Bauwerk
Opera bar
Matej Vozlič - Ljubljana (SLO)
14. November 2006 - Architekturarchiv Slowenien
Opera bar in Ljubljana is an example of a project that would like to deal with interior on a higher level of quality. As the name indicates, the bar is situated on the corner in front of the opera house. This place was very popular for centuries. In spite the fact that it was redecorated some 15 years ago, the public has still in mind the older interior that gave the bar a popular name „Messing“, a Germanism in Slovene slang language indicating the presence of brass in its interior. A rich businessman of Slovenian origin from Sidney, Australia, bought the bar in 2002 and the architects had an opportunity to return the place its former splendor. With owner from Sidney, the name was no longer associated with the Opera House from Ljubljana but rather with the famous Sidney Opera House by Jřrn Utzon. This of course was only a staring point for thinking about the interior in a fresh way. At the end the bar has qualities both associated with the old „Messing“ and with Australian culture. The bar is divided in three spaces: the main space with bar, back room and the mezzanine where one also finds toilets. Architecture is clear and simple, with vertical articulation. With the help of wooden podium, stairs, mezzanine (almost a balcony) and high spaces, a kind of „Raumplan“ is created. The materials are white wall, wood and stone (partly on the floor). The architects added carefully made details, made mostly of brass, that work almost like jewelry: niches, stair handles and coat hooks. Additionally there are Aborigine paintings on the ceiling and in the toilets and several carefully selected Australian pieces of art. There is always a video projection on the wall showing Australian wildlife. The whole effect is noble and at the same time one feels like somewhere else, not in Ljubljana. It is not so difficult for an architect to design nice details and pick fashionable furniture from production catalogues. The real achievement is the ability to combine all elements like walls, materials, chairs, light, acoustic and qualities of materials that we touch in a harmonic unity in order to create an ambient, where visitors feel good and are attracted to it. Vesna and Matej Vozlič had shown this sensibility before in their work. Also with Opera Bar one has a feeling that the place has potential strategy to survive the criticism of the years to come.
Für den Beitrag verantwortlich: Architekturarchiv Slowenien
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