14/04/2020 Gizela Šuklje | Architectuul

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Ljubljana, Slovenia Women In Architecture, Typography
born 1909, Jelsa
Birth date / place
March 25th 1909, Jelsa, Slovenia
Related Architects
Selected Architecture

Belvedere Pavillion
Žale Cemetery
The Bežigrad Stadium • Natalie de Blois

Practice / Active in
Ljubljana, Slovenia

1 of 5 Gizela Šuklje, 1951

Linked to
Jože Plečnik
About
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14/04/2020 Gizela Šuklje | Architectuul

Gizela Šuklje (March 25th 1909, Jelsa, October 31th 1994, Ljubljana) was a
Slovenian architect. Born to middle class family started her studies at the Faculty of
Technology Ljubljana from 1927-28 and graduated in 1932 as the first female
student of Jože Plečnik. He considered profession of architect to be similar of the
one of priest -reserved for men only. Gizela won the French national scholarship to
study at the Sorbonne, Paris (1933-34). At that time she worked with Auguste
Perret. Other Slovenians who studied in Paris were engaged in the studio of Le
Corbusier, Šuklje was the only who worked with Perret as recommended to him by
Plečnik.

• Louise Bethune
Collaboration with Plečnik

Upon her return to Ljubljana in 1934 she became a volunteer assistant at the See more
Ljubljana Department of Architecture. She passed a professional architectural exam
in Belgrade in 1938. Ever since returning from Paris until June 1946, she
collaborated with Plečnik on the projects of NUK, Ljubljana Central Market,
Archeological Site Mirje, Šentjakob Square and The Bežigrad Stadium.

Plečnik was commissioned to build the stadium by the Orel Catolic Sport
Association in 1925. Because of insufficient funding and political circumstances the
building stopped. Šuklje devised a new project for the stadium for her bachelor
thesis so Plečnik involved her to be part of the project which he enrolled for the
venue of the Eucharist Congress in 1935.

She also drafted first plans for Žale Cemetery, Belvedere Pavillion, The Church of
Holy Mother Of Lourdes in Zagreb, The Jesuit Monastery and Church in Osijek
(demolished in 1948), and The Church of Saint Antony of Padua in Belgrade, for
which she develop plans for the entire interior including the Holy Tomb and the
altair. Her drawings done for Plečnik were published in his two books Architectura
Perennis (1941) and Napori (1955).

Typography, Construction Drawing

In 1946, she became a professor of typography, decorative drawing and history of

furniture at the School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana, where she worked
as a pedagogue and director for 25 years (1946 - 1972). She transferred all the
knowledge and experience she gained to Plečnik in more than twenty years to her
students. She was an excellent graphic designer and did several books. Interested
in vernacular architecture she elaborated an article on the impact of the weather
conditions on the design of houses and villages in Slovenian Istria (1952). Her first
urban design was created for the town Metlika (1945). Her work include
architecture, interior design, urban planning, book design, landscaping, writing and
teaching places her among the foremost female pioneers in Slovenian architecture.

Sources

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