Work on Ljubljanica embankment wins main architecture award
Ljubljana, 23 April - Vesna Vozlič Košir and Matej Vozlič have won this year's Plečnik Prize, the main national award for architecture, for their work on the Ljubljanica embankment from the Triple Bridge to Zois Street in the city of Ljubljana.
Ljubljana
A view of the Triple Bridge, the work of architect Jože Plečnik (1872-1957) from the river Ljubljanica.
Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
File photo
The jury praised their work for considerably changing the area along the Ljubljanica over the past decades, opening it up and making it "a space of freedom".
It argued the pair had softened Austrian architect Alfred Keller's high structures made of concrete, while at the same time respecting Jože Plečnik's heritage in the area.
Their work is not a static or monolithic work of art, but "an exercise in strengthening everything that was already there", the jury said.
The award named after Jože Plečnik (1872-1957), Slovenia's most celebrated architect, has been conferred since 1973.
It is given out by the Ljubljana Society of Architects, the city of Ljubljana and the government from the Architect Jože Plečnik Fund to reward outstanding achievement from the past five years.
Last year, the award was conferred on three architects from architecture firm Jereb in Budja Arhitekti for a transitional shelter for women in Ljubljana.