Skyscraper (Nebotičnik)

Skyscraper (Nebotičnik) Location Ljubljana Address Stefanova 1 Planning and comp/etion 1930-1933 Architect Vladimir Subic, Building engineers Ivan and josip Bricelj and Karel Kavka lnvestor lnvestor Pension Fund (Pokojninski zavod Ljubljana) Contractor Ljubljana Construction Company (Ljubljanska gradbena družba d.d.) Building type Office and residential block Other buildings by the same architect Meks ika (mu nici pal residential building with public services) , Ljubljana 1922; Chamber of Labour (Delavska Zbornica), Ljubljana 1927; residential buildings of Pension Fund (Pokojninski Zavod) , Ljubljana 1927; residential building of Chamber of Commerce, Trade and lndustry (Zbornica za Trgovino, Obrt in Industrijo), Ljubljana, 1929; House of Commerce building (Trgovski Dom) , Ljubljana, 1929; Commercial Academy (Trgovska Akademija). Ljubljana, 1930.

In 1928 Vladimir šubic, the main architect and head of the con­ struction department of the Pension Fund (Pokojninski Zavod) was

..t. Model ... "The architect drafted several variants (al least four) for the construction that would acquire a special symbol ic significance for the city, apart from its profitability."

..,. "The juncture between the Skyscraper and the adjacent bank was accentuated by the architect with a four-metre female statue on a high console, the work of sculptor Lojze Dolinar."

47 2oth Century Architecture: From Modernist to Contemporary Gi ude to Architecture commissioned to draft a plan land development at the most presti­ gious location in the city centre, i.e. the corner of the then Tyrševa Ulica and Gajeva Ulica. After the construction of the adjacent Slavija Credit Bank, the opportunity arose for construction in a larger area that would complete the block ofhouses. The architect drafted severa! designs (at !east four) for the construction that would subsequently acquire a special symbolic significance for the city, apart from its profitability. The first solution adapted the layout of the Grafika manor to the location and won the tender in 1929. In 1930 the Pen-

"With its height of 70 metres the Skyscraper was the ninth tallest building in Europe in 1931 [... ]. It was constructed simultaneously with the Rockefeller centre in New York (1931-1940) and it was expected to as­ sume similar symbolic sig­ nificance." sion Fund called for tenders for the construction. However, none of the thirty drafts fulfilled the expectations of the Fund represented by šubic as a member of the jury. It was only on the basis of the pro­ posal for a corner tower by Plečnik that the municipal authorities al­ lowed the project to exceed in princi ple the height of the existing con­ struction that corresponded to the regulation height of five storeys at the utrnost. The architect was not sure whether to design the tower as a tall building with a heightened upper endpiece or to follow the model of a church tower. Therefore he gradually heightened the up­ per endpiece of the corner tower from the initia! nine to the final eleven storeys. Three students of architecture were invited to partici­ pate in planning the conclusion. Bojan Stupica drafted the Historicist crest of windows between the arcaded columns, and Marjan Mušič the plain upper endpiece with semi-circular windows above it (simi­ lar to the building of Grafika). Ivan Medved planned the functionalist cube made of steel and glass, while Marjan Mušič provided, in Plečnik' s manner, a gloriette in the form of a classical tempietto with a Skyscraper ( Neboti čnik) tall mast on the top of the fourteenth storey. The layout of the Skyscraper (Nebotičnik) is to be understood within the context of the construction of the series ofbuildings of the Pension Fund along štefanova Ulica. As a matter of fact, the tower ac­ centuated the height of the structure including two further buildings by the same architect, housing various facilities and a shopping mail. With its height of7o metres, the Skyscraper was the ninth tallest build­ ing in Europe in 1931 and the first skeletal tower in the Balkans. It was constructed simultaneously with the Rockefeller centre in

