Plečnikova Plečnik’s Ljubljana Plečnikova Spoštovani! Dear Readers, Pred nami je četrta publikacija iz Before us is the fourth publica- serije Portret mesta in izjemno tion in the series Portrait of a vesel sem, da imata v njej glavno City, and I am very pleased that vlogo naš arhitekt Jože Plečnik it features our architect Jože in njegova Ljubljana. Plečnik and his beautiful Lju- Jože Plečnik je Ljubljani vdihnil bljana. neizbrisljiv pečat; s premišljeni- Jože Plečnik left an indelible im- mi zasnovami mostov, trgov in pression on Ljubljana; with his ulic, jo je preoblikoval v narodo- thoughtfully designed bridges, vo prestolnico in dal nastavke squares, and streets, he shaped za njen nadaljnji razvoj. Našega M. Fras it into a national capital and prelepega mesta si ne moremo created the foundation for its predstavljati brez njegovih edinstvenih stvaritev – Tro- further development. We cannot imagine our beautiful mostovja, Narodne in univerzitetne knjižnice, pokopališča city without his unique designs: the Triple Bridge, the Na- Žale, Glavne tržnice in Križank. tional and University Library, Žale Cemetery, the Central Njegove zamisli o oblikovanju monumentalne vodne osi Market, and the Križanke Outdoor Theatre. skozi mesto smo v zadnjih letih nadgradili z oživljanjem In recent years, we have built upon his ideas of creating a nabrežij Ljubljanice. Z novimi mostovi in ureditvami na- monumental water axis through the city by reinvigorating brežij Ljubljanice smo dali Plečnikovim delom novo ži- the banks of the Ljubljanica River. With new bridges and vljenje in jih vključili v prenovo mestnega središča, ki smo rearrangement of its banks, we have breathed new life ga namenili pešcem in kolesarjem ter ga s tem na široko into Plečnik’s designs and included them in the renewal odprli raznolikemu družabnemu in kulturnemu dogajanju. of the city centre, which we have dedicated to pedestri- Ljubljanica in njena nabrežja so postala nove zelene oaze ans and cyclists, thereby opening it up to various social mesta in prostori druženja skozi celo leto. Za projekt and cultural events. The Ljubljanica and its banks have Preureditev nabrežij Ljubljanice in mostov je Ljubljana become a new green oasis in the town and a place to leta 2012 dobila prestižno evropsko nagrado za urejanje gather throughout the year. In 2012 Ljubljana won the javnih mestnih prostorov. prestigious European Prize for Urban Public Space for Arhitekt Jože Plečnik bo v Ljubljani vedno imel posebno the project Renovation of the Banks and Bridges on the mesto, njegova vizija, kulturno poslanstvo in umetniška Ljubljanica River. moč so namreč Ljubljano postavili ob bok Dunaju in The architect Jože Plečnik will always have a special place Pragi, kjer je arhitekt začel ustvarjati svoja najodličnejša in Ljubljana; his vision, cultural mission, and artistic power dela. V publikaciji, ki je pred nami, strokovnjaki z različnih placed Ljubljana alongside Vienna and Prague, where pogledov osvetljujejo Plečnikova dela in njihov pomen he began creating his finest works. In this publication, za razvoj Ljubljane, s čimer izražajo poklon njegovemu experts examine Jože Plečnik’s creations from various življenjskemu opusu. points of view and its importance for Ljubljana’s develop- Ljubljana je v zadnjih desetih letih doživela ponoven raz- ment, thereby paying tribute to his life’s work. cvet. Uresničevanje dolgoročne vizije razvoja mesta nas Over the past decade, Ljubljana has flourished again, vodi po poti trajnostnega razvoja, v katerem se skrb za and implementing the city’s long-term vision is leading zdravo in kakovostno življenje vseh generacij naših me- us toward sustainable development, in which ensuring ščank in meščanov prepleta z varovanjem njihovega a healthy and high-quality life for all generations of resi- socialnega položaja in naravnega okolja. Naše doseda- dents is intertwined with protecting their social status nje prizadevanje za lepo, prijetno in zdravo mesto je že and the natural environment. Our efforts to date to en- postavilo Ljubljano na zemljevid gospodarsko, turistično sure a beautiful, friendly, and healthful city have already in okoljsko privlačnih mest. Krona vseh naših dosežkov placed Ljubljana on the map of attractive cities in terms pa je naziv Zelena prestolnica Evrope 2016, na katerega of economics, tourism, and environmental protection. smo neizmerno ponosni, hkrati pa se zavedamo, da pred- Our crowning achievement is Ljubljana’s recognition stavlja veliko zavezo, da bomo tudi v prihodnje zavzeto as European Green Capital 2016; we are exceptionally stopali po poti trajnostnega razvoja naše prelepe, zelene, proud of this honour and we are also aware that this čiste in urejene Ljubljane. To smo nenazadnje dolžni tudi pledges us to committedly pursue the path of sustainable našim zanamcem, ki jim moramo pustiti vsaj tako ohra- development in the future for our beautiful, green, clean, njeno naravo, kot jo imamo mi. Ob tem bomo upoštevali and well-tended city. Not least of all, we are bound to tudi Plečnikova