Why was Byzantine architecture taken as the model in the search for a style that would be particular to Serbia and Belgrade?

Serbo-Byzantine style means the nationalistic tendency and tradition shown in a religious building. People's aim was to create a national style ever since Turkish invasion, in 14th c. which is reflected in architecture of Gracanica Monastery and translated as a renaissance of Byzantine style in the 20th century in a larger scale in St. Sava church.

The cross-in-square plan or a Greek-cross plan, with a large central dome touched by two semi domes and surrounded by 4 smaller domes in the corners between the arms of the cross, was seen in Serbia and Belgrade as distinctly national. It seems that the abundance of portals, domes, arcades were the main criteria for calling a building "national" or "Serbo-Byzantine".

So, the st. sava church is of immense proportions: everything, from the volume of the building (area=3,500 m2) to individual elements such as windows and portals, is blown out of proportions; even the number of domes is increased from the typical five to 13.

This tendency toward magnification and multiplication reflects the feeling of omnipotence, characteristic of nationalistic Serbia today. Ideologists promote the creation of church architecture which forms would be reminiscent of the glory of the medieval past. Therefore, in terms of the style it is imperative that the church architecture be clearly distinct from Islamic and from Roman Catholic architecture; only then it would be recognized by the people as national.

In a modern context, national identity and architecture oriented toward a national symbol, evolved due to isolation of Belgrade/Serbia from the world, WWII, and specifically in the last decades due to 3 consecutive wars (1991-95 civil war, NATO bombing in '99, and Kosovo today).

The meaning for the nation in the Ministry of National Defense building complex is placed as a void between the buildings (symbol of Sutjeska battle in WWII, the canyon, the greatest battle on Yugoslavian territory). This notion is a result of architect's (Nikola Dobrovic) intuitive transformation of the philosophy of Henri Bergson into a diagram that shapes the void, the only recognizable symbol in the building complex, the void as an integral part of national identity.
The Ministry of National Defense building is a symbol of nation, however not in the architectural forms/volumes since it is a modernist building, but its void in the middle is the symbol of the nation, so when NATO bombed it, they just couldn't destroy this symbol.
There is a sense of humour in all of this, which was also realized by Cedric Price's study of "the real, the raw and the ugly, using ridicule and humour", according to Rem Koolhaas. This is reflected in Serbia during NATO bombing of symbolic buildings: "Just Imagine!" was the message on a billboard displaying computer rendering of the Eiffel Tower crushing down in flames. It was positioned in front of all iconic buildings hit by NATO forces.
This can be translated also today with the notion of "Turbo architecture", which emerged due to isolation form the world once again. It is based on a phenomenon from the '90's called "Turbo-folk" music, which is a hybrid between imported techno music and traditional melodies rooted in popular memory.

Turbo architecture is a term to classify buildings of a mutilated style, a merge between Byzantine forms imitating contemporary high-tech designs, in which ideology disappears and new identity appears where void is in both architectural spaces and in the thought process, both non-symbolic.
The architecture that emerged from “turbo” notion reflects the national state: stealing ideas, erecting random buildings, buildings without any relationship to the site and surroundings, enormous interiors that resemble a church. One can say that this is a type of architecture constructed without any consideration of the society’s current state and need. It can be compared to the aim of constructing the biggest church on the Balkans, St. Sava, because it would supposedly show the world this society’s progress.
In this sense, the church of St. Sava is a modern up-build on top of the old. The idea is that by reinserting the lost traditions, one can measure this nation's ambition.

One can say that turbo architecture seems interesting because of the noticeable liberation of architectural form from history, as well as liberation of architectural history from its identity today. Some people have realized that and that's why they decided that it is imperative to continue building the church in a "national" style. As you can see, is it medieval?

However, in the contemporary Serbia/Belgrade, there is the notion of identity through mutations, studied by Rem Koolhaas under the name of "New Identity for Serbia" and displayed in the exhibition called "Mutations" under Urban States of Europe Project by Stefano Boeri, which explored the urban architecture that shows the identity of Belgrade.

In terms of architectural mutations, the relationship here is that there is supposed to be connection to the plateau where the church of St. Sava is located underneath a main street, and on the street is what Stefano Boeri identified as "inundation of wild street architecture", (commerce on cardboard boxes, car hoods, stands, kiosks that became houses).

This goes with the notion of finding a symbol for national identity, which makes a full circle by going back to roots of medieval Byzantine style and trying now to redefine/rethink/reinvent the meaning of the church and its nationalistic language in contemporary Serbian society.