OPEN DOORS DAY: When a House Becomes a Home – Plečnik House for Everyone

Under the title When a House Becomes a Home – Plečnik House for Everyone, the event will showcase the latest participatory museum practices developed by Plečnik House in collaboration with young creators, local partners, and a network of house museums within the Open Atelier EU project. From morning until midnight, visitors can explore the renewed exhibition content, test the new interactive modular system, and participate in various creative, educational, and experiential activities that connect the past and future of cultural heritage.

DETAILED PROGRAM 

10:00–14:00 | Master's Garden: Interactive Family Exploration of Plečnik's Garden
Embark on a self-guided family exploration of Plečnik's garden! With a printed guide in hand, discover the world of herbs, contemplate the creative use of architectural elements, and learn how Jože Plečnik incorporated them into his garden. Discover the domestic animals the master kept, view the vegetable garden tended by housekeeper Urška, gaze into the tree canopies, and perhaps even hug a tree. Enjoy a rest on Plečnik's bench. At the end, a pleasant surprise awaits – just enough to bring smiles to the faces of young (and older) explorers!

10:00–14:00 | Peek into the Wonderful World of Bees: Family Workshop on Bees
Join beekeeper Petra Peunik Okorn to explore the world of bees in Plečnik's garden. Learn about Plečnik's connection to bees, visit the garden's beehive, and delve into the life of bee families. Children will also have the opportunity to make candles from beeswax.
In case of rain, the event will be held inside Plečnik House.

11:00 | Plečnik's Urban Interventions: Guided Tour of the Renewed Permanent Exhibition with Curator Ana Porok and Presentation of the New Interactive Modular System by Architecture Students
Take the opportunity to explore the partially renewed permanent exhibition Plečnik. As part of the EU project Open Atelier, the exhibition has been refreshed with new content and layout. Curator Ana Porok will present the exhibition's enhancements, highlighting the significance of Plečnik's Ljubljana as part of the UNESCO World Heritage and enriching it with new interpretative layers. Special attention will be given to the new interactive modular system developed by architecture students, allowing visitors to explore Plečnik's three key spatial concepts – land, water, and symbolic axes of Ljubljana – through movement, assembly, and play.

15:00 | Neighbors and Friends: Reading of Letters Exchanged Between Jože Plečnik and Fran Saleški Finžgar
A strong friendship developed between neighbors Finžgar and Plečnik, lasting over three decades. They believed that good friends should have no fences between them, so they never rebuilt the fence that once separated the parish garden from Plečnik's. Finžgar often visited Plečnik's house for conversations; the architect appreciated his folksy language, full of sayings and witticisms, and his enthusiasm for all spiritual work. We will listen to the letters exchanged between the friends, preserved in the manuscript collection of the National and University Library and Plečnik's collection at MGML, interpreted by curator Ana Porok and art historian Matic Šavli.

10:00–18:00 | Guided Tours of Plečnik's Home [advance registration]*
Guided tours are available in Slovenian and/or English.
Each tour accommodates up to 7 people – self-guided tours of the house are not possible.

10:00–18:00 | Individual Visits of the Temporary Exhibition Missing Parts
The exhibition highlights forgotten fragments of Plečnik's pedagogical legacy and architectural production by his students. It focuses on never-used printing clichés intended for inclusion in the publication "Napori" (1955) but ultimately excluded. These unique artifacts raise questions about processes of selection, presentation, and evaluation in architecture. The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, and its students.

10:00–18:00 | Individual Visits of the Permanent Exhibition Plečnik.
The exhibition sheds light on the architect's major and minor, realized and unrealized architectural projects, presenting original objects, models, sketches, and plans, and offers insight into Plečnik's private life.

EVENING PROGRAM: MUSEUM SUMMER NIGHT 2025

18:00–24:00 | Short Guided Tours of Plečnik's Home [advance registration]*
20-minute guided tours are available in Slovenian and/or English.
Each tour accommodates up to 7 people – self-guided tours of the house are not possible.

18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 20:00, 20:30 | Discovering Plečnik's Garden: Guided Tours for Adults [advance registration]*
During the tour, learn about Plečnik's innovative use of sewer and water pipes, his favorite resting spots, and the vegetables he enjoyed from his garden.
In case of rain, the tours will be canceled.

