekture na povratku iz Indije. Onda sam juna 1979 otisao tamo da radim. Tamo sam bio do marta 1985 I onda ponovo 1989 kao tehnicki director a zatim I kao director organizacione jedinice I predstavnik firme.

Tamo sam ostao do skoro kraja 1990 tj do Americke invazije Iraka.

Za Bagdad me vezu izuzetno lepe uspomene bez obzira na ratno stanje tokom skoro svog vremena provedenog tamo. Naravno, nije uvek sve bilo “med I mleko” ali, pamtim samo lepe trenutke.

U Iraku I Bagdadu sam se osecao sigurno bez obzira na rat. Narod je bio prijateljski nastrojen. Posmatrao sam kako se gradi pred mojim ocima; ne samo vojni projekti koji su im izgleda bili prioritet, vec civilni objekti, citavi gradovi, putevi, infrastruktura, irigacija u raznim delovima Iraka. Irak je bio veliko gradiliste sa firmama iz celog sveta.

Na slajdovima sam prikazao sledece:

A. Arhitektura (stara i moderna)

B. Spomenici

C. Turisticka mesta na obodu grada

D. Neki od projekcata na kojima sam radio

a. Civilni

b. Vojni projekti i od posebnog interesa za Iraq

E. Kuca na Dzadriji (u kojoj sam stanovao 1989-1990

C. Tourists destinations in the city’s outskirt

Taji – Baghdad Island
Lake Habbaniyah

I was impressed by Lake Habbaniyah

Lake Habbaniyah is approx. 90km from Baghdad in a desert. Iraqis created a green oasis with a luxurious hotel and two groups of bungalows; standard and de luxe. There were a few swimming pools, tennis courts.

On the artificial peninsula in the lake, was built a night club where disco evenings were organized.

I spent a lot of weekends there and once a two-week holiday.

I remember one event in connection with Habbaniyah. I think, it was in 1981, during the war with Iran.

At that time I was working on the building site KOL-1 (military project approx. 70km South of Bagdhdad). At that time it was considered as the biggest project in the world. I was contract manager, in charge of the Technical Department and at that time was acting as chair of Subcommittee for prices. The project was managed by Iraqi – Yugoslav Joint Committee, dual type of management with members from both, Iraqi and Yugoslav sides.

My Iraqi counter part in the Subcommittee for prices was Mr Baban. We were working on tendering process, choosing potential subcontractors, proposing them to Iraqi-Yugoslav Joint Committee and making contracts with them.

I went to Habbaniyah one Thursday afternoon directly from the building site (KOL-1), which is approx. 160km from the site, without informing anybody. I spent there, in De-Luxe bungalow all the time (two nights and all Friday, (day off in Iraq), without going to the hotel or visiting any of the 3 swimming pools. I left the bungalow only once, to play tennis on the court next to my bungalow. The court was surrounded with greenery and well protected from onlookers.

I left Habbaniyah on Saturday morning and went directly to work, KOL-1.

The first person I met there was Mr Baban and his first question was” “Did you enjoy Habbaniayh”?

I was shocked. How did he know something that even my closest friends didn’t know. It is not that I had to hide something. Simply, I hadn’t informed anybody about me going there.

Later, when I left the project KOL-1 and changed the company, I learned that Mr Baban was also in charge of the secret police in the Project KOL-1.

They knew everything, they were following everybody, they probably had more information about us than our authorities.

C. Turisticka mesta na obodu grada

Taji – Bagdadsko ostrvo (Baghdad Island)
Jezero Habanija,

Habanijom sam bio posebno impresioniran.

Habanija je jezero u pustinji na otprilike 90km od Bagdada. Na obali jezera uradjena je prakticno zelena oaza sa luksuznim hotelom u sredistu I dve grupe bungalova, luksuznih vila sa obe strane. Jedna grupa je standard a druga De Lux bungalovi. Na vestackom polukruznom poluostrvu koje zadire u jezero je nocni klub gde se uglavnom organizuju disko veceri.

Na Habaniju sam cesto provodio vikende a jednom cak I citav godisnji odmor.

Secam se jednog dogadjaja vezanog za Habaniju. Mislim da je to bilo 1981, u vreme rata sa Iranom kada je, to vreme bilo vec “normalno ratno stanje”.

Tada sam radio sam na vojnom projektu KOL-1 (oko 70km juzno od Bagdada) koji je u to vreme bio najveci projekat na svetu (tako nam je receno). Bio je to period (od 6 meseci) kada sam radio kao sef tehnicke pripreme I vodio podkomitet za cene. Projekat je imao dvojni menadzment: predstavnike jugoslovenske strane I paralelno predstavnike sa Iracke strane. Vodja podkomiteta za cene sa Iracke strane bio je Mr Baban. Mi smo zajedno radili na izboru podizvodjaca, predlagali ih Iracko Jugoslovenskom Zajednickom Komitetu I sklapali ugovore.

