Designers & Creators Directory
Marko Mušič
(MAR-koh MYOO-sheech)
Birthplace: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Heritage: Slovene
Date born: January, 30th, 1941
Current residence: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Education: Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Ljubljana (graduated 1966)
Biography
Marko Mušič was born right at the beginning of WWII in the Slovenian town of Ljubljana. His father was the distinguished Slovene architect Marjan Mušič. After graduating from his early schooling, potentially wanting to follow in the footsteps of his father, Mušič went on to study architecture at the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Ljubljana. While there he studied under the famous architect Edvard Ravnikar. He went on to do further post-graduate studies with Ejnar Dyggve in Denmark, while also traveling to the US to study with famous Philidelphia based architect Louis Kahn (who was described at the time of his death as being "America's foremost living architect").
Through his career, Mušič worked on a huge amount of architectural projects of a wide variety, from churches, to schools, to private villas, to civic buildings and even monuments. His style of modernism was characterized by the use of simple unadorned bare concrete facades, as well as creatively using glass walls and ceilings in innovative applications... both of which approaches can be seen employed boldly in many of his most significant works, especially in his design for the new University of Cryil & Methodius (UKIM) in Skopje, as well as at the Spomen-Dom complex in Kolašin, Montenegro. Interestingly, Mušič was awarded the commission to be the lead architect on the UKIM project at the young age of just 26 years old and when it was finished, it was largely recognized as the largest project ever created by a Slovene architect outside Slovenia. In fact, his UKIM project was of such a great success and symbol in Skopje, the Yugoslav government immortalized it by depicting the complex on an official Yugoslav stamp (Photo 1).
Photo 1: A photo of the UKIM Yugoslav stamp
Photo 2: A architectual study by Mušič for the Spomen Dom at Kolašin. Credit: Mušič Archive
Mušič was an architect who was not only exploring the new heights of modernism that were being allowed in the mid-20th century with the advent of new materials, but he was also doing so in a manner that communed with the historical and vernacular architecture of a region. In many of his project, great dedication can be see towards putting effort into understanding and employing traditional building styles and symbolic elements (Photo 2). Meanwhile, the stylistic and bold approach that Mušič took towards design his building's roofs is also a characteristic trait of his. For instance, when designing the central bus station for Novo Mesto, Slovenia, he designed the roofline to spell out the letters "N" and "M", signifying the name of the town "Novo Mesto". But one of his most daring and ambitious projects during the Yugoslav era integrating his creativity of concrete, glass and roof construction was the House of the Revolution, which was built in Nikšić, Montenegro. This massive futuristic structure was to be composed of bare flat concrete paired with bright blue glass panels. However, because of the fall of Yugoslavia, this project was never fully realized. Even after the Yugoslav-era, Mušič continued to take on ambitious projects and push the envelope of modernist architecture. One of his most ambitious recent works was the New Church of St. John in Podmilačje, BiH, which was started in 2005 and is still under construction as of 2023.
Throughout his career, Mušič not only created numerous architectural works, but also engaged in a great deal of teaching as well, in addition to taking part in a number of professional organizations. For instance, from 2008 to 2013, Mušič was the vice-president of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences, while from 2013-2014 he served as its president. He has written 12 books about his architectural work and has received numerous awards, including the Prešeren Award, the Plečnik Award, the Borba Architecture Award, the Federal Award on July 4, among many others. In 2021, Mušič was awarded the Prešeren Prize for lifetime achievement in the field of architecture. Mušič continues to live and work in Ljubljana.
Works by this Designer:
This is a listing of a number of memorials, monuments, cultural centers and other notable Yugoslav-era civic works by Marko Mušič. Those sites listed in the upper part of this section have profile pages, while those listed in the lower part do not yet have completed profile pages. Also included on this list are proposed but unrealized memorial projects by Mušič. This list is not exhaustive and will be added to over time.
Works with profile pages:
Click photos to go to page
Nikšić, ME
Name: House of the Revolution
Year: started 1976, never completed
Kolašin, ME
Name: Kolašin Memorial House
Year: completed 1975
Name: University Center
Year: completed 1975-1978
Ljubljana, SLO
Name: Parish Church of Christ's Incarnation
Year: completed 1980-1985
Works without profile pages:
Bitola, MK
Name: House of Culture
Year: completed 1971-1982, w/ Aleks. Smilevski
Location: N41°01'40.8", E21°20'06.5"
Ljubljana, SLO
Lake Bled, SLO
Name: "Mitar Trifunović Učo" Memorial House
Year: completed 1975-1978
Location: N45°03'28.6", E18°28'26.8"
Name: Business Trade Center
Year: completed 1966, w/ Jernej Kraiger
Location: N43°09'28.5", E22°35'13.4"
Name: New Church of the Blessed Mary's Birth
Year: comp. 1986-1991, dest. 1995, fixed 1999
Location: N44°37'16.9", E17°22'14.5"
Unrealized Memorial Projects:
This section contains a listing of design proposals for various memorial projects that were submitted to competitions for consideration, but were ultimately NOT the final proposals chosen by the selection juries for the memorial projects they were submitted for. Below each photo is detailed the monument project it was submitted for, as well as the year it was submitted in. Keep in mind that this is not a complete listing.
Priština, RKS
Name: Memorial Center 'Boro & Ramiz'
Year: proposed 1970, with Tomaš Jeglič
Selected Sources and More Information:
-Marko Mušič official website: "Biography"
-Serbian Wiki page: "Марко Мушич"
-Architectuul article: "Marko Mušič"
-Slovene Academy of Science & Art article: "Marko Marijan Mušič"
-Vijesti article: "INTERVJU: MARKO MUŠIČ - Čovjek se rodi, živi i umire u svijetu arhitekture"