Plečnik Parliament

The Plečnik Parliament, more formally known as the Cathedral of Freedom or the Slovene Acropolis ( _sl. Plečnikov parlament / Katedrala svobode / Slovenska akropola), was the second of two unrealized designs for a parliament building conceived in 1947 by the respected Slovene architect Jože Plečnik. Intended to house the legislature of what was at the time the People's Republic of Slovenia within the second Yugoslavia, both were rejected in favor of a more conventional design.

Development

Drawn up in response to a government invitation during the late 1940s, Plečnik's initial proposal was centered on the fairly radical idea of placing the parliament on the hilltop above the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, then (as now) occupied by the Ljubljana Castle. The plan called for the demolition of all or most of the medieval structure and its replacement with a monumental octagonal complex, including a triumphal access ramp or stairway that would have begun next to the Magistrat at the foot of Castle Hill.

The authorities were caught off-guard by the idea, finding it unimplementable, and instead called an open competion. This time a location was specified: the "Ilirija" swimming pool complex in Ljubljana's Tivoli gardens. Plečnik's initial reluctance to take part eventually subsided, and he produced a second design, now far better known than the first, and the usual referent of the term "Plečnik Parliament" (although the first proposal is technically encompassed by it as well).

Concept

A massive square colonnade would have surrounded a cylindrical main building of two stories, surmounted by a tall, tapering conical cupola. Supported internally by inclined columns, the cupola would have spanned the actual parliament chamber. The facade would have measured 50 m in length, the tower rising to 120 m. Several slightly varying designs were produced, some including a second circular colonnade on the second floor of the main building, or an asymmetrical ground floor. [ [https://www.darila.com/default.cfm?Jezik=Si&Kat=0203&ProdID=32 Darila.com ] ]

Fate

In theory, the principal reason the project remained unrealized was the financial burden it would have imposed on the struggling post-World War II recovery economy; in practice, numerous other obstacles existed, many of them even less surmountable. The structure was seen as too grandiose for a legislature of what was at the time a federal constituent of Yugoslavia, and therefore a potentially dangerous focal point for nationalist thought. Further, while Plečnik continued to hold a position of honor as the nation's preeminent architect, his devout Catholicism was viewed with suspicion by postwar authorities, and his idiosyncratic architectural style had fallen out of fashion with the public. Finally, his first design had been deemed additionally unacceptable for entailing the destruction of a historic landmark.

In 1954, work finally began on a permanent Slovenian Parliament building, to be located in the center of Ljubljana, on the Square of the Republic. Planned by the architect Vinko Glanz, this was a much more conservative and modest concept than either of the two Plečnik designs, being an austere modernist palace with no monumental elements or decorations save a large sculptural group of bronze figures surrounding its main portico. Nevertheless, the building's general plan is thought to contain a faint echo of elements of the second Plečnik design. It was completed in 1959, two years after Plečnik's death.

Cultural significance

Plečnik's parliament concept retains resonance with many Slovenes, who view it as a minor national symbol:

*"Slovenska akropola" is the title of an 1987 album by Slovenian industrial musical group Laibach.

*The first stamp issued by Slovenia on June 26, 1991, one day after its declaration of independence, depicted the Plečnik Parliament in silver on a blue-green background. Carrying a denomination of 5 units of the then as-yet-unnamed national currency, it was immediately banned by Yugoslav postal authorities. [ [http://www.filatelija.com/mladi/semnaloga.htm Filatelija.com: Slovenia's First Stamp ] ] The stamp had been issued illegally, as Slovenia was not yet a member of the Universal Postal Union.

*On 7 October 2005, the Plečnik Parliament was unveiled as the design for the national side of Slovene 0.10 € Euro coins.

*On 24 April 2007, the Slovenian World Congress called for the construction of the Parliament, predicting that its "conical tower would serve as the unifying axis, the omphalos, the axis mundi of world Slovenedom." [ [http://www.slokongres.com/mediji/izjave07.htm Svetovni Slovenski Kongres: "stožčasti stolp bo združevalna os, omphalos, axis mundi slovenskega svetovja"] ]

*During August 2008, a maquette of the Parliament was featured at the "Project Plečnik" exhibition on the architect's life, held at the Council of the European Union building in Brussels, Belgium on the occasion of the Slovene EU Presidency. The exhibition curator Boris Podrecca described the Parliament as "the most charismatic object" of Plečnik's opus. [ [http://www.triera.net/novica.php?id=A139313 Triera.com: Podreccova slovenska trilogija v Bruslju] ]

ee also

*Palace of Soviets
*Große Halle

External links

* [http://www.utopija.si/2007/03/29/homage-plecniku-ob-predsedovanju-eu/ A 3-D rendering of the Parliament]
* [http://www.triera.net/upload/Kultura/drugo/ple__nik_5_show.jpg] Maquette of the Parliament exhibited in Brussels]

References