Opening of the exhibition Boris Podrecca: Turning a River Delta into a Sea

At Center Rog, from January 31 to March 15, 2025, the retrospective exhibition Boris Podrecca: Turning a River Delta into a Sea will be on view, offering insight into the rich body of work of one of the most prominent architects of our time. The exhibition was created in co-production with the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana and Center Rog, in collaboration with the France Stele Institute of Art History, ZRC SAZU.
Boris Podrecca, born in Belgrade to a Slovenian father from Trieste and a mother from Herzegovina, spent his childhood in Ljubljana, his youth in Trieste, and shaped his professional career in Vienna, where he continues to work today. This retrospective exhibition offers insight into his extensive and diverse body of work, encompassing over 350 completed projects across Europe and beyond, highlighting his rich and multifaceted creative character.
The exhibition, accompanied by an extensive catalog, features 85 selected projects created between 1980 and 2024, symbolically coinciding with the architect's 85th birthday, which he celebrates the day before the exhibition opening. Among the showcased works are numerous Slovenian projects, such as the renovation of Tartini Square in Piran, the DESSA gallery, the Platana bar, the Brič winery, the Faculty of Medicine in Maribor, Ljubljana’s Vila Urbana and Žitni Bridge, as well as unrealized designs such as the Southern Square and the former Šumi factory site in Ljubljana – to name just a few.
Also on display are models and functional objects, and for the first time, the public is granted insight into the architect’s most personal reflections through reproductions of his sketches, revealing Podrecca’s fascination with historical layers and contexts from which he often draws inspiration for his projects. The exhibition is further enriched by an audiovisual program, including the documentary Licht und Raum – Der Architekt Boris Podrecca, produced by the Austrian national broadcaster ORF, as well as archival footage from Television Slovenia covering the Plečnik exhibition that Podrecca curated at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1986. This exhibition was the first to generate international interest in Plečnik’s architecture and Slovenian cultural heritage, firmly placing them on the global map.
The exhibition Turning a River Delta into a Sea is a tribute to the Central European architectural scene, which has been an indispensable part of both international and Slovenian architectural trends for decades. At the same time, it provides an insight into Podrecca’s diverse and visionary opus, which unites the past, present, and future of space and society.
Timotej Jevšenak, France Stele Institute of Art History, ZRC SAZU, curator of the exhibition:
"The creative spectrum of B. Podrecca spans various scales and extends ‘from the spoon to the city’ – from grand urban and architectural designs to interior design, exhibitions, and functional objects such as chairs and glasses. This attests to Podrecca’s deep understanding of the heterogeneity of spatial creativity."
Boris Podrecca, from an interview for the exhibition catalog:
"This is what I seek in architecture: something that is not merely aesthetic but also carries emotion. That is the anthropological aspect. It is about memoriality, tied to the quality of life – something that eases life and is not just visual appeal. Tradition must therefore be reanimated, not copied. Blindly repeating styles is pointless. In architecture, I am interested in themes, in questions that go deeper than surface design, and in exploring how these narratives can shape our space and time."
The exhibition layout was designed by Katarina Čakš, Isabela Karlin Čoh, Prostorske prakse, and Timotej Jevšenak. The displayed works are embedded within a Semperian spatial grid, which, with its concept of structure, knotting, and stitching, references the core ideas of one of Boris Podrecca’s key influences – Gottfried Semper. The exhibition structure consists of galvanized reinforcement rods connected into a spatial network with 3D-printed joints. It is conceived as a display system that allows multiple ways of mounting materials, easy disassembly, and reuse in a new spatial formation. The key structural elements – 3D-printed joints and poster holders, interpreting Semper’s knots and stitches – were produced at Center Rog.
Katarina Čakš, Prostorske prakse, exhibition project lead:
"The exhibition structure was designed in response to the potential of knowledge, infrastructure, and production taking place at Center Rog. Within the laboratories, we used 3D printing technology to produce more than 1,700 modular elements that bind the structure and posters into a coherent spatial gesture. Additionally, all tools and templates for the efficient installation of the exhibition were made at Rog. The exhibition’s visual and spatial design is thus both a response to the content and needs of the exhibition material and a reflection of contemporary approaches and current maker practices that reside at Center Rog."
Renata Zamida, Director of Center Rog:
"This exhibition is an example of excellent collaboration between two municipal public institutions, Center Rog and the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, who are co-producing the event. Like all exhibitions at Center Rog, it will be freely accessible to the public and is expected to be our most visited exhibition since our opening over a year ago."
Blaž Peršin, Director of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana:
"B. Podrecca has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the promotion of Slovenian architecture both in Slovenia and abroad. His architecture within the Slovenian context is marked by a cosmopolitan approach while respecting local space and integrating into the Central European cultural tradition. Architecture is not just a materialized creation; it is also a way of thinking, a cultural orientation."
The exhibition opening will take place in the Great Hall of Center Rog on Friday, January 31, at 7 PM.
On the day of the opening, at 5 PM, architect Boris Podrecca will give a lecture in the Small Hall. [Registration]
The exhibition is free of charge and open during Center Rog’s working hours: Monday–Friday: 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM, Saturday: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
The exhibition catalog is available at the Made in Rog store (entrance from Petkovšek Embankment, opening hours: Monday–Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM).
As part of the accompanying program, public guided tours of the exhibition will take place on February 8, March 8, and March 15. [Registration]
The exhibition has been made possible by the City of Ljubljana, with the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum, Strle svetila, Kerrock, Makro 5, AlukönigStahl, Zlatarna Celje, and Zavarovalnica Sava.

-
Boris Podrecca v Atenah, 1973; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Interier Studia za raziskave barv in zdravja družbe L’Oreal, Dunaj, 1981; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Bar in bistro Platana, Ljubljana, 1989; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Ureditev Tartinijevega trga v Piranu, 1989; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Vinska klet Brič, 2002; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Cerkev in župnijski center Pentecoste, Milano, 2016; foto: arhiv Borisa Podrecce, Podrecca Ziviltechniker GmbH
-
Razstava Boris Podrecca: Delto reke spremeniti v morje (foto: Tine Lisjak)
-
Razstava Boris Podrecca: Delto reke spremeniti v morje (foto: Tine Lisjak)
-
Razstava Boris Podrecca: Delto reke spremeniti v morje (foto: Tine Lisjak)
-
Razstava Boris Podrecca: Delto reke spremeniti v morje (foto: Tine Lisjak)
-
Razstava Boris Podrecca: Delto reke spremeniti v morje (foto: Tine Lisjak)
See more
Matej Štefanac

Pendulum is a table lamp designed by Matej Štefanac, whose dual nature allows reading and work on the one hand, and ambient lighting on the other. Its special feature is the movable shade, which can be rotated by 90 degrees, and around a...