Architecture= 2014-2018

We kindly invite you to the opening of the exhibition on Monday, 1st October 2018 at 8 pm at Dessa gallery. 

Exhibition is part of event Mesec prostora/Month of Space, organized every year by Ministry of Republic of Slovenia.

TEM Čatež video, autor Blaž Budja

Promenada Velenje video, autor Miran Kambič

Coordinates

We have before us the update to exhibition Architecture= with the selection of ten projects built between 2014 and 2018. It is an attempt to provide the basic information about the developments in the field of architecture, but it is in fact much more than that. It talks about our relationship to architecture, which is directly linked with our historical and regional tradition.

A review of contemporary Slovene architecture could be regarded as a crop of all the architectural development in Slovenia. But it is not only about that. We have based our selection on the contemporary production of Slovene authors regardless of where their architecture is found. This is a requirement of our time as the borders and the environments are more open than they have ever been, and as Slovenia is becoming an increasingly indispensable part of the common European destiny. This is why the selection includes buildings by Slovene architects which have been constructed beyond Slovenia's borders.

Perhaps even more crucially, the selection is based on the criterion of quality. Granted, architecture is not a quantifiable phenomenon where the measure of quality could be determined by seconds like it is in sport. Perhaps this is the reason for the common, prevalent opinion that architecture hinges on personal judgement - some like it and some don't. But the significance of architecture is too great to see it merely in terms of a popularity contest. We simply cannot escape architecture: we're born in it, go to school in it,  work in it, live in it, and ultimately die in it. Consequently, it is very important what quality of living  environment architecture provides us with, and at what price. Inferior architecture wastes time, energy, and building materials; quality architecture is priceless as it contributes to a worthy "backdrop to one's life". Architecture transcends the time in which we live, and outlives the architect, the investor, and the state in which it was built. Today, we live in cities built by our ancestors, while our architecture will serve the generations which come after us. The architect's responsibility therefore doesn't end with the investor and the current legislation. In it, we are looking for universal values which will continue to be relevant in the future. This is why the criterion of quality is of utmost importance, regardless of how difficult it is to determine it. It is always possible to choose the better of the two buildings and then establish the coordinates which represent the vantage point. Our selection for the review of contemporary Slovene architecture has considered tried and tested works, which received the most important architectural awards.

Slovenia is a relatively small country where it was only recently that another school of architecture has been established alongside the tradition of Ravnikar's school, and Plečnik's before it, which itself derived from Otto Wagner's tradition in Vienna. This endows Slovene architecture with certain special characteristics of the Central European space, such as the sensibility for the building material and the tending to the detail. In addition, there is also the creative research into new conceptual solutions. Notwithstanding the contemporary globalisation which is blurring the lines of cultures and information, we believe that Slovene architecture has retained its characteristic undertone, which has things to say to the world - things worth hearing.

Andrej Hrausky

SELECTED PROJECTS FOR THE EXHIBITION

45

Prenova Plečnikove hiše / Renovation of Plečnik House, Ljubljana, 2015
Maruša Zorec, Maša Živec, Matjaž Bolčina

Foto Tadej Bolta

46

Hiša 3SHOEBOX / House 3SHOEBOX, Ljubljana, 2017
Rok Oman, Špela Videčnik, Andrej Gregorič, Janez Martinčič, Jamie Lee, Lorenzo Conti, Maja Večerina, Sam Eadington, Alexandra Volkov, Aliaksandra Dalmatava, Anastasia Barasheva, Chiara Girolami, Darko Ivanovski, Elisa Ribilotta, Łukasz Czech, José Navarrete Jiménez, Mariangela Fabbri

Photo Tomaž Gregorič

47

TEM Čatež / TEM Čatež, Čatež, 2018
Blaž Budja, Rok Jereb, Nina Majoranc

Photo Blaž Budja

48

Kompaktna kraška hiša / Compact Karst house, Vrhovlje, 2014 
Aljoša Dekleva, Tina Gregorič, Lea Kovič, Vid Zabel

Photo Janez Marolt

49

Hiša za preživetje / House for survival, Trebče, Bistrica ob Sotli, 2016
Katja Cimperman, Matej Blenkuš, Anja Cvetrežnik

Photo Miran Kambič

50

Situla, kompleks stolpnic mešane rabe / Situla, mixed-use tower complex, Ljubljana, 2013
Matija Bevk, Vasa J. Perović, Andrej Ukmar, Christophe Riss, Jure Kozin, Gonzalo Piqueras, Blaž Goričan, Nataša Šprah, Maja Valič, Davor Počivašek, Ida Sedušak

Photo Miran Kambič

51

Stanovanjski objekt Prule / Residential building Prule, Ljubljana, 2016
Matija Bevk, Vasa J. Perović, Tadej Glažar, Blaž Goričan

Photo Miran Kambič

52

Vrtec Pedenjped, enota Pedenjcarstvo / Kindergarten Pedenjped, Unit Pedenjcarstvo, Ljubljana, 2018 
Maja Ivanič, Anja Planišček, Andraž Intihar, Urša Habič,
Iztok Šušteršič, Nena Gabrovec, Damjan Černe, Andreja Zapušek Černe, Primož Fijavž, Marjan Manček

Photo Miran Kambič

53

Promenada Velenje in parkirišče Promenada / Promenada Velenje and car park Promenada, Velenje, 2014 
Dean Lah, Milan Tomac

Foto Miran Kambič

54

Paviljon Gösta muzeja Serlachius / Pavilion Gösta Museum Serlachius, Mäntta, Finska / Finland, 2014 
Boris Bežan, Mara Partida, Hector Mendoza

Photo Pedro Pegenaute

COLOFON

Selektor Arhitektura= 2014-2018 / Selector Architecture= 2014-2018 Andrej Hrausky

Editors Miha Dešman, Kristina Dešman, Andrej Hrausky, Maja Ivanič, Uroš Lobnik

English Translation Sašo Podobnik

Graphic Design and AD Nena Gabrovec

Poster Design Mojca Kocbek Vimos

Layout MatFormat, Ljubljana

Producer Galerija Dessa, Ljubljana

Print MatFormat, Ljubljana

Copies 200

Publisher Galerija Dessa, Društvo arhitektov Ljubljane, ab-arhitektov bilten

Ljubljana, October 2018 

SPONSORS

Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor RS

Ministrstvo za kulturo RS

ORGANIZERS

DESSA, DAL, ab