3biro Architects

3biro Architects is an architectural studio based in Ljubljana and founded in 2007 by Janez Koželj, Tina Rupar Kobe and Blaž Rupar. They were later joined as partners by architects Maruša Jamnik and Črt Jaklič.

Janez Koželj

Janez Koželj is one of Slovenia's foremost architects, town-planners and architectural theorists, with a large number of prominent projects to his name, including the Črni Kal viaduct (with Marjan Pipenbaher, 2004). In 2006 he began serving as Ljubljana's deputy mayor in charge of urban development, and much of the sustainably oriented regeneration and redesign seen in the centre of the city in the 2000s and 2010s took place at his initiative. Koželj is also professor of urban architecture at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, and was made an honorary member of the Chamber of Architecture and Spatial Planning of Slovenia (ZAPS) in 2016 in recognition of his contribution to the profession. This was followed in 2019 by a Big SEE Visionary Award for his planning work in Ljubljana.

Projects

3biro is best known for the sustainable construction, using wood wherever possible, of a number of residential houses for private clients. Most these are situated in rural, semi-rural and suburban areas, with particular praise coming from the architectural press for its Alpine-style family houses in the villages of Poljane (2016) and Stara Loka (2009), both of which are close to the town of Škofja Loka. The Poljane house and the studio's work on Medvode market were both recognised at the wood construction awards organised by SPIRIT Slovenia in November 2020.

Tower by 3biro architecture by Miran Kambic on Vimeo

Bridges are another of 3biro's main areas of interest, with the use of wood again predominant. Completed projects include three footbridges at various locations along the Path of Remembrance and Comradeship, the recreational walkway that encircles Ljubljana for almost 33 km and traces the route taken by the barbed wire fence erected by the fascist occupying forces during WW2. These are the Glinščica (2012), Pržanec (2013) and Mali Graben (2015) bridges, the latter being one of the longest footbridges in Europe to use glued laminated wood in its construction.

3biro also drew wide praise for its imaginative container-based design of the pavilion erected outside Ljubljana Town Hall to mark the city's status as European Green Capital in 2016.

External links

3biro website (in Slovenian)
3biro, Facebook
3biro page, FindGlocal website (in Slovenian)

Projects

Selected list of projects (in Slovenian)
Report on the 2020 wood construction awards, TV Ambienti, November 2020 (in Slovenian)
Bridges, Dnevnik, September 2019 (in Slovenian)
Stara Loka/Groharjevo house, de zeen, June 2014

Janez Koželj

Interview, Piranesi, December 2018 (in English, subscription required for full access)
Interview, Outsider, June 2015 (in Slovenian)
Janez Koželj profile, Mladina, June 2017 (in Slovenian)
2019 Big SEE citation

3biro Architects

Contents

Janez Koželj

Projects

See also

External links