LECTURES: NATURE AND ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE OF SPACE

In the period from 29 November to 1 December 2005, within the project “Managing the Space – Promoting European Standards”, a serial of lectures titled “Nature and Elementary Language of Space” was delivered by Slovenian architect Ira Zorko from Ljubljana, in Belgrade, Podgorica and Kotor.

- In Belgrade, the lecture was held on 29 November 2005, in the amphitheater of the Faculty of architecture. The lecture was attended by about 200 people, mainly students of architecture and architects. The lecture was opened by docent Dr Ljiljana Blagojević and docent M.A. Ksenija Lalović, from the Department for Urbanism and Spatial Planning, as well as a member of our partner organization PaPs (Public Art and Public Space) from Belgrade.

- In Podgorica the lecture was held on 30 November, at the Technical School. The lecture was realized with the assistance of the Department for Architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Podgorica, and was opened by the dean Aleksandar Keković. The lecture was attended by about 70 people, students of architecture, architects, NGO representatives, etc.

- The third lecture was held on 1 December in Kotor, at the Regional institute for the protection of cultural monuments. The lecture was attended by about 20 people.

The lectures were followed by the film „Managing the Space” produced within the project.

Through the lecture, composed of personal impressions and insights connected with nature and traditional cultural spaces, description of joint work on projects and examples of works of other authors, Ira Zorko tried to interpret the real and life-giving elements of space and time for which he believes and hopes that can assist in and be, to a greater extent, foundation of contemporary architecture.

The lecture by Ira Zorko was segmented into three parts. In the first part, Ira presented a process of how a former military prison had been restored into nowadays internationally known youth hostel Celica. In the second part, he spoke about space language, with the examples read out in the works of architect Plečnik in Ljubljana. Depending on the audience, in the third part of the lecture different topics were treated in different towns: in Belgrade it was a story about the Scottish Parliament designed by the architect Enrico Miralles, in Podgorica the projects of bridges were presented, and in Kotor the process and methodology used in drawing up a spatial plan for a village in Slovenia struck by an earthquake.

After the lectures, we asked the present people to give their comments. The comments are very positive and give evidence that different target groups, not only architects and students of architecture, but also people of other professions, found the lectures useful and interesting.