Among all of the ex-Yugoslav countries, Slovenia has arguably come the furthest in catching up with the contemporary architecture tendencies of the developed world. Even under a communist regime which ended with the Yugoslav breakup in the 1990s, an entire generation of young Slovenian architects were already appropriating Western influences, paying particularly close attention to the designs created in Switzerland and Scandinavia. A new “generation of the transition” has since been quite successful creating engaging architecture amidst a political, economic, and cultural climate still adjusting to the country’s relatively new status.
In light of these changes, the question of identity often overshadows many other aspects of design when it comes to national architectural criticism and theory. Ljubljana-based architecture firm Ofis Arhitekti, led by Rok Oman and Spela Videcnik, doesn’t seem to concern itself with these issues in an obvious way.
“We always start from the function and the relationship with the site,” the architects told Architizer. As a design studio at the forefront of new trends in Slovenia’s architecture, effortlessly negotiating between the mainstream and regional specificity, Ofis Arhitekti are developing a unique architectural language rooted primarily in context — an attitude pioneered by the likes of famous Slovenian modernist, Joze Plecnik. “Plecnik is, in a way, a hero for most of us, especially in the way he branched out from the modernist mainstream, developed his own expression, took ideas from local architecture, and designed everything from door handles to urbanistic proposals. We try to follow a similar logic,” says Oman and Videcnik.
With a foreign education and an awareness of the political and social circumstances within the country, the studio successfully operates across different typologies and scales, pursuing both domestic and international projects. The recognizable modularity of their social housing projects, the tactile quality of their Alpine architecture, and the undulating forms of some of the studio’s cultural and public projects constitute a body of work which is site-specific and versatile.
Basket Apartments, Paris, France
The studio’s first project abroad was a student dormitory located on a narrow site on the edge of Parc La Vilette in Paris’s 19th district, within an urban development planned by Reichen and Robert architects. Dubbed “the Basket Apartments,” the two volumes are connected to a bridge and feature balconies of different sizes made from HPL timber stripes. These modules are randomly oriented to diversify the views and rhythm of the façade, transforming the elevations into a playful composition.
The studio ran the project from its office in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and, because they decided not to partner with a local firm, the team had to learn about French administrative practices pertaining to the construction process and planning permits. Energy performance requirements and construction timetables were met by focusing on affordable, passive sustainable design principles such as cross-ventilation and heat-recovery systems, coupled with photovoltaic panels and rainwater harvesting.
Football Stadium Arena Borisov, Barysaŭ, Belarus
The bulbous stadium Arena Borisov in Belarus is clad in aluminum panels that mimic the appearance of perforated fabric stretched over the steel structure. The cellular façade ensures that the entire space is bathed in natural light and provides passive ventilation. Its singular shell is comprised of doubly curved surfaces, the manufacturing of which required a technologically advanced solution. The architects designed the structure by appropriating some of the techniques used by a German company that specializes in building domes and complex curved surfaces.
The Cultural Center of European Space Technologies, Vitanje, Slovenia
In 2012, Ofis Arhitekti participated in an invited competition to design a cultural center dedicated to space technologies in a small town of Vitanje in Slovenia, birthplace of rocket engineer, pioneer of cosmonautics, and theoretician of space travel, Herman Potočnik Noordun. The community acquired funding for a building that would honor his work and invited four well-known Slovenian design studios — Ofis Arhitekti, Bevk Perovic Arhitekti, SADAR+VUGA, and Dekleva Gregoric Architects — which decided to work on the project together as one big team. “We found the whole idea interesting and a challenge and decided to collect all our ideas together, share the knowledge, and have fun.”
The design is based on the habitation wheel of the first geostationary space station described in Noordung’s 1929 book. Two low cylinders shape both the interior and exterior of the building, with the larger bottom one rising from the south and the smaller one rising to the north. Slight shifts between these flowing forms create a dynamic effect accentuated by the continuous glazing that envelops the ground floor. The alternating “states” of rotation and flotation are meant to reference the effect of artificial gravity. Inside, a semicircular ramp dictates the circulation and organization of the exhibition spaces and offices.
Tetris Apartments, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Perhaps their most well-known work to date, the Tetris Apartments follow the trend of modularity that dominates the studio’s social housing projects. Similarly, as with the Basket Apartments in Paris, the 650 Apartments project in Ljubljana, and the Honeycomb Apartments in Livade, Slovenia, Tetris Apartments are based on large volumes broken down to smaller repetitive elements. In this case, the units were extruded in a way that mimics the randomness of the famous tile-tessellating puzzle game.
The apartments vary in size, from 320-square-foot flats to much larger three-room apartments. The structure and configuration of the building was conceived to allow flexible plans — the only structural walls are those that separate the apartment shell from other units within the building. The external walls that wrap around the loggias are glazed or wrapped in wooden panels, while the balcony fences are either perforated precast panel or transparent metal fences.
6×11 Alpine Hut in Slovene Alps, Stara Fužina, Slovenia
Considering the large expanses of mountainous landscapes in Slovenia and the fact that wood processing is among the nation’s most important manufacturing sectors, it is perhaps unsurprising that Alpine architecture is another typology heavily pursued by the studio. Ofis Arhitekti has completed several timber-based projects in recent years, including the 6×11 Alpine Hut built in Stara Fužina village in 2009. This private residence features a traditional pitched roof, natural materials such as stone and timber, and a sleek functional interior that meets the spatial needs of the family. Circa smart positioning of the openings, extra thermal insulation, and rainwater collection, the studio managed to combine the rustic, tactile quality of traditional Alpine huts with the amenities of a modern home.
Ofis Arhitekti continues to pursue a wide variety of projects, including a luxury hotel in Ljubljana — expected to break ground this fall — and smaller-scale projects such as villas and mountain shelters for alpinists.