18:00 | Majda Neřima, Architect: Documentary Film on Plečnik's Student [advance registration]*
Majda Neřima, an architect and former student of Jože Plečnik, dedicated her creative work primarily to sacred architecture. She designed numerous new constructions, renovations, and expansions of churches, as well as tombstones, cemetery crosses, shrines, and monuments. She also engaged in residential architecture and interior design. Her works are scattered across various parts of Slovenia – especially in Prekmurje, Dolenjska, Gorenjska, and the Kamnik area – as well as abroad. The documentary film about the architect was prepared by Andreja Humar Gruden and Sabina Gruden. Duration: 74 minutes.

19:15 | Plečnik's Urban Interventions: Guided Tour of the Renewed Permanent Exhibition with Curator Ana Porok and Presentation of the New Interactive Modular System by Architecture Students
Take the opportunity to explore the partially renewed permanent exhibition Plečnik. As part of the EU project Open Atelier, the exhibition has been refreshed with new content and layout. Curator Ana Porok will present the exhibition's enhancements, highlighting the significance of Plečnik's Ljubljana as part of the UNESCO World Heritage and enriching it with new interpretative layers. Special attention will be given to the new interactive modular system developed by architecture students, allowing visitors to explore Plečnik's three key spatial concepts – land, water, and symbolic axes of Ljubljana – through movement, assembly, and play.

20:15 | First Guided Tour of the Exhibition Missing Parts with Curator Katarina Čakš [advance registration]*
During the tour, the curator will present the background of the exhibition, its research framework, and the importance of the discovered archival material. You’ll learn how students from the Faculty of Architecture, under mentorship, explored forgotten clichés from Plečnik’s cabinet, printed them for the first time, and thus shed light on a lesser-known part of the architect’s pedagogical legacy.

21:00 | Jaša Koceli: The Master, Live Performance of the Radio Play [advance registration]*
The radio play The Master is based on the extensive letter correspondence of Jože Plečnik and reveals the deep intellectual world of this great Slovenian architect. After its premiere at the Ljubljana City Theatre, the drama will come to life in a live radio performance set in the intimate garden of Plečnik House.

FOR FAMILIES

18:00–20:30 | Master's Garden: Interactive Family Exploration of Plečnik's Garden
Embark on a self-guided family exploration of Plečnik's garden! With a printed guide in hand, discover the world of herbs, contemplate the creative use of architectural elements, and learn how Jože Plečnik incorporated them into his garden. Discover the domestic animals the master kept, view the vegetable garden tended by housekeeper Urška, gaze into the tree canopies, and perhaps even hug a tree. Enjoy a rest on Plečnik's bench. At the end, a pleasant surprise awaits – just enough to bring smiles to the faces of young (and older) explorers!

INDIVIDUAL VISITS

18:00–24:00 | Individual Visits of the Permanent Exhibition Plečnik.
This exhibition highlights Plečnik’s major and minor, realized and unrealized architectural projects, showcases original objects, models, sketches, and drawings, and offers a unique insight into the architect’s private life.

18:00–24:00 | Individual Visits of the Temporary Exhibition Missing Parts
This exhibition draws attention to forgotten fragments of Plečnik’s pedagogical legacy and the architectural output of his students. At its center are never-used printing clichés originally intended for the 1955 publication Napori but ultimately excluded. These unique artifacts raise questions about selection, presentation, and evaluation processes in architecture. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana and its students.

Plečnik House Bookshop – 30% Discount
During the final event of the EU project Open Atelier and Museum Summer Night 2025, we invite you to visit the Plečnik House museum shop. A special 30% discount will be available on all MGML publications older than six months. Among them, you’ll find:

• Plečnik’s Green Ljubljana by landscape architect Darja Pergovnik (in Slovene),
• the biographical comic Plečnik (and full stop) (in Slovene and English),
• the Plečnik’s Ljubljana guide by architect Andrej Hrausky (in Slovene and English),
• and the catalogue of Plečnik’s unrealised projects in Ljubljana (in Slovene and English) – essential reading for all (Plečnik) architecture enthusiasts!