The master thesis deals with the problems of Ljubljana’s Old Town, which today is just a façade. The inner part, with its courtyards and gardens in the hinterland of Castle Hill, is inaccessible, degraded, obscure, and overbuilt. The Ljubljana Old Town has fewer and fewer permanent inhabitants, and its facilities are marginal, aimed at tourists and commercial activities.
Using the example of three houses in the Stari trg square, I show possible approaches to the renewal of Ljubljana’s Old Town. The example of the Schweiger House, a monument of local importance (EŠD 358), shows a more conservative approach, where a highly valued architectural heritage is almost entirely preserved, and after renovation it is universally accessible, with meaningful program and open to the public. The two neighbouring houses are protected as built heritage. I renovate the two street tracts with the façade, and on the back side, with the new construction of residential volumes, I complete the building series along the Castle Hill and define the inner courtyards. Through the renovation of the program, I give meaning to the content of the houses, which, with communications, structural rehabilitation, and fire protection, can come alive in the present day. On certain days of the year, the renovated Schweiger House opens its doors to visitors and becomes a house-museum. On the upper floors of the other houses are apartments for all generations, linked together in a residential community that offers a new way of living in a strict center. The inner courtyards of the houses become a new urban living room, a space for residents, city dwellers, and passers-by to come together and connect.
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