Discover Jože Plečnik’s way of life and visit his house in Trnovo
You've probably already heard about Ljubljana's favourite bearded architect Jože Plečnik. I'm sure you took a selfie at the famous Triple Bridge or you took a walk around Žale cemetery. But did you know you can actually visit his house? Now turned into a museum, it offers glimpses of Plečnik's super busy life and his work.
Maybe half a kilometre away from Križanke (also his work of art) in the Trnovo neighbourhood, lies casa de Plečnik. Looks remarkably tiny from the outside, but when you step inside, you'll be surprised by the numerous rooms, tight corridors, a fancy winter terrace and a large garden. A garden with a vegetable and herb patch of course. How does one brew his herbal tea without a herb patch? Oh and P.S. – the architect’s favourite tea is available at the NUK Library. It's deliciously refreshing.
The garden is especially my favourite, it's super large, green and quiet, even though the house is practically in the city centre. Pieces used in his projects are scattered all over the place and not just the garden, but in the house too. A column here, a Roman amphora there, you have to be really careful not to trip over them. He probably felt all this stuff doesn't belong in a storage somewhere, so it just sort of flows freely. He really knew a thing or two about sustainability, as a fellow blogger mentioned in his blog post.
I would highly recommend taking a guided tour around Plečnik’s house, where you’ll learn everything and more. If that’s not enough for you, there’s always a Plečnik bike tour, which I already wrote about and is really cool.
Messiness is next to godliness
I love his creative mess. And his quirkiness and weirdness. I love the way he installed a small table into his bathtub. You know, for plates, tea cups and blueprints for his new project, I guess. And the lamp above his bed is on a pulley, a convenient idea if you feel like reading in your bed.
His meticulously cluttered work desk is a special treat too. It looks like it hasn’t been touched since the day he left it. You’ll love seeing all sorts of papers, pencils, worn out erasers, all sorts of tools and gadgets and of course – a bunch of coffee mugs and cigarette cases, because you need some sort of stimulation when you’re an architect superstar.
It would be fun watching our Jože hard at work, but since he took his privacy very seriously, I’m guessing it would be very hard to earn an invitation to his precious household. If by any chance one has managed to make the cut, Mr. Plečnik would invite them to a nice cup of tea made in his DIY tea kettle. They would chat a bit in his cramped reception room and then the visitor would have to bugger off. The master shouldn’t be disturbed anyway.
