Strajnić, Kosta.

[ARCHITECTURE IN AUSTRO-HUNGARY – VIENNA SECESSION IN SLOVENIA] Josip Plečnik. Sa 82 reprodukcije [With 82 reproductions].

Zagreb: Ćelap i Popovac, 1920. Large quarto (33 × 25.5 cm). Original gilt-embossed limp card boards; 29 pp. With 82 plates of illustrations. Some sections unopened and uncut. Lightly faded and chipped to wrapper edges, spine shaken, with some sections starting to detach; still good or better. Item #55544

An early monograph with a portfolio of works documenting the career of Josip (Jože) Plečnik (1872–1957), considered one of the most important architects of the turn of the twentieth century, whose mix of Vienna Secession and Slovenian Baroque styles had a major impact on the look of the cities such as Vienna, Prague, Ljubliana, and Belgrade. The volume contains 82 plates of illustrations after photographs of buildings, facades, and interiors, ground plans and elevations, drawings for religious monuments, furniture, and other decorative work. An introductory critical text on the life and work of Plečnik opens the volume, testifying to his great professional standing up to that point. The text is followed by an index with annotations to the illustrations. This volume precedes his work on the Prague Castle which Plečnik undertook in 1920–1934, and for which he is perhaps best remembered. He was eventually pushed out of the project in the wake of nationalist sentiment in Prague. Reportedly he also took no honorarium for this project, stating that it was the greatest honour to work on this reconstruction.

Born in Ljubliana and trained in his father’s woodworking workshop, Plečnik moved to Vienna in 1892, eventually coming to study at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts with Otto Wagner. Plečnik would work in Wagner’s office until 1900. This volume includes photographs of his early Vienna works for which he gained notoriety such as the Zacherlhaus (1903–1905), as well as the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (1910–1913), both notable for Plečnik’s innovative use of reinforced concrete. The volume also showcases numerous wood work designs, from furniture to outdoor structures, capturing the architects’ continued interest in wood.

As of March 2026, KVK, OCLC show four copies in North America.

Price: €750.00

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