Memorial to Josiph Plečnik

 

Proposal for a memorial to Josiph Plečnik on the facade of UŠUP in Prague.

 

Memorial to J. Plečnik, 2015, 80 x 80 x 300 cm, on the facade of the University of Arts and Sciences in Prague.

 

I would like to use an already existing natural object for this potential sculptural realization. It is therefore a ready-made conceptual method.

The statue itself should be a stone of suitable size brought from a sea beach in Slovenia. So it would probably be a cream-colored limestone, used very often as a building material for Mediterranean architecture. This object should evoke already with its bizarre (perhaps surreal) shape, created by the sea surf,
the shape of a meteorite, on the other hand, formed at high temperature related to friction with the air in the atmosphere.

 

The monument to J. Plečnik on the facade of the University of Arts and Crafts.

 

The stone should be buried in the Neo-Renaissance boss of the building in such a way as to evoke the impact of a meteorite on the building. So there should be adequate, reasonable disturbance to the building after consultation with a structural engineer.

On the stone, in contrast to its confusing shape and the overall relative wildness of the realization, a very classical font should be used, evoking the style of Roman rationality. I would also like to place the date and time associated with this exceptional event around the impact. The digits should be copper and embedded in the plaster. I suggest the Trajan font.

VŠUP

 

An alternative to the sculptural concept was a painting design.

This consisted in uncovering the mural under the facade of the building, with the help of restoration sounding. In the supposed layer from the time when Josiph Plečnik worked at the school, a layer was uncovered on which restorers revealed a period painting with a landscape depicting a traditional Slovenian village where the famous architect lived in his youth. In order not to degrade the valuable painting, safety glass was installed in front of it.

 

In another version, the painting depicts a typical historicizing landscape with an antique theme. For Plečnik, antiquity was a fundamental source for his architectural ideas.