Alan John Ainsworth Photography

JOŽE PLEČNIK

Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana AND VIENNA

The urban design for Ljubljana was conceived by Architect Jože Plečnik (1872–1957) between the two World Wars. After 1918 a desire to create independent nation states triggered various State and town building projects in Central and South-Eastern Europe to which urban planners and architects responded under the influence of the Modernist movement. The transformation of Ljubljana into a national capital emerged during the introduction of these modernist guidelines.

The urban design of “Plečnik’s Ljubljana” is based on two urban axes connected by transversal axes. The land axis – the Green Promenade starts at the Trnovo Bridge and runs through the Square of the French Revolution, along Vegova Street with the National and University Library, and ends at the Congress Square with Zvezda Park. Running parallel is the water axis – the Promenade along the Embankments and Bridges of the Ljubljanica River – which extends from the Trnovo district to the Sluice Gate. The historical city centre is connected with vital points in both the rural and urban suburbs, and with the broader spatial network of Ljubljana: the Church of St. Michael, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Plečnik’s Žale – Garden of All Saints. The city centre was interpreted anew and developed into a series of public spaces (squares, parks, streets, promenades, bridges) and public institutions (library, churches, markets, funerary complex).

Plečnik’s interventions form an outstanding example of urban renewal developed in the context of existing buildings and spaces and tailored to suit the inhabitants.

This gallery also shows Plečnik’s
Zacherlhaus of 1903 in Vienna. Friedrich Achleiter described this building as "probabl;y...the most important building of the [Otto] Wagner school."

Triple Bridge, Ljubliana (Jože Plečnik, 1931-32) (3)

Triple Bridge, Ljubliana (Jože Plečnik, 1931-32) (4)

Triple Bridge, Ljubliana (Jože Plečnik, 1931-32) (5)

Church of St. Michael (Jože Plečnik, 1937-9) (3)

Church of St. Michael (Jože Plečnik, 1937-9) (4)

Church of St. Michael (Jože Plečnik, 1937-9)

Covered market buildings (Jože Plečnik, 1940-44)

Church of St. Francis of Assissi (Jože Plečnik, 1925-7)

Ljubljanica Sluice Gate (Jože Plečnik, 1940-43) (1)

Ljubljanica Sluice Gate (Jože Plečnik, 1940-43) (2)

National and University Library (Jože Plečnik, 1936-41) (1)

National and University Library (Jože Plečnik, 1936-41) (2)

National and University Library (Jože Plečnik, 1936-41) (3)

National and University Library (Jože Plečnik, 1936-41) (5)

National and University Library (Jože Plečnik, 1936-41) (6)