Urbanc house
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The Urbanc House is a department store on Prešeren Square in the center of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana .
history
The location on the city's main square was originally occupied by smaller buildings, but these were damaged in the 1895 earthquake. In the course of the reconstruction and redesign of the center, the dealer Felix Urbanc (1850–1937) was able to buy the three plots and received permission from the city administration to build a three-story department store.
He commissioned the architect Friedrich Sigmundt , according to whose plans the house was built in 1903 in the Viennese Art Nouveau style. The interior design such as the magnificent main staircase and the wooden carvings were carried out by Anton Irschick , a kuk court carpenter from Graz.
The family was expropriated by the communists after World War II and the house was confiscated in 1946. In 1947 it was managed by the Tkanina concern , then by the Merkur wholesaler . During this time, a large part of the original interior was lost due to renovation work. The courtyard, which was originally covered with a roof made of glass and iron, was built over. Stairs and walls have been relocated or moved. Only the central room of the department store with its staircase, the furniture, lamps and even two original etched glass panes remained relatively untouched. However, the house deteriorated over the years.
After the reunification and independence of Slovenia, a lengthy process of restitution to Urbanc's heirs began. In 2007, the renovation work started with the assistance of the architect Matjaž Pangerc. The house was largely restored to its original state. Today the house is home to the Emporium Gallery , a luxurious department store with branded items in its range.
architecture
The floor plan has the shape of an irregular pentagon. The main facade to the square is only 5.5 meters wide. The main entrance is protected by a glass roof. On the roof above the entrance is a statue of Mercurius , god of trade and protector of merchants. Both inside and out, the architectural design follows Art Nouveau.
Inside, the entrance hall extends over two floors. The sales area is pentagonal. The gallery is accessed by a three-part staircase that lies in the axis of the entrance. At the bottom it begins with a rounded step that is divided into two runs and then closes in a narrow arch on both sides in the gallery. The staircase is supported by two types of columns, and above the arch between the upper ones is the statue of the Allegory of the Crafts. The knobs at the end of the railing are wood-carved women's heads with hairstyles that reflect the fashion of the time of origin.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Galerija Emporium: Nekoč Urbančeva palača
- ↑ Bourgeoisie in the Habsburg Monarchy: Bourgeois self-portrayal in the Google book search
- ↑ Wikimedia Commons: Urbanc-Haus Laibach
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 3 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 14 ° 30 ′ 23.3 ″ E