You are invited to the second symposium organised in a collaboration of MAO and the 11th edition of the Architectural Association’s AA Nanotourism Visiting School from London. 

Building on the knowledge and insights from last year’s Visiting School, the symposium will bring together a group of invited speakers that will discuss, reflect and present work related to the architecture and legacy of Jože Plečnik. The aim of the symposium is exploring perspectives beyond understanding within and highlighting new opportunities and dimensions that emerge by viewpoints from outside.

The phrase “not being able to see the trees for the forest” aptly describes the research and discourse surrounding Jože Plečnik’s work. Since the 1990s, the predominant narratives have largely been shaped by a select group of Slovenian architects, historians, and thinkers. While their insights are undeniably significant, this inward focus raises critical questions about opacity in the discourse. Some perspectives may have obscured other important aspects of Plečnik’s contributions, rendering them invisible in the larger context of architectural history. This calls for a more nuanced exploration of his work to uncover the layers that may have been overlooked.

Seeking to build upon last year’s symposium and student works,  where we encouraged a re-assessment of Plečnik’s work within a contemporary context, this year we will actively look beyond, departing from positions situated outside the borders of Slovenia. Through speaker’s presentations we will look for wider impact of Plečnik’s work and we will explore its broader resonance and relevance from the perspectives of architects and researchers based, active and connected outside Slovenia, all sharing a profound engagement with his work.

Simultaneously, we are interested in expanding the conversation across geographical constraints; inviting a wider participation and encouraging cross-generational, interdisciplinary and inclusive discussions. Building upon the main topics that AA Nanotourism 2024 opened up, the speakers will reflect on the relevance of Plečnik’s work beyond Slovenia – today, in the past and in the future – and expand on the ways their respective research and practices have been informed by the legacy of Plečnik.

What has remained obscured by looking at Plečnik’s work from within?

What do perspectives from the outside – beyond the geographical borders of Slovenia – offer for our understanding of his work today?

How do the readings of his work inform our engagement with the Ljubljana of today?

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SPEAKERS

Georgia Butina Watson is a professor of Urban Design and Research and Practice Consultant in Planning and Urban Design at Oxford University UK. She co-authored a book and architectural exhibition: ‘Joze Plecnik- 1972-1957- Architecture and the City’ (1983, Oxford University, UK). She will present a talk titled Plečnik’s Legacy in Ljubljana: Spatial Structure and the River Sequence Revisited. The talk will reflect on the seminal book she co-authored in 1983 titled Jože Plečnik, 1872-1957 : architecture and the city and present Plečnik’s key urban projects in Ljubljana, using a variety of theoretical perspectives and lenses to discuss the lasting legacy of his work today. Of particular interest are the spatial/morphological structure of the city, the river sequences, the bridges and the market.

Axel Wlody is an architectural researcher graduated from the Master of Architecture program at ULB’s La Cambre-Horta faculty with a thesis entitled Jože Plečnik and Ljubljana, identity and language of memory. He works at the Centre Pompidou Paris, on the inventory and valorization of a newly-discovered collection of Piano + Rogers Architects archival drawings relating to the centre’s construction (1971-1977). He will present a talk titled Plečnik’s Historiography, Exhibitions and Receptions. This research aims to propose a personal historiographical reading of Plecnik and his work as inscribed within a production of shifting narratives

Luka Skansi is an architectural historian, associate professor at Politecnico di Milano (DASTU – Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani). His research ranges across different geographical and temporal contexts of the 20th century, and focuses on the themes of spatiality in architecture, construction or its relationship with geopolitics. He will present a talk titled In Search of Plečnik’s Legacy. He will take us on a short excursion through postwar architectural practice in Socialist Yugoslavia, finding continuities with Plečnik’s spatial culture.

András Pálffy is an architect and founder of forward thinking practice Jabornegg & Pálffy. A long term professor at the Department of Design and Theory of Design at Vienna University of Technology. He was President of the Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession from 2007 to 2013. He will present a talk titled Jože Plečnik in Vienna, 1892-1912. This talk deals with the fundamental transformation of the metropolis on the Danube in the direction of an urban modernity that was essentially formed by social, functional and technological developments. Against this background of rapid urban transformation Jože Plečnik was responsible for the design of the Zacherlhaus and the Heilig-Geist Kirche, both important focal points of his professional work in Vienna.

Aljoša Dekleva is an architect and founder of the practice Dekleva Gregorič Architects. A professor at Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana. Since 2014 He runs an experimental teaching and research programme AA Nanotourism Visiting School at the AA. He will present the implications of five realised interventions of the last year’s AA nanotourism Visiting School in the context of Plečnik, the Citiy of Ljubljana and Nanotourism. 

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ABOUT NANOTOURISM

AA Nanotourism Visiting School is an architectural educational programme focusing on nanotourism – a creative critique of the current environmental, social and economic downsides of conventional tourism. Through critical thinking and close collaboration with local stakeholders, we focus on developing nanotourism case studies to reveal hidden aspects of the particular context addressing the place, its users, and locally available materials.

AA Nanotourism Visiting School was established in 2014 in collaboration with 24th biennial of design (BIO 50: 3, 2, 1… Test) and the Architectural Association, School of Architecture. Over the past decade, the AA Nanotourism program has produced numerous student projects that have gained recognition and been exhibited by prestigious institutions worldwide. These include the London Design Festival in 2018, the Oslo Architecture Triennale in 2019, the Vienna Design Week in 2020, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in 2021, and the BIO27 Ljubljana in 2022. The programme is led by Aljoša Dekleva and Vid Žnidaršič.

Format: Short lectures, followed by a discussion.

The symposium will be in English language.

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