Already heard? Slovenian architecture is highly regarded in Europe

Still – the emphasis is on still – Ljubljana is for many a grey spot on the map. German-speaking people take notice only when the Slovenian capital is presented to them as Laibach. No wonder, because even today, more than 100 years after the end of the Habsburg monarchy, in many heads it is a city with an Austrian character. This is only partly true, because the city is very old – it has a Roman foundation – and its most famous “son”, the great architect and urbanist Jože Plečnik, was trained in Vienna by Otto Wagner, but developed – when back in Ljubljana – a highly original form of architectural language, which took loans from Slovenian building tradition and from antiquity.

Plečnik’s Ljubljana

However, Plečnik’s 1925 reconfiguration of the urban center of Ljubljana is still a significant feature of the city, even if it is constantly evolving through the younger generation of architects. Today you walk along Plečnik’s banks of the Ljubljanica river, but, at the same time, you notice high sensitive contemporary additions, such as pedestrian bridges, ramps and public places. One fits perfectly into the other, just as Plečnik has also done in his famous three bridges (called Tromostovje).

Ljubljana’s thrilling contemporary architecture

But if you want to explore the self-assured work of the young architects who are now building Ljubljana, reaching the same levels of the great European metropolises architecture, you should give yourself into the care of an experienced guide like Aleksander Ostan. Being himself an architect, he is the greatest lover of his hometown and shows with great empathy her hidden beauties. He knows the history of its development like his vest pocket, and is an ever-keen observer of its renewals, as his colleagues enrich the city – while teaching in London or Vienna. You may also go with “Sascha” (his friends call him so) on a trip of discovery and will hardly come away from it without being astonished. Every building task, however small, difficult and intricate, is solved with precision and utmost skill by architects such as Sadar + Vuga, Bevc Berovič, Decleva Gregorič, OFIS or whoever was called to design it. This applies to university and commercial buildings as well as to the XXS-house.

Slovenian architecture compares to the best

In doing so, the Slovenian architects always learn from tradition, as from architect Ravnikar: they respect the existing, and never forget to create space – extraordinary space. From these ingredients emerge buildings which are equally equivalent to top European architecture and yet are so unique that they draw attention to Slovenian’s architecture of the 21st century.

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Text: Karin Tschavgova, from Architektouren Graz Ljubliana, Guiding Architects’ member in those cities.

First image: The students home in Polanje, a modern classic by Bevk Perovic Arhitekti. Copyright: Miran Kambic.

https://divisare.com/projects/63070-bevk-perovic-arhitekti-miran-kambic-student-housing-poljane

http://www.archdaily.com/277823/vander-hotel-sadar-vuga

https://www.visitljubljana.com/en/visitors/explore-the-region/about-ljubljana/ljubljana-basics/