SADAR+VUGA: 6 Construction Sites

17. September - 17. October 2010
Mala galerija, Slovenska cesta 35

The Slovenian architectural practice SADAR + VUGA, founded in 1996 by Jurij Sadar and Boštjan Vuga, has focused on open, innovative and integral architectural design and urban planning. From the outset the architects have been driven by a quest for quality, with a strong belief that forward-leaping architectural production contributes to well-being, and generates a sensitive and responsive development of the physical context we live in, broadening our imagination and stimulating our senses. With "Formula New Ljubljana" - a collection of their own realisations and urban planning studies - the architects at SADAR + VUGA are now also intervening in the political process. They are of the opinion that architecture should not function as a mere piece of design, but rather as a way to shape and change social space. In their view, in the age of the experience economy, architecture thus plays an interactive social role.
The exhibition at Mala galerija features six of their key projects: CCIS - Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ljubljana, 1999; Panoramic Gardens at the CCIS, Ljubljana, 2004; Futura Advertising Agency, Ljubljana, 2000; Solkan Fountain, Solkan, 2001; Central Extension of the National Gallery, Ljubljana, 2001, 2008; and Sports Park Stožice, Ljubljana, 2010.
The exhibition focuses precisely on the production and construction of the projects from the very initial design scheme to the fully realised project, unveiling the different anticipated and unforeseen transformations of the various projects. In doing so the driving design concepts - "formulas" in the words of the architects - of these different projects are revealed and lend themselves to reflection and instrumentalisation for future projects. Enabling the visitor to engage with the work in this way, it transcends typical architectural exhibitions and enables a richer platform for discourse, highlighting yet again SADAR + VUGA's intent to operate on architecture's social and political roles and the responsibility these architects so clearly perceive.