Otisao sam na Habaniju sa suprugom u cetvrtak direktno sa posla. O tome nikog nismo obavestili. Vikend smo proveli u De-Lux bungalovu. Nismo cak odlazili ni u hotel ni na neki od bazena (ima ih 3 u kompleksu). Samo smo jednom igrali tenis na terenu odmah do naseg bungalova. Oko terena je zelenilo I dosta je zasticen od pogleda.

Sa Habanije smo se vratili u subotu (petak je neradni dan) ujutru, opet direktno na posao, na KOL-1.

Prvo pitanje Mr Babana (koji je bio prva osoba koju sam sreo po povratku) bilo je: “Kako je bilo na Habaniji?” To je bilo vise u smislu “Znam gde si bio juce” nego stvarno interesovanje o tome kako sam se proveo.

Bio sam sokiran. Kako je on to znao kada ni najblizi prijatelji to nisu znali?

Kasnije, kada sam presao u drugu firmu, saznao sam da je Mr Baban bio sef tajne sluzbe na projektu KOL-1. Sve su znali. Svakoga su pratili. Imali su verovatno vise podataka o nama nego nase vlasti.

KOL-1

70km South of Baghdad (not far from Babylon)
Chemical complex, at the time the biggest project in the world, area of 7x5km, around 1,100 buildings and approx. 120km of roads
It was a specific way of project management; dual, parallel management by Iraqi and Yugoslav sides,
- Everything was done on the basis of decisions of Iraqi-Yugoslav Joint Committee as managing body, 16 members of Iraqi and Yugoslav side (8 members of each side)
- For 6 months, as a chair of Subcommittee for Prices, I was a member of Iraqi-Yugoslav Joint Committee,

P-195

HQ of Iraqi Air Force
During the war with Iran, it was bombarded and 3 houses across the road were hit. The area was blocked immediately after the bombing, the remains of the houses were cleared and the next day you would not notice that any house had been there
When I went back home, by chance I saw an American documentary movie filmed from their bombardier. It showed how the same bombardier bombed and hit the project. I spent there more than a year. Iraqis were very strict about the quality of work, material etc. And then, a bully comes and, in a few seconds, converts everything to dust. A sad, sad story.

P-195

Sediste Vazdusnih Snaga Iraka
U vreme mog boravka bombardovan od strane Iranaca ali su pogodjene 3 kuce preko puta projekta. Istog dana, taj deo je ogradjen, masine su rascistile teren I sledeceg dana je izgledalo kao da tu nikada nije ni bilo kuca.
Slucajno sam video Americki dokumentarni film o bombardovanju tog projekta po mom napustanju istog. Snimano je iz aviona koji je vrsio bombardovanje. Vrlo tuzna slika. Tu sam proveo vise od godinu dana. Iracani su bili vrlo striktni po pitanju kvaliteta materija I rada (kao I na svim ostalim projektima), I onda dodje siledzija I za par sekundi pretvori sve u pepeo.

P-200

Saddam’s Palace
The main part was the bunker below the palace
It was like a small underground city that could accommodate 500 people for 6 months
I was working as project manager (finishing works)
All people involved on the project were checked by Iraqi authorities for at least 3 months.
The photo shows that the Palace was hit directly in the middle. I don’t know how much of the bunker was damaged since, the foundation of the Palace (actually, the roof of the bunker) was reinforced concrete around 5m thick. The walls of the bunker were also reinforced concrete 4-5 m thick.

Al Rasheed Hotel

It was built as a residence for heads of states for the Conference of the non-aligned movement. (The conference was cancelled due to Iraq-Iran war)
It was a specific project; the only project where
- Money was not an issue
- Time – no compromise, zero tolerance
- Quality of work – no compromise, zero tolerance
The main contractor was SKANSKA, Swedish company
For all works, they had subcontractors ready to continue the job if some already working couldn’t cope with the required quality or time.
It was the case with my company; we were not the first choice. The first choice was some Spanish company. They didn’t fulfill the requirements and we jumped in and finished the job.
When I joined the project
- The finishing works were in progress in the ground floor and mezzanine
- The first two levels with apartments were finished 100% and locked. Everything was inside including furniture, TVs, paintings on the walls etc.
- The next two levels were in the stage of handing and taking over
- The next two was work in progress and so on
All windows were bullet proof glass, leather armchairs made of elephant skin, hexagonal tables made of rose wood with gold infills (the shape ideal for “preferans” a game similar to bridge but with 3 players), bathrooms cladded with pure white marble 3 walls and the fourth one was fully mirrored.
I was impressed by how SKANSKA organized the job
SKANSKA workers and staff were living in the temporary houses next to the building site. The conditions were equal to ones in 5-star hotels; swimming pool, food, rooms etc.
Every three months, they had 2-week paid holiday including air fare around the world with 3 stops per their choice
On every second floor of the building, there were automats for coffee, chips, cold juices. We could use it (free) every two hours for 10 minutes.
The check points were at the entrance of the building site and the control was similar to the control at the airport.
In the back yard of the hotel was a huge lawn, swimming pool, beautiful restaurant and heliport with reception house.
Once the hotel was finished, I used to go frequently to enjoy the beautiful ambience, food and casino.

