Slovenia highlights ecology in architecture at Venice Biennale

In the past, ecology was a part of architecture, but later architects started using technical and engineering solutions, such as heat pumps, heat recuperation and zero-energy house technologies.

This meant that they no longer applied the principles of ecology to their designs and architectural concepts, architect Eva Gusel said at the official pavilion opening earlier this week.

"Our pavilion explores how we can once again respond to ecological issues through the architectural concept, the actual construction process, through design of rooms," said Gusel.

She is a member of a team of architects from two firms who designed the pavilion: Maša Mertelj, Matic Vrabič and Gusel are the team of Mertelj Vrabič Arhitekti, and Anja Vidic and Jure Grohar are Vidic Grohar Arhitekti.

In their concept for the pavilion, the team looked to the past and the vernacular architecture used throughout centuries. Maja Vardjan, the commissioner of the Slovenian presentation, said this was not nostalgia but a display of knowledge from the past.

Fifty architectural teams from across Europe were invited to join the project by highlighting an example of vernacular architecture applying an energy principle. Now, five are exhibited in the Slovenian pavilion at the Arsenale venue.

Two of the examples are from Slovenia: a rustic tiled stove, which is used for heating, cooking and drying of produce, and a room within a room, a concept employed in the shepherds' huts at the Velika Planina plateau, where the temperature gradient moves from the smaller space to the larger one, a principle lost to central heating.

The third example comes from Poland and shows the principle of making a space smaller to make it more energy efficient. The pavilion also features a cocoon as a space for sleeping: its small size allows for a different organisation of the remaining rooms.

The fifth example presents the idea of a buffer zone, an expanded facade that protects the house from external impact.

Meanwhile, the pavilion itself has been made of sheep wool felt, linden wood and bricks, Grohar said at the pavilion launch.

Entitled +/- 1 °C: In Search of Well-Tempered Architecture, the display also features an exhibition of photographs by Klemen Ilovar and in June a booklet will be published. Moreover, a conference will be held in Ljubljana in the autumn, bringing together the business sector, science and culture.