RCA 20. september 2025
Conference Tour
Guided by: assoc. prof. Aleksander S. Ostan
We'll head north-west from Ljubljana to Gorenjska, one of Slovenia's most recognizable regions, covering just over 10 percent of country's territory. This region is also the most visited by tourists, thanks to its exceptional picturesque beauty and the harmonious relationship between its natural and cultural heritage, mountains and valleys, landscapes and settlements, as well as tradition and modernity. It's almost entirely nestled within the Alps, which conclude their southeastern arc—starting in the southwest of France—right here in Slovenia.
Alpine Gorenjska is characterized by high mountains (the highest, Triglav, a symbol of Slovenia, stands at 2864 m), and a large part of it is protected as Triglav National Park, the first and largest national park in the country. The largest urban and economic center of the region is the city of Kranj, with other important settlements including Škofja Loka, Radovljica, Tržič, Jesenice, Kranjska Gora, Železniki and more.
During the excursion, we'll follow a very interesting itinerary through the region to capture a cross-section of most of the phenomena mentioned in the introduction. First, we'll stop in the urban, medieval and modern Kranj. Here, in addition to the settlement heritage, we'll encounter some works by Slovenia's greatest architect, Jože Plečnik (first half of the 20th century), and also very important buildings by his best student, Edvard Ravnikar (second half of the 20th century). Both architects attempted to weave some regional identity into their works.
Our next stop will be Bled with Lake Bled, an iconic Slovenian cultural landscape featuring a church on a small island in the middle of the lake and a mighty castle on a rock beside it. Here too, we'll see examples of both older (the castle, Plečnik/Glanz, etc.) and more recent "regional" architecture (Chipperfield, Kajzelj, Multiplan, Gužič-Trplan, etc.).
From Bled, we'll continue our journey through a gorge to another large Alpine lake, the magical Bohinj, nestled in a secluded mountain valley where tradition and modernity go hand in hand. Here, we'll experience an exceptional, archaic cultural landscape, some ancient, relatively well-preserved rural settlements and typologies (Stara Fužina, Studor, Srednja vas, etc.), as well as glimpses of contemporary Slovenian Alpine architecture, which is recognized both at home and abroad as a high-quality example of critical regionalism (Arrea, Ofis, Bevk-Perović, Atelje Ostan Pavlin, Odprti krog, etc.).