Al Rasheed Hotel

Radjen je kao rezidencija za predsenike zemalja ucesnica konferencije nesvrstanih (koja ipak nije odrzana zbog rata sa Iranom)
Jedini projekat na kome sam radio gde novac nije bio problem ali gde nije bilo tolerancije za kvalitet I kasnjenje
Glavni izvodjac je bila Svedska firma Skanska. Za sve radove su imali spremne rezervne podizvodjace koji su cekali da se ukljuce u posao. Moja firma je radila zavrsne radove (granit, mermer, keramiku) I nismo bili prvi izbor. Prvi izbor je bila firma iz Spanije. Nisu ispunili rok I mi smo “uskocili”.
Kada sam se ja ukljucio,
- Zavrsni radovi su se radili u prizemlju I mezaninu
- Prva dva sprata su bila 100% spremna ukljucujuci namestaj, slike itd I zakljucana
- Sledeca 2 sprata, su bila u stadijumu primopredaje
- Sledeca 2 se radila itd
Apartmani su imali prozore od neprobojnog stakla, fotelje od slonove koze, heksagonalni stolovi od ruzinog drveta sa intarzijama od zlata (idealni za preferans), kupatila u belom mermeru od poda do plafona na 3 zida I ogledalo na cetvrtom
Organizacija Skanske me je odusevila: dok su nasi direktori imali sekretarice, prevodioce, daktilografe, kafe kuvarice itd, ovde je to svedeno na minimum. Ja sam recimo imao sastanke jednom nedeljno sa komercijalnim direktorom (koji je ujedno vodio sve podizvodjace). Nije mu trebao prevodioc, sam je pisao zapisnik, bio je stalno radio vezom u kontaktu sa sefovima gradislista (tako da oni nisu morali da prisustvuju sastanku) a, kafu, ako hocu, mogu sam da se posluzim automatom
Radnici Skanske su ziveli u kampu pored gradilista ali u uslvima hotela sa 5 zvezdica: hrana, smestaj, bazen za kupanje I sl
Na svaka 3 meseca su imali 15 dana odmora sa placenom avio kratom oko sveta sa 3 stopa po izboru
Na svaka 2 sprata na objektu u izgradnji su bili automati za kafu, cips, I sokove koji su mogli da se koriste samo u toku pauze od po 10minuta na svakih 2 sata
Kontrola prilikom ulaska na gradiliste je bila slicna kontroli na aerodromima
U okviru kompleksa je bio lep prostran travnjak, bazen za kupanje, basta restorana I heliodrom sa prijemnim objektom
Po zavrseku hotela, cesto sam odlazio da uzivam u ambijentu, dobroj harni I kockarnici

E. Al-Jadriyah House

Al-Jadriyah House was my residence in 1989 and 1990
The house was well known among Yugoslavs working in Iraq
- Al-Jadriyah was the most popular part of the city
- Close to Saddam’s palace
- The part of the city with a lot of embassies
- Yugoslav embassy and Yugoslav Club (with excellent and well known restaurant) were walking distance.
It was pretty spacious 4 bedroom house, with large living room that could accommodate 50 guests easily. My predecessors used to organize masked balls.
The dining room was large enough to serve as my meeting room; I used to organize meetings once a month with my staff; project managers, site mangers and foremen (approx. 20-25 people).
In the back yard, I used to organize BBQ for busines partners and our staff and workers; 50-60 people at a time.
The house is of average size for Baghdad but, the architecture is a bit different.
20 years after I left Iraq, I discovered by chance that the house was designed by Rifat Chadirji one of the most famous Iraqi’s architects, often referred to as the father of modern Iraqi architecture.

E. Kuca na Dzadriji

U kuci na Dzadriji sam stanovao 1989 I 1990
Kuca je bila dobro poznata jugoslovenima koji su radili u Iraku
- Dzadrija je eminentan deo grada
- u blizini je Sadamovih palata
- Deo grada je pun ambasada
- U blizini, 200-300 metara, su bili jugoslovenska ambasada I jugoslovenski klub (sa restoranom poznatim po odlicnoj kuhinji)
Imala je prostranu dnevnu sobu gde je moglo komotno da se smesti 50 gostiju. Tu su moji prethodnici organizovali bal pod maskama
U trpezariji sam jednom mesecno oranizovao sastanke sa mojim project menadzerima, sefovima gradilista I poslovodjama (20-25 ljudi)
U dvoristu sam cesto organizovao rostilj za poslovne partnere I nase radnike. Cesto je tu bilo 50-60 I vise ljudi.
Kuca je prosecne velicine za uslove Bagdada ali se svojom arhitekurom izdvaja
Zbog cega je spominjem? Tek skoro, dvadesetak godina kako sam napustio Irak, pronasao sam slucajno na internetu, da je kucu projektovao Rifat Chadiji, jedan od najpoznatijih Irackih arhitekata.
Skice kuce koji su ukljuceni u slide show, radio sam na osnovu secanja I fotografija.

Baghdad