Renovation of the Jakopič Gallery in Ljubljana

Before the renovation, the Jakopič Gallery was mainly used by the Association of Artists’ Societies for classical painting exhibitions. The 1,000 square metre space was surrounded by a white plasterboard wall that concealed the architectural and structural structure of Ravnikar’s famous cellar “Ferant’s Garden”. The residential and commercial complex stands on important ancient sites, which is why Ravnikar based the entire eight-storey building on six points. The gallery is lowered to the level of the ancient Ljubljana, which means that it is located about two metres below the level of the Slovenian road. It is naturally lit around the perimeter by a band of basilical lighting, the strong concrete columns spreading tree-like just above the ground.

With the renovation, we wanted to illustrate the qualities of the gallery and co-create a distinctive and diverse gallery space. All partition walls have been removed to allow the visitor to encounter the full extent of the semi-domed space. The large triangular concrete columns were exposed and restored. All secondary spaces are enclosed by transparent metal grill walls. This blurs the boundary between gallery and depot, between what is exhibited and what is stored.

At the same time, the curtain system can be used to divide the large space into smaller gallery “rooms”. The division of the gallery into smaller exhibition spaces can therefore be changed at the flick of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch of a switch. The lightness, the almost ephemeral quality of the design is enhanced by the choice of relatively dark materials. The black-painted ceiling, black flooring and greyish silver curtains create an almost “dreamlike” paspartu, in which archaeological remains, large concrete columns and artworks float together in the timelessness and spacelessness of the confrontation with art.

At the entrance is a reception desk with an extensive library, which was dedicated to the architect Tomaž Bratet’s selection of relevant literature in the fields of architecture, fine arts and journalism shortly after his tragic death. A few years after the opening of the renovated gallery, the curators stopped using textile partitions and started again to divide the space with much more invasive plaster walls. As a result, much of the lightness and incompleteness of the original renovation has been lost.

Authors of the project: BLENKUŠ Matej, FLORIJANČIČ Miloš