prizadevanja za kulturno in etično preo- this by the generations that will follow us, to whom we brazbo našega mesta. must bequeath a natural environment at least as pristine as the one we enjoy today. Alongside all of this, we will Zoran Janković also take into account Plečnik’s efforts for a cultural and župan Mestne občine Ljubljana ethical transformation of our city. Zoran Janković Mayor of the City of Ljubljana 3 Namesto uvoda By way of an introduction Jože Plečnik – arhitekt, urbanist, Jože Plečnik: architect, urban planner, oblikovalec in pedagog designer, and teacher »Jože Plečnik – slovenski Gaudi? Umetnik in mistik? Sloven- “Jože Plečnik – the Slovenian Gaudi? Artist and mystic? ski bard? Največji arhitekt dvajsetega stoletja v Srednji Evro- Slovenian bard? The greatest twentieth-century architect of pi? Kako bi lahko bolje opisali umetniškega duha in delo central Europe? How best to describe the genius and oeuvre tega arhitekta, vodilnega evropskega modernista, hkrati pa of this fine artist, this leading European modernist at once so globoko zasidranega v svoji slovenski tradiciji in identiteti?«1 deeply rooted in his own Slovenian tradition and identity?”1 2 eta 2017 mineva šestdeset let od smrti Jožeta he year 2017 marks the sixtieth anniversary of Plečnika, velikega slovenskega arhitekta, ene od Jože Plečnik’s death. He was a great Slovenian L ključnih osebnosti dunajske moderne arhitekture T architect, one of the key figures in the modern na prelomu devetnajstega in dvajsetega stoletja in enega architecture of fin-de-siècle Vienna, and one of the most important architects of the first half of the twentieth cen- tury, not only in Europe, but also at the global level. Jože Plečnik was born in Ljubljana as the third of four chil- dren in a carpenter’s family. He attended primary school in Ljubljana, where he also enrolled in secondary school, which he soon left. Apparently he preferred drawing and painting to studying. This is why his father named him as his successor and took him on as an apprentice in his workshop. In addition to working, Plečnik also attended the architecture department of the imperial trade school 1 Plečnikova družina, in Ljubljana. In 1888 he received a state scholarship for 1889 (Muzej in galerije study at the state trade school in Graz, where he learned mesta Ljubljane). cabinet-making. Due to his exceptional drawing skills, his The Plečnik family, 1889 (Ljubljana professor Leopold Theyer also invited him to join his stu- Museum and dio, where he drew architectural plans. Plečnik learned Galleries). about important foundations in historical styles from Adolf Wagner. He became proficient in technical and ar- 2 Plečnikov portret chitectural drawing and gained sufficient trade expertise, iz leta 1888 (Muzej in galerije mesta but he did not learn enough about architectural compo- Ljubljane). sition and construction, and this caused him significant Portrait of Plečnik, difficulties later on. 1888 (Ljubljana After graduating, he started working as a draughtsman Museum and at Theodor Müller’s furniture company in Vienna. After Galleries). 1 od največjih arhitektov prve polovice dvajsetega stoletja, ne samo v evropskem, ampak tudi v svetovnem merilu. Jože Plečnik se je rodil v Ljubljani kot tretji od štirih otrok v družini mizarskega mojstra. Osnovno šolo je obiskoval v Ljubljani, prav tako gimnazijo, ki pa jo je kmalu zapu- stil – menda je raje risal in slikal, kot se učil. Zato ga je oče določil za svojega naslednika in ga v delavnici zaposlil kot vajenca. Ob delu je Plečnik obiskoval tudi oddelek za stavbno obrt cesarsko kraljeve višje realke v Ljubljani. Leta 1888 je dobil državno štipendijo, ki mu je omogo- čila nadaljevanje šolanja na državni obrtni šoli v Gradcu, 3 4 kjer se je učil za pohištvenega mojstra. Zaradi izjemnih he had worked there for two years, his brothers Andrej risarskih sposobnosti ga je profesor Leopold Theyer and Janez encouraged him to pursue further schooling. vključil tudi v svoj atelje, kjer je risal arhitekturne načrte, He introduced himself to Otto Wagner, who had just pomembne osnove iz zgodovinskih slogov pa je Plečnik taken over as the head of the School of Architecture at pridobil pri profesorju Adolfu Wagnerju. Izuril se je v the Academy of Fine Arts. Plečnik’s drawings persuaded spretnega tehničnega in arhitekturnega risarja in pridobil Wagner to accept him, but initially as part of his studio, ustrezno obrtno znanje, ni pa usvojil ustreznega znanja s where Plečnik was to make up for the deficiencies in his področja arhitekturne kompozicije in konstrukcij, kar mu technical education by learning essential elements of stat- je pozneje povzročalo velike težave. ics and construction. Following a year of work in the stu- Po končani šoli se je na priporočilo Theyerja zaposlil kot dio, Plečnik was allowed to enrol in the academy in 1895. risar v pohištvenem podjetju Theodorja Müllerja na Du- This new environment and creative atmosphere awak- naju. Po dveh letih dela v tem podjetju se je na pobudo ened his talent.