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and most densely populated area. For the project’s design, the self-governing housing community of Ljubljana Moste-Polje cooperated with the Ljubljana Urban Planning Institute (LUZ) and the company IMOS.75 Although the first ideas about the settlement appeared soon after WWII, during the period marked by rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, this did not happen until the end of the 1980s.76 The first plans for the settlement in 1958 envisaged the construction of 570 flats for 1,900 inhabitants. The 1975 plan, however, already provided 4,500 apartments for 15,000 people. In that period, immigration to Slovenia was the most intensive. The extensive economy generated the need for many workers, who in the second half of the 1970s came from other republics of the former Yugoslavia, where there was a significant level of unemployment. Due to the expansion of industry on the city’s outskirts, their accommodation was planned in Fužine, consequently increasing the scope of the planned construction.77 A significant regulation and correction of Zaloška street into a new main road were essential.
75. Vidan, Dina. “Geografski vidiki kvalitete bivalnega okolja v soseski Nove Fužine.” Zaključna seminarska naloga, Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za geografijo, 2011. 76. “Fužine so nastale v času sosesk,” DELO, accessed December 5, 2021, https://old. delo.si/novice/ljubljana/fuzineso-nastale-v-casu-sosesk.html. 77. The good load-bearing ground capacity and little built-up of the area gave excellent predispositions for the construction of large buildings. 78. For many of the initially anticipated accompanying facilities of the residential buildings, they ran out of funds, which they were solving by including construction costs in the apartment prices. 79. The Castle of Fužine (16th c.), which today houses MAO, is beside the library, the only other cultural facility in Nove Fužine. Vidan, “Geografski vidiki”.
Masha Tatalovič
Growth
The neighbourhood is sensibly organised and characterised by rich and diverse public spaces - parks, playgrounds, sports and recreational areas. The majority of the public program is located in the northern and southern parts, leaving the intermediate space filled with residential buildings. The main traffic artery (with public transport) longitudinally divides the neighbourhood. Low apartment blocks (P + 3) on the perimeter of the neighbourhood form contact with the existing tissue. High blocks (P + 8, P + 14) together with public programs define three squares in the centre of the neighbourhood, from west to east: “Brodarjev trg”, “Preglov trg”, “Rusjanov trg”. Due to the scale, it was crucial to acknowledge the principles of self-sufficiency, so in parallel with the apartment blocs, they built accompanying social facilities, services and arranged open spaces. The oldest square, “Brodarjev trg”, with its surroundings, grew between 1980-84. The simultaneously-built accompanying facilities included a grocery store, a few craft workshops (florist, hairdresser, dry cleaner, smaller bars), a supermarket, a kindergarten and a primary school. Further, between 1983-1985, grew the apartment blocks on “Preglov trg”. The accompanying facilities included a library (1980), the central cultural space of Nove Fužine, a health centre and another primary school. The youngest “Rusjanov trg”, today also provides a home for the elderly.78 The urban layout considers the possibility of changing housing standards and the future needs of public buildings - it provides vacant spaces for such changes.79
The Yugoslav Dream
Self-sufficiency
Opposite page: Figure 23: Nove Fužine, built between 1977-1988 The neighbourhood is divided into three squares, the following from west to east: “Brodarjev trg”, “Preglov trg”, “Rusjanov trg”.
