Plečnik Parliament () is the colloquial name of two designs for a building intended to house the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of the People's Republic of Slovenia within the

second Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. Formally known as the Slovene Acropolis and the Cathedral of Freedom (''Slovenska akropola'' / ''Katedrala svobode''), the two designs were proposed in 1947 by

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

's most eminent architect,

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovenian 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 a ...

, but were rejected in favour of a more conventional design.

Slovene Acropolis

In response to a personal government invitation during the late 1940s, Plečnik initially proposed the fairly radical idea of placing the parliament on the hilltop above the

n capital of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, then (as now) occupied by the

Ljubljana Castle Ljubljana Castle (, ) is a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is a key landmark of the town. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably constructed in the 11th century and rebuilt in t ...

. Influenced by the extensive remodeling of

Prague Castle Prague Castle (; ) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for List of rulers ...

he had carried out during the 1920s, the "Slovene Acropolis" concept called for the demolition of all or most of the medieval structure and its replacement with a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

al 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 radicalism of the plan. Deeming it unimplementable, they instead called for a second round of proposals, this time in the form of an open competition and with a location for the building specified: the ''Ilirija'' swimming pool complex in Ljubljana's

Tivoli gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

. While annoyed by the cold shoulder given his idea and not in the habit of entering competitions due to his age and status, Plečnik's initial reluctance eventually subsided. His second design, the "Cathedral of Freedom," is now far better known than the first and the far more common referent of the term "Plečnik Parliament," although the first proposal is technically encompassed by it as well.

Cathedral of Freedom

A square,

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

d false façade would have surrounded the

cylindrical A cylinder () has traditionally been a Solid geometry, three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a Prism (geometry), prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may ...

main building of two stories, surmounted by a tall, spirally tapering

conical In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. Supported internally by inclined columns, the cupola would have spanned the 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 colonnade wrapping the second floor of the main building, different porticoes, or an asymmetrical ground floor.

Fate

Nominally, the principal reason the project remained unrealized was the financial burden it would have imposed on the struggling post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

recovery economy; in practice, numerous other obstacles existed, many of them even less surmountable: *The structure was widely perceived as being too grandiose for a legislature of what was at the time a federal constituent of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and therefore a potentially dangerous focal point for

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

. *While Plečnik continued to hold a position of honour as the nation's preeminent architect, his devout

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was viewed with suspicion by postwar authorities, and his idiosyncratic architectural style had fallen out of fashion with the public. *The first design had been deemed additionally unacceptable for entailing the destruction of a

historic landmark A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. In 1954, work finally began on a permanent legislature building, to be located on Republic Square in the center of

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. Planned by the architect Vinko Glanz, this was a much more conservative and modest design than either of the two Plečnik concepts, being an austere

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

palace with no monumental elements or decorations save a large sculptural group of bronze figures framing its main

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

. Nevertheless, the building's general plan is thought to contain faint echoes of Plečnik's "Cathedral" design. It was completed in 1959, two years after the architect's death.

Cultural significance

Plečnik's second parliament (the Cathedral of Freedom) retains resonance with many Slovenes, who view it as a minor

national symbol A national symbol is a manifestation of a nation or community, serving as a representation of their National identity, identity and values. National symbols may be not only applied to sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of ...

: *'' Slovenska akropola'' is the title of a 1987 album by Slovenian industrial music group

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian and Yugoslav avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neoclassical genres. Formed in 1980 in the mining town of Trbovlje, Slovenia, at the time a constituent republic within Socialist Fede ...

. *The first stamp issued by Slovenia on June 26, 1991, one day after its

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, 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 Fiat money is a type of government-issued currency that is not backed by a precious metal, such as gold or silver, nor by any other tangible asset or commodity. Fiat currency is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender, ...

, it was immediately banned by Yugoslav postal authorities. The stamp had been issued illegally, as Slovenia was not yet a member of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...

. *Slovenian band Laibach included 3D animation of Cathedral of Freedom in the music video of song cover version " In the Army Now" from their 1994 album

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

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

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

Euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euro (the euro is divided into a hundred cents). The coins first came into use in 2002. They have a common Obverse and reverse, reverse, portraying a map of Europe, but each cou ...

. *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 An omphalos is a religious stone artefact. In Ancient Greek, the word () means "navel". Among the Ancient Greeks, it was a widespread belief that Delphi was the center of the world. According to the myths regarding the founding of the Delphic ...

, the

axis mundi In astronomy, is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the is the axis of ...

of world Slovenedom." *During August 2008, a

maquette A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch. Sculpture 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 Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

on the occasion of the Slovene EU Presidency. The exhibition's curator

Boris Podrecca Boris Podrecca (born 30 January 1940 in Belgrade) is a Slovene-Italian architect and urban designer living in Vienna, Austria. Podrecca is considered by some critics a pioneer of postmodernism. He took a new, more tolerant attitude towards histo ...

described the Parliament as "the most charismatic object" of Plečnik's opus.Triera.com: Podreccova slovenska trilogija v Bruslju

References

External links