“Šmartinka” is one of those acquisitions that have brought Slovenian architecture together with global trends and aspirations. It is unique, but it is also extremely vulnerable to any attempt to return to tradition and tried-and-tested comfort.
A few years after independence, Slovenian architecture was caught by a completely fresh wind, which looked for its models in international reference projects, and for courage and enthusiasm in the self-confidence of the new country. The change in economic doctrine, globalisation and the liberalisation of economic relations have also given architecture the imperative to re-question its core principles and values. The classical attitude to tradition, materiality, strict artistic composition, programme, utility and long-termism becomes less and less relevant in the new millennium. Concepts such as marketing, “brand”, consumption and innovation come to the fore. The search for new designs of building types, based on the principle of mixing different programmes into a common building synergy, becomes not only pragmatically useful but also visually interesting.
The programme hybrid, which combines a retail programme on the two-storey ground floor, office space in the central part and free-standing residential “houses” in both attics, was created as a response to the uncertain, but at the same time extremely vibrant, market conditions of the late 1990s. The client was aware of the fact that in order to make the project a success, it had to offer the market several possible amenities relatively quickly, so the building combines three very different programmes.
The threefoldness of the design follows certain artistic starting points. First of all, the apparent mass of the building grows “from the bottom up”, the ground floor is completely open and glazed with large windows, the office floors are more enclosed, the suspended façade is turned “outwards”, emphasising its density and depth, while the interior of the offices is partially relieved. The residential ‘cubes’ on the roof are compact, massive and open to the south and west with large glazed openings.
The building was created in a period when the urban concept of Šmartinska Street in Ljubljana was gradually transformed and changed from an inlet with pavilion buildings along the carriageway and a higher superstructure in the rear to a relatively high and condensed series of buildings of various programmes parallel to the city’s inlet. From the last century’s paradigm of the functional and service city, where the concentration of the programme is foreseen at a reasonable distance from the source of noise and pollution of the urban inlet, to a liberalised concentration of density and capital right next to the main traffic flows. “Šmartinka”, in its content and spatial placement, is undoubtedly a document of the ideological transformation of urbanism, architecture and social values.
Authors of the project: BLENKUŠ Matej, FLORIJANČIČ Miloš
| Static: | Berce Anton |
| Other engineers: | Rihar Gregor, Lenassi Mitja, Tekavec Silvo |
| Collaborators: | Mitja Zorc, Primož Hočevar, Jerneja Fiscer Knap |
| Implementation: | Primorje, d.d. |
| Project year: | 2000 |
| Year of implementation: | 2002 |
| Awards, publications: | Article Commercial and residential house Šmartinka, published in the local publication, Nepremičnin World, #1/2, p. 60 – 61, January-February, 2000 Article Šmartinka ni Bilbao, on the paradoxical nature of contemporary Slovenian architecture on the market, published in a foreign publication, Oris Magazine, #16, Arhitekst, Zagreb, HR, author of the article Marko Studen, pp. 50 – 59, 2002 Catalogue of the exhibition Designing the Republic: Architecture, Design and Photography in Slovenia 1991-2011, published in a national publication, MAO, Ljubljana, edited by Matevž Čelik, pp. 176 – 181, June, 2011 Publication Architecture inventory : 2000 – 2002, retrospective exhibition of the members of the Ljubljana Association of Architects, publication in the national publication, Ljubljana : Association of Architects, pp. 13, January, 2003 Monograph The Phaidon atlas of contemporary world architecture, included in the monograph, Phaidon, Comprehensive ed., London, New York, UK, p. 610, 2004 Župančič Award for Cultural Achievements of the City of Ljubljana, national award, Municipality of Ljubljana, June 2003 Article Business Commercial and Residential House Šmartinka, published in the local publication, Nepremičnin World, #11/12, p. 42 – 45, November-December, 1999 Article Office and residential building Smartinka, published in the foreign publication, World Architecture, #9, Tsingua University, Beijing, CH, author of the article: prof. 44 – 47, September, 2007 Article Na novo premišljena palača (A Newly Thought-out Palace), published in a national publication, AB : international journal for theory of architecture = Architect’s bulletin : international journal for theory of architecture, #155/156, author Andrej Hrausky, p. 18 – 23 June, 2002 Monograph New architecture in Slovenia, monograph, Springer, Wien, New York , monograph author Matevž Čelik, pp. 150 – 151, 2007 Publication Going to the city of Ljubljana : architectural walks and tours, published in the national publication, Piranesi Foundation, Ljubljana, Contemporary Ljubljana chapter, authors Špela Kuhar, Robert Potokar, pp. 27, 2008 Exhibition Architecture Inventory : 2000 – 2002, retrospective exhibition of the members of the Ljubljana Association of Architects, participation in the national exhibition, Ljubljana Association of Architects, Cankarjev dom, Great Reception Hall, Ljubljana, January, 2003 Publication Baustelle Slowenien = Building-site Slovenia, publication in a foreign publication, Dessa, Ljubljana, pp. 50 – 51, November, 2004 Slovenian nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Prize, national award, 2003 Nomination for the Prešeren Fund Prize, National Award, Prešeren Fund of the Republic of Slovenia, 08.02.2002 Nomination for the Plečnik Award 2002, national award, Jože Plečnik Architect Fund, April, 2002 Domofin Honorary Award 2002, National Award, Association of Architects of Ljubljana, Domofin Fair, Celjski sejem, 14.02.2002 Article Palast auf ein Neues, Mehrzwckgebäude Šmartinka in Ljubljana, published in the foreign publication, Architektur.Aktuell, #5, Springer Verla, Wien, AT, author Andrej Harusky, May, 2005 Exhibition Baustelle Slowenien, participation in an international exhibition, DESSA and Akademie der Kunste Berlin, curated by Vladimir Šlapeta, Andrej harusky, Miha Dešman, Akademie der Kunste Berlin, Berlin, D, 27.11.2004 – 09.01.2005 Article by Šmartinka, Ljubljana, publication in a foreign publication, Portfolyo, #3, Istanbul, TR,,, p. 82 – 86, May-June, 2003 Article Commercial and residential building Šmartinka, published in the local publication, Nepremičnin World, #4/5, p. 46 – 49, April-May, 2001 Article Object on site, published in a local publication, Hiše magazine, #17, author Boštjan Vuga, p. 40 – 43, September, 2003 Article Residential and Commercial Building Šmartinka, published in foreign publication, Magazine Piranesi, 1. Central European architectural magazine for culture space, #15/16, selector: Miha Dešman, p. 58 -59, Autumn, 2002 Exhibition Designing the Republic: Architecture, Design and Photography in Slovenia 1991-2011, included in the national collection, Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana, Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana, 30.6.- 20.11.2011 |
