120 Years of Modern Urbanism in Ljubljana
In addition to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Max Fabiani we also celebrate the 120th anniversary of the regulation plan for Ljubljana made by Fabiani after the earthquake of 1895. The regulation plan represents the beginning of modern urban planning in Slovenia. The exhibition »Plans, Traps and Alternatives – 120 Years of Modern Urbanism in Ljubljana« aims to show the development of modern urbanism in the 20th century and today.

The exhibition consists of modern urban plans, concepts, programmes and interventions that have been created by generations of urban planners and architects in the periods after Max Fabiani. As the antipode to this, the exhibition will present challenges that urban planning is faced with today. On their walk through the history of modern urbanism visitors will be able to learn about the history of urban planning, the competition of Ljubljana’s regulation plan in 1895, then continuing through the period between the two World Wars and romantic attempts of Plečnik and Vurnik to create an ideal city, and also the development of urbanism into a pragmatic technical discipline, which stood in the background of architectural hyper-production immediately after World War II and produced new cities such as New Belgrade, Nova Gorica, Velenje and Kidričevo. Professional efforts of urban planners in the sixties included the dissemination of knowledge through exhibitions like the presentation of the “Housing Board” in Zagreb and the exhibition »Apartments for Our Situation« in Ljubljana. In the seventies, urban planning evolved into an interdisciplinary science, which is responsible for the planning of large housing estates such as the »Russian Tsar« (Mušič, Starc, Bežan), the »BS3« (Ilija Arnautovič) and the »Murgle« (Marta and France Ivanjšek). During the economic crisis in the middle of the 1980s the volume of construction decreased and architects turned to the historic town again and upgraded the city with individual buildings in the so called »city creating spirit« (Kožej: the New Peglezen; Ravnikar: Resljeva street; Brezar: the Župančičeva housing estate).

Through numerous projects, dilemmas and controversies, urbanism developed a complex professional system in the 20th century and at the end of the millennium collided with new mechanisms of market economy, decision-making processes and citizens’ initiatives. The turn of the millennium was marked by an extensive programme of highway construction and the subjugation of urban planning to lists of private initiatives at the expense of more comprehensive visions. The Urbanistic Policy Project and the Spatial Development Strategy (2004) have unfortunately never been put into action. The pressure of private investors on urban planning in this period of economic conjuncture is intensifying, and only in the city centre of Ljubljana, within the Fabiani ring, 12 new skyscrapers were being planned in 2007. Many new urbanistic challenges are opening up at this time of economic crisis in the form of many bankrupt construction sites, on account of which a number of important urban surfaces are exempted from public use. The creation of a new inclusive, democratic model in response to climate changes, which are reflected in the increasingly frequent torrential floods, presents an important long term challenge to urbanism.

Curator: Matevž Čelik

Photos:
Hosoya Schaefer, Partnership Šmartinska
Ribja brv, Boštjan Gabrijelčič, Peter Gabrijelčič, 2014, photo: Miran Kambič / Arhitektura d.o.o.
Ideal neighbourhood for 5000 people, Edvard Ravnikar and associates, 1958, MAO

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We reserve the right to change the programme.