Vzajemna Insurance Company Offices

Jože Plečnik designed the Mutual Insurance building in such a way that its corner entrance faces the railway station. The lower floors contained business offices and the upper floors contained rental apartments, which Plečnik accentuated by giving the façade various different finishes. With the uni ed façade and the connection of the ground floor and mezzanine, the architect created a magnificent city palace. The façade, with its rows of brick pillars, wraps around the corner, and the pillars are optically corrected so that they appear narrower at the bottom than at the top. The attic is adorned with Atlas holding a ribbon, symbolising solidarity. The corner of the building is not placed at a right angle as the streets intersect at a steep angle. To obscure this irregularity, Plečnik designed a circular entrance lobby at the building’s entrance, and solved the problem of the irregular ground plan by using a trapezoid- shaped staircase to create a special spatial effect. In contrast to the street façade, the courtyard façade features a very rational design with a network of exterior corridors.