About the Plečnik collection
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The Plečnik collection is a monument of national significance consisting of a complex of Plečnik's houses at 4–6 Karunova street with the preserved original inventories and an adjacent garden with a lapidarium. The architect Jože Plečnik moved to a single-storey house at 4 Karunova street in Ljubljana’s Trnovo district in 1921. In the 1923-25 period the house was expanded westward by a cylindrical annex. After having bought the neighbouring house in 1929, Plečnik arranged a winter garden to the south. It is here that the master lived his isolated and unconventional life in privacy until his old age.
After Plečnik's death in 1957, his nephew Karel Matkovič moved to the house and started to sort out the master's extensive legacy consisting mainly of designs and correspondence. Thanks to Matkovič, Plečnik’s valuable legacy remained in the house almost intact. When Matkovič died in 1970, the heirs decided to sell the house including the legacy to the City of Ljubljana. Two years later, the Architecture Museum of Ljubljana was set up in the building.
On 1 April 1972, the Architectural Museum of Ljubljana based at Plečnik house opened its doors to the public. It remained there until 1992 when the majority of its departments moved to renovated premises at Fužine Castle which were allocated with the Museum’s basic tasks.
Plečnik house was arranged and opened to the public in 1974 when, due to the sensitivity of the paper materials, the collection of Plečnik's sketches and designs was moved from the museal section of the house to temporary storerooms at 4 Karunova street where the materials could be examined, arranged and studied.
The house contains rooms displaying the artist's valuable original furniture and personal objects, a collection of clay, plaster and wooden models of various projects, Plečnik's personal library and his drawing utensils. Today, visitors can see the entrance hall, the corridor, the kitchen, the bedroom with the bathroom, the small reception room, the spiral staircase, the master's studio on the upper floor and the winter garden. Due to the exceptional circumstances and intimacy of the site, the house can only be visited as part of guided tours. These are adapted to various age groups which must not contain more than seven people.
In 2001, a reception area for visitors was arranged on the ground floor of the house at 6 Karunova street, with the collection storage facilities being situated on the first floor. The collection comprises the architect’s extremely valuable original drawings and designs arranged by theme and project and in chronological order. An extensive share of the materials is accounted for by various projects for Ljubljana which nevertheless often remained on paper. Especially important are Plečnik’s early drawings from the Viennese and Prague periods, as well as designs for many Slovenian towns – regulations, renovations and proposals for monuments. Plečnik’s correspondence is similarly extensive as the architect occasionally corresponded with as many as 400 contemporaries, including some of the most renowned:
Otto Wagner, Tomaš G. Masaryk, Ivan Hribar and many more. Also of great value is the collection of photographs containing Plečnik’s rare portraits and documentary photos of various projects during construction and upon completion. The storerooms also contain thesis projects of Plečnik’s students which were moved by the artist himself to his studio during World War Two. Special mention must be made of the diploma papers of the first two graduates from the Department of Architecture within the Technical Faculty in Ljubljana from 1924:
Dušan Grabrijan and France Tomažič, who were followed by Vinko Glanz, Edvard Ravnikar, Edvard Mihevc and others. The collection also comprises various wooden, plaster and clay models and an archive of “Ognjišče akademikov arhitektov” (the Academy of Architecture Collection).
Since mid-2010, Plečnik house has been managed by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. Plans for the future include implementation of a conservation-restoration project aiming at preserving Plečnik's original arrangement. Apart from that, new museal contents will be added in that part of the house holding less significance in preservation terms.
The Plečnik collection department focuses on preserving the estate of the architect Jože Plečnik and on studying the time and circumstances in which the master lived and worked. An extensive collection of sketches and designs, models and photographs as well as the artist’s correspondence is kept, examined, processed and digitalised in order to facilitate better access to information and insight into individual topics for researchers and the interested public.
The curator is tasked with acquiring new materials to expand the collection, with informing the public about the life, work and significance of the great architect, as well as with participating in the presentation and promotion of Plečnik’s oeuvre both locally and abroad.
Ana Porok
Senior Curator
On 1 April 1972, the Architectural Museum of Ljubljana based at Plečnik house opened its doors to the public. It remained there until 1992 when the majority of its departments moved to renovated premises at Fužine Castle which were allocated with the Museum’s basic tasks.
Plečnik house was arranged and opened to the public in 1974 when, due to the sensitivity of the paper materials, the collection of Plečnik's sketches and designs was moved from the museal section of the house to temporary storerooms at 4 Karunova street where the materials could be examined, arranged and studied.
The house contains rooms displaying the artist's valuable original furniture and personal objects, a collection of clay, plaster and wooden models of various projects, Plečnik's personal library and his drawing utensils. Today, visitors can see the entrance hall, the corridor, the kitchen, the bedroom with the bathroom, the small reception room, the spiral staircase, the master's studio on the upper floor and the winter garden. Due to the exceptional circumstances and intimacy of the site, the house can only be visited as part of guided tours. These are adapted to various age groups which must not contain more than seven people.
In 2001, a reception area for visitors was arranged on the ground floor of the house at 6 Karunova street, with the collection storage facilities being situated on the first floor. The collection comprises the architect’s extremely valuable original drawings and designs arranged by theme and project and in chronological order. An extensive share of the materials is accounted for by various projects for Ljubljana which nevertheless often remained on paper. Especially important are Plečnik’s early drawings from the Viennese and Prague periods, as well as designs for many Slovenian towns – regulations, renovations and proposals for monuments. Plečnik’s correspondence is similarly extensive as the architect occasionally corresponded with as many as 400 contemporaries, including some of the most renowned:
Otto Wagner, Tomaš G. Masaryk, Ivan Hribar and many more. Also of great value is the collection of photographs containing Plečnik’s rare portraits and documentary photos of various projects during construction and upon completion. The storerooms also contain thesis projects of Plečnik’s students which were moved by the artist himself to his studio during World War Two. Special mention must be made of the diploma papers of the first two graduates from the Department of Architecture within the Technical Faculty in Ljubljana from 1924:
Dušan Grabrijan and France Tomažič, who were followed by Vinko Glanz, Edvard Ravnikar, Edvard Mihevc and others. The collection also comprises various wooden, plaster and clay models and an archive of “Ognjišče akademikov arhitektov” (the Academy of Architecture Collection).
Since mid-2010, Plečnik house has been managed by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. Plans for the future include implementation of a conservation-restoration project aiming at preserving Plečnik's original arrangement. Apart from that, new museal contents will be added in that part of the house holding less significance in preservation terms.
The Plečnik collection department focuses on preserving the estate of the architect Jože Plečnik and on studying the time and circumstances in which the master lived and worked. An extensive collection of sketches and designs, models and photographs as well as the artist’s correspondence is kept, examined, processed and digitalised in order to facilitate better access to information and insight into individual topics for researchers and the interested public.
The curator is tasked with acquiring new materials to expand the collection, with informing the public about the life, work and significance of the great architect, as well as with participating in the presentation and promotion of Plečnik’s oeuvre both locally and abroad.
Ana Porok
Senior Curator
