Josip Plečnik significantly influenced the face of Prague, Vienna, and his hometown Ljubljana

Ljubljana/Prague - Slovene architect Josip Plečnik influenced the appearance of several cities in the former Habsburg monarchy through his buildings. Born in Ljubljana 150 years ago, on January 23, 1872, he left significant works in Vienna, Slovenia's capital, and other cities in former Yugoslavia. In the Czech context, Plečnik is best known for his role as the castle architect during the presidency of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

Plečnik, a student of Vienna's professor Otto Wagner, arrived in Prague before World War I to teach architecture and gained a good reputation. After the creation of the republic, Plečnik's task became to fulfill Masaryk's request to "transform the monarchical castle into a democratic castle." Plečnik and the liberating president understood each other very well; Masaryk had complete trust in him and entrusted him not only with the modifications of Prague Castle, long neglected since Rudolf II, but also with his favorite residence in Lány.

At Prague Castle, Plečnik began at the very start of the 1920s with sensitive changes to the South Gardens, which were recommended to him by the Mánes Union of Fine Artists after a failed competition for their modification. The modest yet noble solution respecting the castle's genius loci opened the way for Josip Plečnik to further commissions for the presidential office – for which he never accepted any fees. He claimed that the task itself represented the greatest honor for him.

At Masaryk's suggestion, Plečnik became the official castle architect, but at the same time was appointed professor of architecture at the newly established university in Ljubljana, thus having to divide his interest between the two cities. Most of his designs for Prague Castle were created in Slovenia, and he entrusted the supervision of their execution to his student Otto Rothmayer. Nevertheless, Plečnik did not give up personal oversight and regularly came to Prague in the summer to check the work carried out with his own eyes.

The traces of almost fifteen years of joint work between the two architects can still be seen at Prague Castle today, often sensitively restored after 1989. According to Plečnik's plans, the Garden Na Baště was modified, as well as three of the four castle courtyards; he also designed Masaryk's lookout with a vineyard on the northern edge of Jelení příkop. He designed the interior of the Column Hall in the northern castle wing, President Masaryk's apartment in the New Royal Palace, and the modifications of the president's countryside residence at the castle in Lány.

However, Plečnik's efforts for urban modifications in the broader surroundings of the Castle were unsuccessful, mainly due to the opposition of the club "For Old Prague" and Antonín Engel, the author of urban concepts for the new Dejvice. However, the Slovene significantly influenced the face of the city at the other end of Prague, in Vinohrady, where, according to his plans, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was built between 1928 and 1932. The modern building reminiscent of ancient temples is now a national cultural monument, and there was even talk of its nomination for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Plečnik's Prague mission ended in the mid-1930s when he increasingly became the target of nationalistic attacks. Articles appeared in newspapers about the "foreigner destroying the sacred seat of Czech kings", and Plečnik, who could no longer count on the necessary support from the ailing President Masaryk, ultimately remained at home in Ljubljana. The infamous end of his Prague tenure somewhat resembles his departure from Vienna to Prague a quarter of a century earlier.

The talented architect caught attention after graduating from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts with the monumental Zacherl Palace, completed in 1905. The building, with its reinforced concrete structure, is often regarded as one of the first modern buildings in Vienna. However, six years later, he faced opposition from the conservative public, including Emperor Franz Joseph I, with his starkly designed Church of the Holy Spirit in Ottakring. He gladly accepted an offer from his classmate Jan Kotěra, who facilitated a professorship for him in Prague.

Plečnik spent the last two decades of his fruitful life in Ljubljana, where he not only established a school of architecture but, above all, significantly influenced the urban planning of the city. For many years, Plečnik's work remained overshadowed by more famous colleagues such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, or Alvar Aalto. A turning point in the perception of his work came with an exhibition organized in 1986 by the Georges Pompidou Cultural Center in Paris, which mapped his work nearly three decades after Plečnik's death (January 7, 1957) and introduced him to a broader audience.