The Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, where Joze Plecnik spent the latter part of his life, is the backdrop for some of his most ambitious schemes. Of these, the most monumental is the National and University Library, 1936-39, which ingeniously combines topographical features and cultural symbolism.
Typical Plecnik features include the long colonnade in dark stone on either side of the central staircase which leads to a reading room that fills the entire width of one wing of the building. Contrasted with this is the powerful expressive street elevation which only partly relates to activities inside the building. This facade was designed to replace one of Ljubljana's most handsome early Baroque palaces and is representative of Plecnik's most eccentric mannerist style.
'Architecture In Detail' is a superbly photographed and technically informative series of monographs which embraces a broad spectrum of internationally renowned buildings, drawn predominantly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each sixty-page volume contains a lucid text by a respected author; a sequence of large-format, high-quality colour and black and white photographs; a comprehensive set of technical drawings and working details; and a complete bibliography and chronology, thus making these books the definitive work on the subject. They are essential purchases for enthusiasts, practitioners and students alike.
