Concept
Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovene architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge and the Slovene National and University Library building, as well as the embankments along the Ljubljanica River, the Ljubljana Central Market buildings, the Ljubljana cemetery, parks, plazas etc. His architectural imprint on Ljubljana has been compared to the impact Antoni Gaudí had on Barcelona. His style is associated with the Vienna Secession style of architecture (a type of Art Nouveau). Besides in Ljubljana, he worked in Vienna, Belgrade and on Prague Castle. He influenced the avant-garde Czech Cubism. He is also a founding member of the Ljubljana School of Architecture, joining it upon an invitation by Ivan Vurnik, another notable Ljubljana architect. Plečnik was born in Maribor,-Duplek present-day Slovenia, the son of Helena (Molka) and Andrej Plečnik. He studied under noted Viennese architect and educator Otto Wagner and worked in Wagner's architecture office until 1900. A woman-friend asked Plečnik to marry her written in a letter. He replied, “I am already married to my architecture.” List of works by Jože Plečnik From 1900 through 1910, while practicing in the Wagner's office in Vienna, he designed the Langer House (1900) and the Zacherlhaus (1903–1905). His 1910–1913 Church of the Holy Spirit (Heilig-Geist-Kirche) is remarkable for its innovative use of poured-in-place concrete as both structure and exterior surface, and also for its abstracted classical form language. Most radical is the church's crypt, with its slender concrete columns and angular, cubist capitals and bases. In 1911, Plečnik moved to Prague, where he taught at the college of arts and crafts. The first president of the new Czechoslovak Republic from 1918 onwards, Tomáš Masaryk, appointed Plečnik chief architect for the 1920 renovation of Prague Castle.
