Jože Plečnik (1872-1957)

[Praxiteles]

Joze Plecnik



In the eighties the work of the architect Joze Plecnik (Jo"ze Ple"cnik, see character set) (a disciple of Otto Wagner) became a true discovery for Europe and the world. Besides the extraordinary high quality of his work Plecnik has also been attributed abroad with a high degree of originality and innovation in the use of historical, regional and even local features, rounding each in new authentic collection containing a multitude of items, from fine details, monuments and architectural motifs to large urban features.

Few cities have had the personal seal of a single artist so strongly impressed as Ljubljana, the birthplace of the architect Joze Plecnik (1872-1957). Over three and half decades, he transformed the former provincial town into the capital of the Slovenian nation. He tried with monumentality and beauty to instill a sense of selfconfidence in the inhabitants.

From the mid-twenties onwards, one after another, the architect arranged a number of parks and squares in the town. Just as in Prague, the city of Ljubljana was subjected to town planning, characterized by high obelisks, pillars and pyramids. Wide stairways were installed, large areas paved and the existing monocultural wild chestnut was systematically changed for more varied vegetation.

His style was very much influenced by his trips to Rome and Paris as a student where he had admired the ancient Classical and Renaissance Masters. He developed his own very special language using simplified manneristic and classical elements which were no longer tied to the plain fulfillment of a function but to the expression of an ideal.

The monuments he realized are only a modest contribution to his vision of great Ljubljana; St Michael's Church on the Marsh (Barje) (1936-39), the National and University Library (1936-40), the Church of St Francis in "Si"ska (1925-30), Ljubljana Stadium (1925-37), the school in Upper "Si"ska (1927-29), Mutual Insurance Building (1929-30), the Cemetery (1939-40), and the Market (1939-42). Of his urban plans, stress should be laid on the design of the junction of Vegova Road with Congress Square (1929-1931), the banks of the Ljubljanica and Grada"s"cica rivers with their bridges (1930-1939), the famous Three Bridges (around 1930), the Shoemaker's Bridge, the Tivoli Park, the surroundings of the Church of St Jernej in "Si"ska (1936) and the castle entrenchments. Among the most prominent commissions of his later period is the restoration of Kri"zanke Monastery (1954-56).

Plecnik's house, preserving its ambient and the artefacts which he used during his life, as well as an important archive is today a part of the Architectural Museum of Ljubljana, while Fu"zine Castle, the seat of the Architectural Museum, houses Plecnik's Paris Exhibition.

After thorough preparation carried out by a team of experts (Boris Podrecca, François Burkhardt, Damjan Prelov"sek and Lojze Gosti"sa) and two institutions: the Georges Pompidou National Cultural Centre from Paris and Ljubljana Museum of Architecture, a large retrospective exhibition on Joze Plecnik opened in 1986. The Paris exhibition subsequently saw extraordinary success in Ljubljana, too. In a truncated form it then moved to Madrid, Vienna, Munich, Karlsruhe, Milan, Venice, New York and Washington. Joze Plecnik become a top cultural theme chiefly among professional circles. Within the USA he is the only Slovenian artist to experience world promotion of such an impact. The Georges Pompidou Centre decided to bestow its contribution of Plecnik's exhibition to Ljubljana. To mark the following significant anniversaries: the 120th anniversary of Plecnik's birth, the 35th anniversary of his death and the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Architectural Museum a permanent exhibition comprising most of the works of Plecnik's Paris exhibition was opened to the public in a renovated wing of the classical early Renaissance Fu"zine Castle on the banks of the river Ljubljanica in Ljubljana.



St. Michael's Church
Plecnik's creativity is evident in this wooden church where, in spite of a very limited budget, he managed to recreate a peaceful and informal environment. Many revolutionary solutions were tried here to help reducing costs.

[Praxiteles]

An another interesting link on the same subject:

http://www.plecnik.com/uk/plecnik.htm

http://www.uni-weimar.de/architektur/e+gel1/projekte/kosovo/Seminare/Hossfeld/biograph.html#Sprung1

[Praxiteles]

More preliminary material:

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/masters/plecnik.php

[Praxiteles]

Some further preliminary material:


http://www.geocities.com/ljubljanalife/Plecnik.htm

[Praxiteles]

From the Prague years:

http://lava.ds.arch.tue.nl/gallery/praha/tpl_gard.html

[Praxiteles]

The Hradcheny:


http://www.ciprianobortolato.it/Ricognizioni/PlecnikPraga/6.htm

[Praxiteles]

More on the gardens of the Hradcheny in Prague:

http://www.fbsr.it/ita/pagine.php?s=&pg=183

[Praxiteles]

More on Plecnicana Praha:

http://www.thezaurus.com/sloveniana/plecnikprague.htm

[Praxiteles]

The Church of the Sacred Heart in Prague (1922-1933):






http://www.athenaeum.ch/srdce.htm

[Praxiteles]

Some more Plecnik:

http://www.e-architekt.cz/index.php?PId=1145&KatId=7

[Praxiteles]

More preliminaries:

http://www.calsky.com/lexikon/de/txt/j/jo/joa_e_pleae_nik.php

[Praxiteles]

A few interesting little notes:

http://www.urbanisme.fr/archives/332/Mag/chronique.html

[Praxiteles]

Some more quite interesting material on Plecnicana Praha:

http://www.kakanien.ac.at/beitr/materialien/ZCimprichova1.pdf#search=%22plecnik%20praga%22

[Praxiteles]

The Church of St Francis at Siski, Ljublijana (Laibach)

http://www.zupnija-siska.si/cerkev.html?id=15375341

[Praxiteles]

A view of the interior of the Church of St. Francis at Siski, Ljubliajna (Laibach)

http://www.burger.si/Ljubljana/Virtual/CerkevSvFranciskaVSiski.HTM

[Praxiteles]

The exterior, front elevation. of St. Francis, Siski



Exterior lateral and rear elevation:

[Praxiteles]

The Heiliger Geist Kirche Church of the (Holy Ghost in Vienna (1910-1913)

Facade




Exterior




Interior





The Crypt

[Praxiteles]

A brief study of the Heiliger Geist Kirche in Wien:

http://www.planet-vienna.com/spots/schmelz/schmelz.htm

[ctesiphon]

Not to trivialise the content of this thread, but in one way it reads like the perfect itinerary for a holiday I'd been contemplating for a while.

Thanks for all the info.

[trace]

Do also check out Andrej Hrausky's essay on Plecnik's Ljubljana in New Irish Architecture 21 (AAI Awards 2006), published by Gandon Editions ISBN 0946846 901. Hrausky has published several books on Plecnik and an architectural guide to Ljubljana.

[ctesiphon]

Thanks for that- found a link to an article just now that gives a reference to the Hrausky book on Ljubljana- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3575/is_1269_212/ai_95121521

One more for the shopping list.

[Praxiteles]

Ctesiphon!

Here is something else for the shopping bag:

Joze Plecnik, Architect, 1872-1957 : The Complete Works
Krecic, Peter ISBN:0823025659.

[Praxiteles]

Here are some photographs that Praxiteles recently took of the Church of St. Francis in Siski on the outskirts of Ljubljana.

The church was built 1925-1927 and the bell tower added in 1931.

The exterior:

[Praxiteles]

Some further photographs of St Francis, Siski, Ljubljana

The interior:

[Praxiteles]

The Church of St. Francis, Siski, Ljubljana

The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows

The last photograph illustrates some of the lamps designed by Plecnik for the church.