"The Skyscraper followed the idea of a vertical city: the shops reached from the ground to the first floor, to be followed by business premises and flats and, finally, a coffee-house with a ll terrace on the top." New York (r93I-1940) and was expected to assume similar symbolic significance. The verses of [the contemporary Slovene poet] Oton Župančič inscribed in the foundation stone of the Skyscraper indicate the demanding and risky nature of the construction: "May there be a patch for our com, and a safe shelter for our harvest!" The Skyscraper followed the idea of a vertical city: the shops reached from the ground to the first floor, to be followed by business premises and flats and, finally, a coffee-house with a terrace on the top. The ground floor contained a monumenta! flight of stairs pan­ elled with polished stone from Podpeč, with semi-circular stairs lead­ ing to the spiral staircase. The hall was decorated with Classicist heads of Penates, the work of sculptor France Gorše. The facade was panelled with stone on the ground floor and decorated with protrud­ ing brick borders on the first floor, while the rest was executed in arti­ ficial stone made of white Portland cement. The juncture between the Skyscraper and the adjacent bank was accentuated by the architect with a four-metre female statue on a high console, the work of sculp-

49 20th Century Architecture: From Modernist to Contemporary Giude to Architecture tor Lojze Dolinar. The monumental statue represented the allegory of Genia regarding distant horizons. The technically demanding construction necessitated predse cal­ culations and an advanced structural design resistant to earthquakes, innovative engineering solutions and flawless organization of con­ struction works. Additionally fast elevators, modem air-conditioning, oil-fired cen­ tral heating and other modem technical facilities had to be installed in order to ensure the faultless operation and maintenance of the tower.

Staircase ... "The Skyscraper is part of the tradition of the city with a cultural hi story of its own, and stili a symbol of the aspiration for progres s. The building is one of the sights of the city expressing a distinctly cos­ mopolitan spirit."

· The coffee-house was fitted with comfortable fumiture and decora­ tions foilowing American models and was accentuated with a spiral chestnut staircase leading to the night-club fumished in the same style. The adjacent house designed by the architect as a free-standing building only in the final stage of the construction was intended for shops, offices of the Pension Fund and flats. The building was char­ acterized by a shopping mail, the first to be constructed in Ljubljana according to the design of galleries in large cities. The Skyscraper is one of the landmarks of architecture in Ljubljana, marking the skyline of the city together with more recent high buildings. It is part of the tradition of the city with a cultural history of its own, and stili a symbol of the aspiration for progress. The building is one of the sights of the city expressing a distinctly cosmopolitan spirit. Unfortunately, the city has not succeeded in preserving the atrno­ sphere that could have been created by the tradition ofhaving a coffee­ house and night club in the city centre. The once prestigious premises have lost their reputation by frequent exchanges of tenants and mis­ management; the fumishings of the coffee-house and bar were partly changed and irnpoverished, and part of the fittings of the entrance hall was transformed. Access to the vault of the bank was pierced through the adjacent house. The shopping mail was likewise modemized in the 1970s in such a way that its original gleaming appearance was lost. Since the building was constructed in durable materials of high quality, its cultural significance in the life of the city should be protected.

so Skyscraper ( Ne bo ti čnik)

The Skyscraper and Commercial Academy group of buildings from the same period represent the best work by Vladimir šubic, which is characterized by a monumenta! expression of its otherwise rational and modem architecture of moderate functionalism typical for the contemporary conditions in Slovenia.

JANEZ KOŽELJ

"The once prestigious pre· mises have lost their reputa· tion by frequent exchanges of tenants and mis-manage­ ment; the furnishings of the coffee-house and bar were partly changed and impover­ ished, and part of the fittings of the entrance hall was transformed. Access to the vault of the bank was pierced through the adjacent house."

Literature

GLAŽAR, TADEJ, KOŽELJ, JANEZ, "Katalog, Vladimir $ubic, arhitekt", collected works, AB,

111/114, Ljubljana, 1992. ZLODRE, JANKO, "Vladimir $ubic, arhitekt-stavbenik, Vladimir Subic, arhitekt", col­

lected works, AB, 111/114, Ljubljana, 1992.

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