ože Plečnik’s Extension of his Brother Andrej’s House in Trnovo

Abstract

Insight into the architect’s previously unread epistolary heritage and some other historical sources profoundly changes our knowledge about the origin and furnishings of Plečnik’s home in Trnovo. The main reason for the construction of the cylindrical extension (1923–1924) was to create a common home for the brothers and sister, but it was not successful because of their different destinies. At first, they were all enthusiastic about the house at present-day 10 Ciril-Metod Square, where the sister lived, however, when Andrej Plečnik returned from Idrija, he decided to buy a house behind the Trnovo church in Ljubljana. The claim that Jože quarrelled with the youngest Janez, who then left the house in Trnovo, also needs to be corrected. In reality, they never lived there together. Moreover, the older brother Andrej did not enjoy his property for long, since the disciplinary committee drove him away from the Ljubljana Realschule, where he taught catechesis. He left to be a catechetic in Kočevje and never permanently returned to Ljubljana. In the end, the architect remained alone in the house and furnished it according to his own liking.