Plečnik House

The architect Jože Plečnik moved to a single-storey house at Karunova Street 4 in Ljubljana's Trnovo district in 1921, and extended it with a cylindrical tower in 1924. Plečnik House exterior, renovated in 2015. Photo by Andrej Peunik/Museum and Galleries of ljubljana

Now a small yet highly intriguing museum, the Plečnik House is the former abode of Jože Plečnik (1872–1957), one of the most important and certainly the most well known Slovene architect. As of 1974 devoted to this European architectural great, the museum houses the collection of Plečnik's personal artefacts as well as (since 2015) a study centre, a permanent exhibition on the architect's life and work and a space for temporary exhibitions related to Plečnik's work, his contemporaries or his influence on today's creative sector. However, the house itself is a testament in its own right, having been used as some sort of a prototype ground by its illustrious owner.

A thoroughly renovated complex of the two houses, a cylindrical tower and an adjacent garden with a lapidarium, together with the entire inventory of furniture and other objects used by Plečnik, is since 2010 managed by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. Plečnik House was among the recipients of the European Union's Cultural Heritage Award / Europa Nostra for 2018. It won the award in the category of Education, training and raising awareness.

Collection

The collection contains extensive archives of architect's sketches, plans, correspondences, and other documents.

The core of the materials is exhibited in the cylindrical annex which Plečnik added to his brother's old house between 1923 and 1925. A few years later he had an entrance hall added to the northern side of the house and a winter garden to the southern side. The authentic interiors are preserved just as Plečnik created them, with his own original design of furniture and a wealth of small objects. A spacious garden completes the Plečnik property on the western side of the building.

Since the extensive renovation in 2015 a permanent exhibition, focused on architect's life and work, is on display in the adjacent corner building. A study centre is set in the first floor of the house.

The entry porch was both a reception room and a lapidary. Renovated Plečnik House, 2015.

Background and renovation

Winter garden at Plečnik House, Karunova street 4, Ljubljana, 1923

Plečnik lived and worked in (and on) this house from 1921 until his death. After Plečnik's death in 1957, the large collection of the architect's plans and correspondence was entirely preserved by his nephew Karel Matković.

In 1970 the house was sold to the City of Ljubljana together with its contents. Two years later the city municipality used it to house the Architecture Museum of Ljubljana. In 1992 most of its departments were moved to the renovated Fužine Castle, where it now runs as the Museum of Architecture and Design. However, the Plečnik Collection remained at the Plečnik House and since 2010 the site is managed by Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML).

In September 2013 MGML started a thorough renovation of the house and its surroundings, with the design and planning taken care of by Arrea Architecture. Their subtle and complex approach earned Arrea Architecture the Plečnik Medal 2016, the Piranesi Award 2016, and the nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2017.

Obnova Plečnikove hiše, 2013-2015 /  The Renovation of the Plečnik House, 2013–2015 by Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane on YouTube

Awards

The newly founded museum itself was also the subject of various awards and prizes – the aforementioned Plečnik and Piranesi awards 2016 for architecture, the Stele Award for conservation and the Valvasor Award 2015 for unique achievements in the field of museology. In 2017 it got nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA). In 2018 it won the Europa Nostra Award, Europe’s top honour in the field of cultural heritage.

UNESCO nomination

The Czech and Slovene Ministries of Culture submitted the Plečnik's urban planning and architectural works in Ljubljana and Prague on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list in January 2015. In 2018, Slovenia is going to conceive the nomination of Plečnik's heritage anew, as the Czech partner withdrew.

The renovated complex (designed by Arrea Architecture) of the two houses at Karunova Street with the Plečnik Collection in situ, a new permanent exhibition on Jože Plečnik and a study centre, 2015.

External links

Gallery

Portrait of Jože Plečnik, 1933

Plečnik House in 2012, before the renovation works that were accomplished in September 2015, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana

The interior of Jože Plečnik's studio in the year of the master's death in 1957.

Plečnik Collection, work table in Jože Plečnik's master's studio, 1957. Photo from Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana documentation/Plečnik Collection.

Plečnik Collection, some objects from the master's studio, 2011.

Drawing utensils preserved in situ at the Plečnik House, 2015.

Plečnik received guests in the small room panelled with wood on the ground floor. Renovated room in 2015

Plečnik House, reception room detail, 2015

Architectural design of the cylindrical extension of Plečnik House, Karunova street 4, Ljubljana, 1923

Jože Plečnik, standing in front of the cylindrical extension of his house in Trnovo, 1926. Photo by Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana documentation/Plečnik Collection.

Winter garden at Plečnik House, Karunova street 4, Ljubljana, 1923

The renovated complex (designed by Arrea Architecture) of the two houses at Karunova Street with the Plečnik Collection in situ, a new permanent exhibition on Jože Plečnik and a study centre, 2015.

Renovated Plečnik House, cylindrical annex, 2015

The entry porch in Plečnik House, with the master's collection of sculptures and spolia, 2015. Photo by Matevž Paternoster/Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana.

The architect Jože Plečnik moved to a single-storey house at Karunova Street 4 in Ljubljana's Trnovo district in 1921, and extended it with a cylindrical tower in 1924. Plečnik House exterior, renovated in 2015. Photo by Andrej Peunik/Museum and Galleries of ljubljana

Renovated Plečnik House, house front, 2015

The authentic interiors are preserved just as Plečnik created them, with his own original design of furniture and a wealth of small objects. Renovated Plečnik House, 2015

Plečnik House, new entrance, 2015

The bedroom and work room of master architect Jože Plečnik was situated in the circular tower. A view of the renovated room, 2015.

The renovated complex of the Plečnik House in 2015.

The Plečnik House contains the artist's valuable original furniture and personal objects, renovated interior, 2015.

Plečnik House, renovated winter garden interior, 2015

The entry porch was both a reception room and a lapidary. Renovated Plečnik House, 2015.

Renovated Plečnik House with the garden, 2015.

During the war Plečnik moved his work desk from the first floor into his bedroom, where it stayed until his death in 1957. Restored room in 2015.

Plečnik House

Contents

Collection

Background and renovation

Awards

UNESCO nomination

See also

External links

Gallery

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