PLEČNIK FUND GRANT
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Home in the Bay, Concept Design of the Renovation of the National Hall in Trieste, 2023 master's thesis - Jury's report
The author of the master's thesis upon which the Plečnik Fund Grant has been conferred carries out an in-depth and precise analysis of all aspects of the Trieste National Hall's genesis. The analysis begins with the development of the city by the national border, its urban development, as well as its political fate after the border had been defined after World War 2. The national revival is presented as the key cultural and political act which was to ensure the Slovenes existence and development in the erstwhile multi-ethnic monarchy. The national-revival programme included national halls as the centres of the Slovenes' cultural and political life.
For Slovenes, the National Hall in Trieste carries a symbolic significance. It was built according to the designs of architect Maks Fabiani, whose national origin encompasses all of the city's complexity at that time. Such is also his design for the National Hall: a hybrid of sorts, with of a multitude of programmes integrated within a singular building volume, with the main entrance from Piazza della Caserma (colloquial Slovene: "Vojaški trg", "Military Square").
Ever since its inception, the building has shared the fate of the Slovene population in Trieste, particularly in the period of Fascist repression culminating in the savage arson attack of 1920. Two years after the arson, the building was then also dispossessed of the square in front of it, causing its being deprived of an important buffer space by means of which the building had communicated with the urban fabric and the public.
Neža Brankovič's telling of the National Hall's story goes beyond the mere architectural aspect. Her research is broad, she attempts to understand the building within the complex historical, political, and cultural context of the Slovene population in Trieste. She reflects its current context also by way of interviews with the creators of Slovene culture in Trieste.
The author employs patience and precision in her analysis of the the National Hall's architectural development, from Fabiani's initial design, its state after the arson, to the current spatial organisation. Her thorough work offers a basis for the future renovation of the building, whose ownership is being transferred back to the Slovene national community. In her master's thesis, she puts forward the proposal to reinstate the Slovene culture in the National Hall, while the proposed opening of the ground floor would serve as its showcase in the city. A new intervention in the evacuated core section of the building elevates the public programme from the ground floor to the roof, where the open view of the city acts as a replacement for the forfeited square in front of the building.
The master's thesis represents fundamental research for all future interventions into this important symbol of the culture and architecture of Slovenes. With the conferment of the Plečnik Fund Grant, the Jury wishes to provide encouragement to Ms Brankovič for her further participatory activity in the Trieste National Hall's revival.
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