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The neighbourhood was completed in 1982 with the construction of two groups of high-rise buildings on the neighbourhood’s eastern edge. The original urban design envisioned two mega-blocks on that edge. Each cluster of iconic skyscrapers consists of three high-rise buildings, with four towers of different heights, which are offset in the floor plan, and interconnected by vertical communications and service balconies. Each group of skyscrapers is arranged around a central square that opens onto flat meadows on the east side. Because the squares are well-articulated, they maintain the human scale (despite the hovering high buildings) and are meaningful gathering spaces. With steep white roofs, reminiscent of snow-capped peaks of the Alps in the background, they soon became one of the most recognisable icons in Ljubljana’s silhouette.71 They represent a desirable object of identification for its inhabitants.
71. Vehovar, Soseska BS-3. 72. Over the years, it has become apparent that the dining space is a junction of an apartment and is in use for much more time and for a much larger number of different activities than initially indicated. On the other hand, in these apartments, the kitchen is finally hidden in a niche next to the outer wall, but it, therefore, has natural lighting and direct ventilation again. The apartments were relatively large (104m2107m2) for that time. The flexible “living” part is a single space of 48m2. (Mercina, Arhitekt Ilija Arnautović, 122.) 73. Vehovar, Soseska BS 3. 74. Mercina, Arhitekt Arnautović, 116-117.
Masha Tatalovič
Ilija
A varied image of open public spaces was created by articulating each row of blocks with horizontal offsets. Stairs in the longitudinal direction connect two adjacent living lamellas, and in the transverse direction, they connect to the footpath through the settlement. Special attention was paid to the design of ground floor apartments that interpret the idea of a house with a garden. Ground floor pavilions with gardens extending into the open space between the blocks are added to the ground floor units raised by half a storey above the ground. The main feature of the floor plans of the apartments is the large central space of the dining room, which extends to the balcony or garden and is distinctly intended for several functions.72 Privacy of ground floor apartments is achieved with height lags.73 The intertwining of apartments and outdoor ambiences as well as private and public green spaces is richer here than in earlier cases. Private green areas are well included in the public open space, which enables the identification of all residents with the entire space. The BS-3 public green areas include a trim track system with arranged rest areas, and the “Path around Ljubljana” also runs through them. Exactly such an external arrangement is often that missing last step towards a comprehensively arranged neighbourhood.74
xii. The self-sufficient city, Nove Fužine Neighbourhood MS 4,5 - better known as Nove Fužine, is one of Ljubljana’s last socially planned urban arrangements, built between 1977-1988. With 18,000 people, in 4,500 apartments (1991: 2,165 socially owned and 2,353 owner-occupied), on 61ha, it is certainly the country’s largest neighbourhood
The Yugoslav Dream
High-rises
Articulation and offsets
Opposite page: Figure 21: Residental blocks BS-3 Architecture and urbanism: 1970-1977 - M. Jernejec and V. Frluga (with I. Arnautović) The living areas of the ground floor apartments are located in pavilions on the garden side. Figure 22: (in the background) Highrises BS-3, Vojkova Street Architecture: I. Arnautović, 1980-1982
