Neboticnik
Encyclopedia
Nebotičnik is a prominent high-rise located in the centre of Ljubljana
, Slovenia
, and is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. Its thirteen storey
s rise to a height of 70.35 m (231 ft). It was designed by the Slovenian architect Vladimir Šubic
for the Pension Institute, the building's investor. Construction began in July 1930 and the building opened on 21 February 1933. It was, upon completion, the tallest building in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, and the ninth-tallest high-rise in Europe. It was and would remain for some time the tallest residential building in Europe.
Predominantly a place of business, Nebotičnik is home to a variety of shops on the ground floor and first story, and various offices are located on floors two to five. The sixth to ninth floors are private residences
. Located on the top three floors are a café
, bar
and observation deck
. The café reopened in July 2010, while the bar and a new restaurant opened on 2 September 2010. Floors nine to thirteen were sold in auction on 12 June 2007 by Pension Fund Management (KAD) for €
2,120,000 to Australia
n company Terra Australis. The company hoped to restore Nebotičnik to its former glory.
(tempietto on top), Marjan Sever, and Bojan Stupica (fittings of the cafe). Its design is based on the neoclassical
and art-deco styles, and is crowned with pilasters on the upper floors. Its design follows the classical tripartite division of tall buildings pioneered by American architect Louis Sullivan
—it is composed of a base designed to interact with the street and pedestrians, a homogeneous shaft, and a crown, topped by a cylindrical colonnade
with a mounted flag pole, which was added after the completion of the tower. The façade
is interrupted by evenly distributed rectangular window
s framed in stone, an accentuated ground level and first floor, and semi-circular windows in the café on the eleventh storey.
The entrance on the ground floor leads to a lobby
lined with Kras
marble
. Upper storeys are accessible by elevator or the spiral stairway at the centre of the building. Two of the elevators are fast and lead visitors to the café on the upper floors, while the third is slower and leads to the residential levels. The stairway terminates at the tenth floor.
The façade is adorned by a four metre (13 foot) tall sculpture of a woman, the work of the Slovenian sculptor Lojze Dolinar, to help alleviate the connection between Nebotičnik and the lower bank next to the tower. Sculptures in the loggia
were designed by the Slovenian sculptor France Gorše. Located to the west of Nebotičnik is a six storey residential structure, designed by the same architect.
silhouette
of city's bell tower
s, some residents of Ljubljana feared it would spoil the skyline
, and labelled the building a "freak". The building is located on the site of a medieval monastery
, and while preparing its foundation, contractors came across a 13th century well
.
The building was constructed with reinforced concrete
, and features many technological elements which were innovative at the time. It has central heating
by automatic fuel oil
burners, and water is supplied to the top seven floors by automatic pumps. The café has pressure ventilation, and hot water is supplied from the basement.
The strictest in Japanese anti-seismic criteria was followed in the design of the building, therefore it is supported by 16 pilings each extending 18 m (59 ft) into the ground. This makes Nebotičnik one of the most earthquake
-safe buildings in Ljubljana.
Ljubljana
Ljubljana 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
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, and is one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. Its thirteen storey
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
s rise to a height of 70.35 m (231 ft). It was designed by the Slovenian architect Vladimir Šubic
Vladimir Šubic
Vladimir Šubic, was a Slovene architect. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
for the Pension Institute, the building's investor. Construction began in July 1930 and the building opened on 21 February 1933. It was, upon completion, the tallest building in 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...
, and the ninth-tallest high-rise in Europe. It was and would remain for some time the tallest residential building in Europe.
Predominantly a place of business, Nebotičnik is home to a variety of shops on the ground floor and first story, and various offices are located on floors two to five. The sixth to ninth floors are private residences
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
. Located on the top three floors are a café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and observation deck
Observation deck
__FORCETOC__ An observation deck, observation platform or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure such as a skyscraper or observation tower...
. The café reopened in July 2010, while the bar and a new restaurant opened on 2 September 2010. Floors nine to thirteen were sold in auction on 12 June 2007 by Pension Fund Management (KAD) for €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
2,120,000 to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n company Terra Australis. The company hoped to restore Nebotičnik to its former glory.
Architecture
Nebotičnik, originally designed as an eight-storey building, was designed by Vladimir Šubic, with assistance from Lado Kham, Ivo Medved (pavilion on the terrace), Marjan Mušič and Jože PlečnikJože Plecnik
Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
(tempietto on top), Marjan Sever, and Bojan Stupica (fittings of the cafe). Its design is based on the neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and art-deco styles, and is crowned with pilasters on the upper floors. Its design follows the classical tripartite division of tall buildings pioneered by American architect Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...
—it is composed of a base designed to interact with the street and pedestrians, a homogeneous shaft, and a crown, topped by a cylindrical colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
with a mounted flag pole, which was added after the completion of the tower. The façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is interrupted by evenly distributed rectangular window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
s framed in stone, an accentuated ground level and first floor, and semi-circular windows in the café on the eleventh storey.
The entrance on the ground floor leads to a lobby
Lobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
lined with Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
. Upper storeys are accessible by elevator or the spiral stairway at the centre of the building. Two of the elevators are fast and lead visitors to the café on the upper floors, while the third is slower and leads to the residential levels. The stairway terminates at the tenth floor.
The façade is adorned by a four metre (13 foot) tall sculpture of a woman, the work of the Slovenian sculptor Lojze Dolinar, to help alleviate the connection between Nebotičnik and the lower bank next to the tower. Sculptures in the loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
were designed by the Slovenian sculptor France Gorše. Located to the west of Nebotičnik is a six storey residential structure, designed by the same architect.
Construction
Construction of Nebotičnik was controversial. Being the first building to surpass the baroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
of city's bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
s, some residents of Ljubljana feared it would spoil the skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
, and labelled the building a "freak". The building is located on the site of a medieval monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, and while preparing its foundation, contractors came across a 13th century well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
.
The building was constructed with reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, and features many technological elements which were innovative at the time. It has central heating
Central heating
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be a HVAC system.Central heating differs from local heating in that the heat generation...
by automatic fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
burners, and water is supplied to the top seven floors by automatic pumps. The café has pressure ventilation, and hot water is supplied from the basement.
The strictest in Japanese anti-seismic criteria was followed in the design of the building, therefore it is supported by 16 pilings each extending 18 m (59 ft) into the ground. This makes Nebotičnik one of the most earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
-safe buildings in Ljubljana.