Joze Plecnik, Architect: 1872-1957

The Yugoslavian architect Joze Plecnik followed what he believed to be a coherent language of architecture in order to "build a better world through architecture." He cannot be classified by any of the movements - modernism, classicism secessionism, eclecticism, regionalism, and the like - that characterize the turbulent aesthetic tendencies of this century. Instead, as these essays by leading European scholars and the 300 illustrations of his work show, Plecnik's long career offers an invaluable example of the richness and diversity of early modern architecture. This book covers every aspect of Plecnik's life and work - as a pupil of Otto Wagner, professor, professional, in Vienna and Prague, town planner in Ljubljana - and covers his accomplishments in Yugoslavia, including his last small pavilion for President Tito on Brioni Island The essays range from descriptions of Plecnik's work to theory and analysis, to why his work is considered a precursor of postmodernism. They afford a rare glimpse into the Czech Cubist movement and Eastern European architecture. Plecnik designed several buildings of note in Vienna (where his Church of the Holy Spirit pioneered the use of reinforced concrete in monumental architecture) and was a member of the avant-garde that included Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann and others affiliated with the Vienna Academy. However, he returned to Yugoslavia in 1920, where he became head of the architecture department at the newly created University of Ljubljana. Plecnik's architecture reflects his origins in the craft tradition, his interest in the vernacular imagery of Slovenia, and his fondness for the rusticated forms of the Mediterranean village. This regionalexpression, filtered through his Viennese training, gave his work a unique vocabulary of profiles, moldings, and details that could be used from the design of a cornice to that of the city as a whole. Franois Burckhardt is Architectural Curator of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.