Boris Podrecca
Encyclopedia
Boris Podrecca is a Slovene-Italian
architect
and urban designer living in Vienna
, Austria
. Podrecca is considered by some critics a pioneer of postmodernism
. With some of his early works, such as the neuro-physiological institute at Stahremberg Palace (1982), he took a new, more tolerant attitude towards historical architectural forms.
, Serbia
, to a Slovene father and Herzegovinian
mother. His father was a Slovene immigrant from the Italian
border region known as Julian March
(Venezia Giulia), who had fled to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
in order to escape persecution from the Italian Fascist regime
. His original Slovene surname, Podreka, had been Italianized
to Podrecca in the early 1930s. After World War II
, the family moved to Trieste
, Italy, where Boris attended a Slovene language elementary school.
In the 1960s, he moved to Vienna
to study architecture at the University of Technology
where he graduated in 1968 with Professor Roland Rainer
. From 1979 to 1981 he worked as an assistant at Technical University of Munich
and later, as a guest lecturer at Lausanne
, Paris
, Venice
, Philadelphia, London
, Harvard-Cambridge
, Boston
and Vienna. From 1988 until 2006 he was full professor at the Technical University of Stuttgart
and Director of the Institute of Architectural Design and Theory of Space. He is a foreign member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
.
Boris Podrecca became famous with the exhibition of the work of the architect Carlo Scarpa
in the church of Chiesa della Carita at the 1984 Venice Biennale
and later the Villes d'Eaux exhibition in Paris. He was also responsible for the exhibition of the work of Jože Plečnik
in the Pompidou Centre
in Paris (1986). As a leading exhibition designer he set up the Biedermeier (Vienna, 1987), Bismarck, Prussia, Germany and Europe (Berlin, 1990) and One Hundred Years of Austria exhibitions (1996).
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and urban designer living in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Podrecca is considered by some critics a pioneer of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
. With some of his early works, such as the neuro-physiological institute at Stahremberg Palace (1982), he took a new, more tolerant attitude towards historical architectural forms.
Biography
He was born in BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, to a Slovene father and Herzegovinian
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
mother. His father was a Slovene immigrant from the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
border region known as Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
(Venezia Giulia), who had fled to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
in order to escape persecution from the Italian Fascist regime
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
. His original Slovene surname, Podreka, had been Italianized
Italianization
Italianization or Italianisation is a term used to describe a process of cultural assimilation in which ethnically non or partially Italian people or territory become Italian. The process can be voluntary or forced...
to Podrecca in the early 1930s. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the family moved to Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Italy, where Boris attended a Slovene language elementary school.
In the 1960s, he moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
to study architecture at the University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
where he graduated in 1968 with Professor Roland Rainer
Roland Rainer
Roland Rainer was an Austrian architect.Born in Klagenfurt, Roland Rainer decided to become an architect when he was 18, so he studied at the Vienna University of Technology. His thesis was about the Karlsplatz in Vienna. Then, he left Austria visiting the Netherlands and the German Academy for...
. From 1979 to 1981 he worked as an assistant at Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
and later, as a guest lecturer at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Philadelphia, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Harvard-Cambridge
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and Vienna. From 1988 until 2006 he was full professor at the Technical University of Stuttgart
University of Stuttgart
The University of Stuttgart is a university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized in 10 faculties....
and Director of the Institute of Architectural Design and Theory of Space. He is a foreign member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
.
Boris Podrecca became famous with the exhibition of the work of the architect Carlo Scarpa
Carlo Scarpa
Carlo Scarpa , was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape, and the history of Venetian culture, and Japan. Scarpa was also a glass and furniture designer of note....
in the church of Chiesa della Carita at the 1984 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
and later the Villes d'Eaux exhibition in Paris. He was also responsible for the exhibition of the work of Jože Plečnik
Jože Plecnik
Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
in the Pompidou Centre
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
in Paris (1986). As a leading exhibition designer he set up the Biedermeier (Vienna, 1987), Bismarck, Prussia, Germany and Europe (Berlin, 1990) and One Hundred Years of Austria exhibitions (1996).
Main works
- Tartini SquareTartini SquareThe Tartini Square is the largest and main square in the town of Piran, Slovenia. It was named after a famous violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, of whom a mounument was made in 1896.-History:...
, Piran, Slovenia, 1987–89 - Piazza XXIV Maggio, CormonsCormonsCormons is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 45 km northwest of Trieste and about 12 km west of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia...
(Krmin), Italy, 1989–1990 - Dirmhirngasse School, Vienna, 1991–1994
- Museum of Modern Art, Ca' PesaroCa' PesaroThe Ca' Pesaro is a baroque marble palace facing the Grand Canal of Venice.Originally designed by Baldassarre Longhena in mid-17th century, the construction was completed by Gian Antonio Gaspari in 1710...
, Venice, 1992–2002 - Greif-Areal mixed-use development, Bolzano, Italy, 1992–2000
- Judeca Nova Apartments, GiudeccaGiudeccaGiudecca is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It is part of the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It is a locality of the comune of Venice.-Geography:...
, Venice, 1995–2003 - "In der Wiesen" Social Housing, Vienna, 1996–2000
- Millennium Tower, Handelskai, Vienna, 1997–1999
- Railway Square, Krems an der Donau, Austria, 1997
- Hotel and Conference Centre, Mons, LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, 2000–2004 - City Square, Motta di Livenza, Italy, 2001–2002
- Praterstern Urban Square, Vienna, 2002–2008
- VBio Center 1, Vienna, 2003–2005
- Skidome und Multi-Functional Center, Garching bei MünchenGarching bei MünchenGarching bei München or Garching is a city in Bavaria, Germany near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments. It became a city on 14 September 1990.-Location:...
, Germany, 2005 - Punta Skala Resort, ZadarZadarZadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
, Croatia, 2005- - Station San Pasquale, Napoli, Italy, 2006-
- Šumi Center, LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Slovenia, 2006 - - Science and Technology Museum, BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia, 2007- - Civic-Cultural Centre in AjdovščinaAjdovšcinaAjdovščina is a small town and a municipality with the same name and a population of 7000 , located in the Vipava Valley , Slovenia....
, Slovenia, 2010 - - Grain BridgeGrain BridgeThe Grain Bridge is a bridge in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, linking the Petkovškovo Embankment and the Poljanski Embankment. It was solemnly opened on 24 August 2010. The bridge is long and wide...
, Ljubljana, 2010 - PP1 project (skyscraper and "city cottages"), PaduaPaduaPadua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, 2010 -
Awards
- 1986: Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
, Paris - 1990: Kulturpreis für Architektur, Vienna
- 1992: Jože Plečnik Award, Ljubljana
- 1996: Honorary Member of the Federation of German Architects
- 2000: Honorary degree of the University of MariborUniversity of MariborThe University of Maribor is the second university in Slovenia, established in 1975. It currently has 17 faculties.-History:The university's roots reach back to 1859, when a theological seminary was established with the encouragement of Maribor bishop and patriot Anton Martin Slomšek...
, Slovenia - 2003: Liberty Award by the President of the Republic of Slovenia