Radnički: 60 years. One building. Thousands of stories

If you visit Vega IT Headquarters in Novi Sad today, you might know Radnički as one of our office buildings.
But long before it became our home, it was a place generations of Novi Sad residents grew up with.

Built in 1966, Radnički was home to the so-called Workers’ University, where people came to learn new skills, attend courses and lectures, experience cultural events, and meet other people.

For decades, it was one of the city’s most recognizable buildings and an important part of everyday life in Novi Sad, called the “Blue Skyscraper”.

Then came the fire.

A building Novi Sad almost lost

In 2000, a major fire changed everything.

The building was badly damaged. What was once a busy knowledge hub became a concrete shell overlooking the city for the next two decades.

When Vega IT acquired the building, the idea wasn’t simply to create another office. We wanted to bring Radnički back to life while keeping a connection with the place people in Novi Sad remembered.

The facade built for the future

The Vega IT Radnički building belongs to the community. To reimagine its future, we hosted a competition for a new facade redesign. Four design studios presented their creative visions, and after careful consideration, Kuzmanov and Partners Studio emerged as the winner.

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The reconstruction was a huge project. Around 80 tonnes of waste and more than 50 tonnes of metal had to be removed from the building. More than 10,000 holes were drilled to strengthen the old structure and bring it up to modern standards.

Architect Lazar Kuzmanov and his team designed the new Radnički around the structure that survived, keeping parts of its original character while giving the building a completely new life.

Today, Radnički looks very different.

But we wanted one thing to stay the same: people should still be able to come here.

Bringing people back to Vega IT Radnički

The ground and first floors were designed as flexible spaces where we can organize exhibitions, talks, workshops, charity events and other activities open to the community.

So when Radnički turned 60 this year, it felt natural to open its doors once again, this time to tell its own story.

Together with the Museum of Vojvodina, we created “Radnički: Then and Now”, an exhibition that takes visitors through six decades of the building’s history.

We went through old photographs, documents, posters, objects and video footage to piece together what life here used to look like.

And we found some pretty unexpected stories along the way.

In 1969, the first modelling courses in Vojvodina were organized here. In the summer of 1979, the space around Radnički briefly became an open-air cinema called Kino-parking. Over the years, people came here to learn foreign languages and typing, train as tourist guides and bus conductors, attend lectures, exhibitions and many other events.

Looking through all of this made one thing very clear: Radnički was never just a building.

It was a feeling. A place of gathering. A symbol of Novi Sad.

Real stories. Real people. One building.

We didn't want the exhibition to be only about dates, photographs and objects.

We invited people from Novi Sad to share their own memories.

Some remembered taking a language course here. Some remembered the people they met. Others remembered specific events, places inside the building or simply what Radnički felt like when they were younger.

When the exhibition opened, some of those stories continued naturally. Visitors stood in front of old photographs, recognized familiar places and started telling each other what used to be where.

Those moments became one of our favourite parts of the exhibition.

Because an archive can tell us what happened in a building. People tell us what that building meant.

Then and now

There is something we particularly like about the story of Radnički.

Decades ago, people walked through its doors to learn, meet others, exchange ideas and create something new.

Today, hundreds of Vega IT colleagues come to work here. We build digital products instead of teaching typing courses, and the building looks nothing like it did in 1966.

But downstairs, people still gather for talks. They come to exhibitions. Students visit. Communities organise events. New ideas are shared.

Vega IT Radnički still brings people together. And after 60 years, its story is still being written.