150th Birthday of Jože Plečnik

A detail of the great reading window of the Narodna in Univerzitetna Knjižnica (National and University Library, NUK) in Ljubljana, with a column in the foreground. The design is complemented by the delicate, geometrically composed letterforms of the architect's signature 'A R H . P L E Č N I K', set into the recessed window openings. The commemorative inscription 'JOŽE PLEČNIK' appears in the lower section, the year '1872' to the left, and the issuing state with year 'SLOVENIJA 2022' to the right.

The National and University Library in Ljubljana — known as NUK — is considered Jože Plečnik's masterpiece and one of the most important buildings in 20th-century European architecture. Plečnik designed the building between 1936 and 1941, combining a strict floor plan with a symbolically charged use of materials: natural stone, brick and wood come together in a language that cannot be clearly assigned to either historicism or functionalism. The distinctive window axes and the striking entrance hall, with its dark columns and the transition from darkness into light, were deliberately conceived as an architectural staging of the path to knowledge. The building still stands at the heart of Ljubljana today and actively serves as Slovenia's national library.

Jože Plečnik was born in Ljubljana in 1872 and, as an architect, shaped no fewer than three capital cities: Vienna, Prague and Ljubljana. After training under Otto Wagner in Vienna and spending years abroad, he returned permanently to Ljubljana in 1921 and shaped the cityscape over decades — from regulating the banks of the Ljubljanica River to the central market, bridges, churches and public squares. His work combines classical formal language with meticulous craftsmanship and a pronounced sense of urban space. Plečnik was long underestimated internationally; it was only after 1989 that broader recognition began, culminating in 2021 with the inscription of his architectural work in Ljubljana on the UNESCO World Heritage List. To mark his 150th birthday, Slovenia honoured this architect with its own commemorative coin in 2022.