DESSA Architecture Centre

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DESSA Arhitekturni center

Židovska steza 4, SI-1000 Ljubljana

http://www.dessa.si

ljdessa1@guest.arnes.si

Phone386 (0) 1 251 4074

The acronym DESSA stands for Delovna skupnost samostojnih arhitektov, which is the Slovenian term for the Association of Freelance Architects, founded in 1982 by 36 architects for the primary purpose of helping private architects work in a socialist society. Since then it has provided both a business framework and a physical space for the activities of freelance architects who work in various design fields, ranging from urban planning, architecture, interior and graphic design to theatre set design.

With the possibility to establish private offices for architecture and in cooperation with the economic sector the role of DESSA has changed and many famous and prosperous studios have arisen, among them, Atelier, Bevk Perović Arhitekti, Ravnikar-Potokar Architecture Bureau and others. In 1996, with 74 of its founding members, DESSA restructured itself and registered as a non-profit cultural institution, DESSA Architecture Centre, with the objective of elevating general social awareness of the cultural value of architecture.

Today DESSA Architecture Centre works as a non-profit architecture organisation, publishing professional literature, organising lectures and excursions, and managing Arhitectural Gallery DESSA with its ten exhibitions of architecture each year, many of them international. DESSA is also one of the leading associations to nominate architectural achievements for the international Mies van der Rohe prize.

Background

In spring 1989 Boris Podrecca, an internationally-renowned Slovene architect currently working in Vienna, donated his design services for a new gallery/office complex for DESSA in the centre of Ljubljana. The place follows the principles of Gottfried Semper, and is composed of four rooms, each devoted to a different building material – stone for the gallery, wood for the library, plastic for the office, and textile for the meeting room. All items except the chairs were made especially for DESSA; chairs designed by Professor Niko Kralj in the 1950s were donated by the manufacturer Stol Kamnik.

In 1991 DESSA founded Arhé, a design firm which at first assisted members to produce and sell architectural designs, but later took over all commerce and financial responsibilities of DESSA, thus allowing the association to focus on cultural activities pertinent to the field of architecture. Today the branch Arhé still “covers” several groups of architects, but has become only one of the actual providers on the market.

See also

• Arhitectural Gallery DESSA

External links

• DESSA website