Josip Plečnik transformed Prague Castle and the appearance of his hometown Ljubljana

Prague - Among the architects who have significantly influenced the appearance of Prague in the last century, the most famous and highly regarded by experts is the Slovene Josip Plečnik. Although he is the creator of the current form of one of the symbols of Czech statehood - Prague Castle, until recently, he was known in the Czech Republic only by a handful of experts. His name, connected with the first president T. G. Masaryk, was taboo during the communist regime.
Plečnik's work symbolically connects the three capitals of the successor states of the former Central European monarchy - Vienna, Prague, and Ljubljana. He was born in Ljubljana on January 23, 1872, was a professor at its university, significantly contributed to its current form, and also died there fifty years ago, on January 7, 1957. He studied in Vienna, where his first realization stands. And in Prague, he became not only the architect of Prague Castle.
He was born as the third of four children in the family of Andrej and Helena Plečnik. According to his father's wish, he was to take over the family carpenter's workshop. He studied carpentry and related fields at a technical school in Štýrský Hradec, where he also came into contact with builders and became a draftsman in Leopold Theyer's studio. In 1892, he left for Vienna, where he first worked in a furniture factory and then was admitted to study at the famous architecture school of Professor Otto Wagner, which was part of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He completed his studies with an urban design of the seaside resort of Scheveningen near The Hague, which earned him a scholarship and a two-year study trip through Southern Europe.
His first independent architectural works were done in Vienna, where a number of villas, apartment buildings, memorials, and the Church of the Holy Spirit were constructed based on his fresh designs. He gained international fame primarily from the project and realization of the Zacherl Palace in the center of the Austrian capital. In 1910, he was invited to Prague by architect Jan Kotěra, with whom he had befriended during his studies, to take over his position as professor of decorative architecture at the Prague School of Applied Arts.
In 1920, he succeeded with the study to redesign the southern garden of Prague Castle and gradually gained other castle commissions until he became the official castle architect at Masaryk's suggestion. At that time, he was also appointed professor of architecture at the newly established university in Ljubljana, but he regularly commuted to Prague and, together with his student Otto Rothmayer, worked intensively on the redesign of Prague Castle until 1934. At the same time, he designed and realized his proposals both in Slovenia and elsewhere in Bohemia.
His task during the restoration of Prague Castle, which had been devastated since the time of Rudolf II, was to fulfill Masaryk's idea of "transforming the monarchist castle into a democratic castle". Plečnik got along very well with Masaryk, the president fully trusted him and entrusted him not only with the modifications of the Castle, but also the residence in Lány. Through multiple reconstructions and adaptations, along with Rothmayer, they significantly changed the character of the castle interiors, courtyards, and gardens. These include particularly the reconstructions of the first and third courtyards, the Column Hall at the Matthias Gate, and the spaces of the New Palace with the president's apartment.
Among Plečnik's indisputable buildings in Prague is also the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord on Jiří z Poděbrady Square. The modern church building with a wide tower with glass clocks, built between 1928 and 1932, dominates Vinohrady Square. Contemporary architects consider the underground chapel beneath the church nave to be Plečnik's most spiritual space.
However, in the mid-1930s, Plečnik faced increasing nationalist criticism from his opponents and competitors in the Czech Republic. After the ailing Masaryk could no longer defend him, he left his work at the Castle. Allegedly he took no honorarium for it; he said he considered this task the greatest honor.
Plečnik began to fully focus on work in his native Ljubljana, where he not only built a school of architecture, but primarily significantly influenced the urban design of this city. He created several bridges over the Ljubljanica River and a park design for its waterfront, redesigned castle ramparts, squares, and street networks. His signature adorns numerous sacred buildings and monuments.
For many years, Plečnik's work was overshadowed by more famous colleagues such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, or Alvar Aalto. A turning point in the perception of his work came from an exhibition organized in 1986 by the George Pompidou Center in Paris, which mapped his work and revealed him to a broader audience. For the Czechs, he was rediscovered in the 1990s thanks to the reconstruction of Prague Castle, initiated by President Václav Havel.

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> Plečnik did little in Prague; he didn't want to take work from his Czech colleagues [4.1.2007]

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