Fifteen Actions for an Alternative : Retrofitting Study of a Steel Plant in Javornik, Jesenice

Grasselli, Ela (author), Zorec, Maruša (mentor), Janke, Jonas (comentor)

In Javornik, a settlement in the municipality of Jesenice, two centres once formed – one rural and the other a manor belonging to the Zois family. They emerged as a result of the relocation of blast furnaces from the Karavanke mountains, where iron ore deposits were located, to the Sava River valley due to the necessity for water. Industrial ambitions led to the demolition of both. In the twentieth century, large production halls erased the traces of the past and announced a new ideal. Through culture and sport, the ironworks gave back to the town and contributed to public life; however, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, it fragmented into thirteen smaller companies, which have not recovered to this day. And so, the identity was twice abruptly destroyed. Steelmaking remains a key activity in the area – and it is sensible to preserve it, considering the people dependent on these jobs and the trend toward self-sufficiency in the EU. A reflection on the obsolescence of the current operating mode opens questions on how to consider various entities, utilise accessible resources, and inhabit the existing architecture in a different way – through the reuse of space and material already present. The gradual transformation of the existing industrial area is based on the cooperation of various stakeholders. Through the domains of maintenance, repair, and facilitators of new collectiveness, each operating across a different temporality, it introduces actions of care that operate primarily through organisational mechanisms rather than construction. Establishing the site’s material flows and recycling byproducts of the steel industry offers new ways of tending. Strategic rerouting of circulation paths allows for shared space of public and productive programmes. Temporary structures enable occupation, getting ahead of any necessary permanent transformation. Across these actions, the proposal demonstrates feasibility and offers the steel company tangible incentives to participate – returning the area, step by step, to collective memory and identity. The clue is in the immaterial gesture.

• Language: English
• Keywords: retrofitting, industrijska dediščina, jeklarstvo, dejanja skrbi, vzdrževanje, popravila
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FA - Faculty of Architecture
• Publication status: Published
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 119 str.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184773
• COBISS.SI-ID: 286595843
• Publication date in RUL: 15.07.2026

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Petnajst dejanj : idejna študija prenove jeklarskega obrata na Javorniku, Jesenice

Abstract

Na Javorniku, naselju v občini Jesenice, sta se nekdaj oblikovali dve jedri – eno vaško, drugo grajsko družine Zois. Nastali sta kot posledica premika plavžev s karavanških planin, kjer so bila rudišča železa, v dolino reke Save zaradi potrebe po vodi. Industrijske ambicije so privedle do rušenja obeh. Velike proizvodne hale so v 20. stoletju izbrisale sledi preteklosti in napovedale nov ideal. Železarna je skozi kulturo in šport vračala mestu in prispevala k javnemu življenju, po razpadu Jugoslavije pa se je razdrobila na trinajst manjših podjetij, ki si do danes niso opomogla. Tako je bila identiteta dvakrat nenadno uničena. Jeklarstvo je še vedno ključna dejavnost območja – in smiselno ga je ohranjati z ozirom na ljudi, odvisne od teh služb, ter trendom samozadostnosti Evrope. Premislek o obsoletnosti trenutnega načina delovanja industrije odpira vprašanja, kako upoštevati različne entitete, uporabiti dostopne surovine in sploh drugače naseliti arhitekturo – skozi ponovno rabo prostora in materiala, ki je že tu. Postopna transformacija obstoječega industrijskega območja temelji na sodelovanju različnih deležnikov. Skozi domene vzdrževanja (maintenance), popravil (repair) in začasnih struktur (facilitators), od katerih ima vsaka drugačno časovnost, uvaja dejanja (actions of care), ki delujejo predvsem prek raziskave mehanizmov organizacije in ne gradnje same. Vzpostavljanje materialnih tokov in recikliranje stranskih produktov jeklarstva pokažeta nove način skrbi za območje. Strateška preusmeritev tovornih in javnih poti omogoča sobivanje javnih programov in proizvodnje. Začasne strukture poskrbijo za varno uporabo objektov, in s tem prehitijo vsakršno potrebo po trajnih spremembah. Zasnova je v resnici poročilo o izvedljivosti, ki železarni ponuja spodbude za sodelovanje. Tako območje vrača v kolektivni spomin, korak za korakom – v izogib ponovnemu nenadnemu uničenju. Bistvo je v nematerialnem.

• Keywords: retrofitting, industrial heritage, steel, actions of care, maintenance, repair