Charge d’Affaires Jana Chaloupkiva of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Seoul hosted a photo exhibition showing the traditional architectural splendors of her country at the Czech Cultural Center in Mapo District in front of the Hongik University in Seoul on July 17, 2014.

The exhibition featured dozens of pictures of the architectural masterpieces of Czech Architect Joze Plecnic (1872-1957, Ljubljana, Slovenia).

They included the Plague Castle Garden, Plague Castle Gate, View of the Surrounding Area of the Plague Castle, Paradise Garden, Entrance Hall in front of the Stairway of the President’s Paradise, Golden Saloon, the Hall’s Stairway on the Third Court Yard and Entrance Gate to the Southe
rn Garden.

CDA Chaloupkiva introduced each work in the picture to the guests
Jose Lenik is the most significant Slovenian architect, urbanist and one of the founding members of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana. He studied with renowned Viennese architect and educator Otto Wagner and worked in Wagner's architecture office until 1900. He had a strong impact on the modern architecture of the Slovenian Capital Ljubljana by designing the Triple Bridge, the Slovene National University Library building, as well as banks along the Ljubljanica River, the Ljubljana open market buildings, the Ljubljana cemetery, parks, plazas etc. Besides in Slovenia he also worked in nowadays Austria, Serbia and the Czech Republic. In 1911, Ple?nik moved to Plague, where he taught at the Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design. The first Czechoslovakian president Tom?? G. Masaryk appointed him as a chief architect for the renovation of the Plague Castle. From 1920 until 1934 Ple?nik completed numerous projects at the Castle, including renovation of gardens and courtyards, the design and installation of monuments and sculptures, and the design of numerous new interior spaces. He renovated the Plague Castle with the respect to the Czech history and traditions and avoided any foreign elements. Concurrently, he also supervised the renovation of the presidential summer residence at L?ny, where he mainly employed the existing furniture. Later on he moved back to Ljubljana on the invitation of another distinguished Slovenian architect Ivan Vurnik to teach architecture at the University of Ljubljana.

▲Plague Castle and unique Czech buildings.

The works of Architect Plecnic have been covered by Damjan Prelovsek who especially concentrated on the work and life of Jo?e Ple?nik, and has published lots of articles and books in Slovenia and abroad. Furthermore, Prelov?ek initiated or acted as a specialist adviser of many exhibitions about Jo?e Ple?nik, e.g. Paris 1986, Plague 1996.

Damjan Prelov?ek (18.2.1945, Ljubljana, Slovenia) studied history and history of art at the University of Ljubljana. After his graduation in 1969 he spent one year in Vienna as a holder of the Herder post-graduate scholarship and attended the seminar of Prof. Renate Wagner Rieger. He earned his doctor's degree in 1977 with a thesis focused on Jo?e Ple?nik's work in Vienna. In 1971 he started to work at the France Stele Institute of Art History at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and in 1995 became its director. In 1990, 1991 and 1996, Prelov?ek lectured as a visiting professor at the University of Salzburg and in 1992 at the Middle European University in Plague and the College for New Europe in Krakow. Since 1992, he has been a regular member of the European Academy of Science and Art, based in Austria. From 1998 to 2002, Prelov?ek was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Czech Republic. From 2006 till today, he has been working as Director of the Department for the culture heritage at the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. In 2008, Prelov?ek was awarded the Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Plague honorary doctorate. In his research, Prelov?ek has focused on the history of architecture from the baroque to the modern times, especially concentrating on the work and life of the Slovenian Architect Jo?e Ple?nik.

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