Več - Fakulteta za arhitekturo - Univerza v Ljubljani

THE DEANS FOREWORD
The Faculty of architecture in Ljubljana is generally considered one of the best Central European schools of architecture.
Confirmation of its quality comes from numerous successful students and graduates, often achieving enviable results domestically
and abroad, as well as its high quality teaching staff effectively covering most contemporary issues of architectural creativity.
There are almost 700 students enrolled in the graduate course while the teaching and associate staff includes some 50
employees. Enrolment in the Faculty entails an entrance exam. Each year 120 regular and 45 part-time students are accepted.
In the year 2000 the 3000th student graduated from the Faculty. Our graduates are known for their general and professionally
profiled knowledge and systematic project approach enabling successful employment in various fields of artistic and architectural
endeavours – from graphic design, scenography, interior design, architectural and urban design to physical planning.
uvod introduction
The Faculty has vital and rich ties to the best Central European cultural tradition. The foundations for organised architectural
education in Ljubljana reach to the year 1919, when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed and the University in Ljubljana
was established, or rather the year 1920, when the first department for architecture was established under the leadership of
Ivan Vurnik. Vurnik was an ardent supporter of technical understanding of the discipline, aligned to the Parisian Les Beaux Arts.
Thus the entry of Jože Pleènik, with the studio approach and artistic tradition of Otto Wagners’ school was extremely important
for the later balance in programme and ideas. The stated duality between technical and artistic aspects of the discipline has
since been a constant feature of the faculties study course.
After Vurnik and Pleènik had so significantly marked the period between the two wars, they were appropriately replaced by a
younger generation of architects, led by Edo Mihevc and Edo Ravnikar, both arguing for modern architectural approaches. In
the post-war period the Department of architecture was for many years part of the Faculty of architecture, civil engineering and
geodesy, except for a short period between 1950-1954 when it was independent within the framework of the Technical
faculties. Similar to Vurnik and Pleènik, even Mihevc and Ravnikar were active in varied fields of professional involvement and
significantly contributed to the countries reconstruction and development. Their pedagogical work was closely tied to large scale
practical projects in which they also involved their students.
In 1995 the Department of architecture, until then part of the Faculty of architecture, civil engineering and geodesy, transformed
into an independent Faculty of architecture. We have however maintained tight academic ties to the former joint faculty and
nourish the tradition of intertwining education with practice. For this purpose we have successfully co-opted several leading
professionals from Slovenian practice to the teaching staff, that can translate their rich practical and theoretical experiences to
the younger generation. The basis for qualifying of teachers to the Faculty is artistic and scientific merit. Alongside the numerous
successful artists from the teaching staff we also employ many professors oriented towards theoretical subjects, who have
gained their prowess at foreign universities. Every year two visiting professors from abroad join the fifty employed professors
and teaching staff.
The first master ateliers of prof. Vurnik and prof. Pleènik confronted the problem of teaching space. The temporary Technical
4 Fakulteta za arhitekturo, Ljubljana Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana