Numismatics
150th anniversary of the birth of architect Jože Plečnik
The work of urban planner, architect, designer and professor Jože Plečnik left an important mark on Vienna, Prague and especially his native Ljubljana. In Vienna, where in 1898 he completed his studies as the best graduate in his class, Plečnik earned distinction for a range of pioneering works of modern architecture. Due to a lack of commissions and on the urging of a Czech friend, in 1911 he moved to Prague. There in addition to the Church of the Sacred Heart he rearranged the famous Prague Castle and its gardens into a residence for the head of state.
As soon as he was offered the chance, he opted to return to his native Ljubljana. After the founding of Slovenia’s first university, the University of Ljubljana, in 1919, Plečnik was offered the position of professor of architecture at the Technical Faculty, where he began work in the 1921/22 academic year and continued until his death. During that time, in the city he carried out to a great extent his vision of transforming Ljubljana into a national capital along the lines of cities of Antiquity. He took what had already been built and with careful consideration enhanced it. Between 1921 and 1957, he wove into the web of the city a series of extraordinary buildings, including the National and University Library, the Church of St Francis of Assisi, the open market, the Žale cemetery and bridges over the Ljubljanica. In his designs, he zealously studied Antiquity, and out of classical architectural elements he created his own architectural idiom. On 28 July 2021, selected works of his in Ljubljana were entered on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of architect Jože Plečnik, the Republic of Slovenia is issuing a commemorative coin. The large reading room window in the National and University Library in Ljubljana and the column in front of it are furnished with the composition of signs A R H. P L E Č N I K, which are built into the window space and are a metaphor for the architect’s signature as revealed in his work. The letters are placed in the deep-set window openings and in terms of Plečnik’s design can be understood as an architectural intervention in the space, as points of emphasis set in the facade layer or as geometrically designed objects.
Event proposed by: Museum and Galleries of the City of Ljubljana, the City of Ljubljana Authority, Tomaž Podboj, Tevž Zrinski
Designed by: Andrej Žerovnik, Ljubljana
Minting: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Italy
| Commemorative coin | Commemorative coin - proof |
| Nominal value: EUR 2 Issued: 991,000 coins |
Nominal value: EUR 2 Issued: 2,500 coins |
| Issue date: 2. 3. 2022 | Issue date 2. 3. 2022 |
New national side of the commemorative 2-euro coin intended for circulation and issued by the Republic of Slovenia to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of architect Jože Plečnik - Official Journal of the European Union, 2022/C 145/07.
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