A modern look on Plečnik in the new monograph Eternal Architect

The new book about the life and work of Jože Plečnik brings a fresh view on the Slovenian architect through the eyes of Noah Charney, PhD. The author connects and presents Plečnik’s works through the architect’s life story, especially his periods in Vienna, Prague and Ljubljana. Reading the book through the lenses of history, aesthetics and art history reveals the master’s spiritual dimensions, his housing and design preferences as well as his attitude to his own Slovenian nation, which Plečnik wanted to elevate and help it create its own national architectural language. In his attempts to do so, Plečnik faced the Classical and the Modern, Central European and Mediterranean, which he then combined in an organic post-modern stimmung. 

The book was simultaneously published in Slovenian and English in a monograph format. 

Blaž Peršin, Director of Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana and the initiator for the book’s creation, emphasised during the publishing event, "Jože Plečnik is definitely one of the most important, if not the most important Slovenian artist. His creative oeuvre vastly overreached our local frame and made Plečnik into one of the more important architects of the 20th century, at home and abroad. It is precisely due to Plečnik’s international importance that we decided to create a book, which will articulate a look on the architect from the perspective of a foreign author. Someone who is unencumbered with local "luggage”, someone who can extend his reflections regarding this great Slovenian architect. Noah Charney succeeded, alongside the whole team that worked on this project, in creating several new moments of reading Plečnik’s work as well as contextualise his works according to the time and space in which Plečnik operated. Charney thus extracted this special, timeless poetics of Plečnik’s oeuvre.” 

Eternal Architect is based on the doctoral dissertation of Noah Charney, PhD, who elaborates the reasons for its creation in the book’s introduction. “As an American art historian, often appearing in the media, I have often been called ‘Slovenia’s greatest cheerleader’, as I have been living in this wonderful country for numerous years now. I genuinely believe that Slovenia is the most beautiful place on Earth to call home. I am honoured to represent Slovenia, and delighted to be able to present its wonders to others. Yet, among all of its wonders, it is the architecture of Jože Plečnik that impresses visitors most, and resonates within them long after they leave. The book is based on my doctoral dissertation, which I completed in 2011. The dissertation examined the arc of Jože Plečnik’s architectural career, from both his own perspective, and that of critics and the general public. It is a history of reception and personal opinion, charting the decisions Plečnik made, and asking throughout why he made them.” 

The book's foreword was written by the renowned Slovenian Plečnik expert, Dr. Peter Krečič, who also highlighted that "Charney assumed the role of a concerned and detailed narrator, as well as an interpreter of historical circumstances of Plečnik’s artistic gestation. He introduces the artist and architect who, during his lifetime, reached no less than the level of extraordinary creator of Slovenian national architecture, and posthumously became an architect of international standing." 

Editorship of the book was assumed by Luka Novak, Totaliteta, who thus summarised its origin, "If Plečnik the man emerges from the book's content, his architectural language can be heard and lines of the Slovenian national architectural style are drawn, then this book is also a Plečnik object. In the times or digital reading and virtual relations we need books ever more as objects to surround us. Like objects on the master's work table in the Plečnik House. This is why I am proud that this demanding publication, which commemorates Plečnik Year for its eternity, was created through a collaboration of numerous co-authors." 

The book was also co-designed in a significant manner by photographer Matevž Paternoster and graphic designer Domen Fras. Paternoster's modern photographs, alongside archival photographs from the Plečnik Collection of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, represent the central visual theme of the book. He took upon himself the demanding task to catch in his lens Plečnik's architecture in a fresh and contemporary way. "The realisation that Plečnik's architecture has been part of our collective consciousness, especially through recurring images – photographs of his creations, represented an even bigger challenge in my own work. The challenge in looking for a new, different view on the already known."
Fras said this about the challenges in designing the book, "When designing Plečnik, the question of the architect's – still perceptible – charisma, which creates tension among his worshippers and opponents, is omnipresent. For me he was simply an extraordinary architect, I am impressed and inspired by his creations, but I keep a professional distance. I interpret Chanrey's study and his idea of an 'eternal architect' throughout the book without quoting Plečnik details verbatim, but with verticality, a yellow tone, humanist lettering, the loose rhythm of the archival and Paternoster's photographs and lettering, which I designed specifically for the title." 

Noah Charney is an American author of international best-sellers and a professor of art history. He studied at Yale University, Cambridge University and completed his PhD in Ljubljana. He wrote twelve books and hundreds of articles, including contributions for The Guardian and Washington Post. He also works as a TV host. He has been living in Slovenia for a number of years. 

Book details: 

Noah Charney
Večni arhitekt: življenje in delo Jožeta Plečnika, modernističnega mistika
ISBN 978-961-94115-8-2 

Eternal architect: the life and art of Jože Plečnik, modernist mystic
ISBN 978-961-94115-9-9 

Retail price: 39 €, monograph format 230x300 mm, hard cover, 256 pages 

Photographs of Ljubljana: Matevž Paternoster
Graphic design: Domen Fras
Foreword: Dr. Peter Krečič