Interview: slovenian pavilion reimagines ecology in architecture at the venice biennale 2023

INTERVIEW WITH MERTELJ VRABIČ AND VIDIC GROHAR ARCHITECTS VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2023: The Slovenian Pavilion returns this year with a bold quest — to unpack the issue of ecology and

its defining role in shaping the development of architecture over the past decade. Curated by studios Mertelj Vrabič Arhitekti and Vidic Grohar Arhitekti, the pavilion particularly explores

how ecology is most often understood as ‘energy efficiency’ or, better yet, as the technology hidden between the walls. In search of a new vocabulary and an alternative to existing building

systems, the curators, together with fifty European architects and creatives, researched and analyzed examples of vernacular buildings from Europe that – unlike current contemporary practice

– address ecology holistically, as an integral part of the architectural design and a living example of energy principles that are relevant to the present time. ON THIS OCCASION, DESIGNBOOM

SPEAKS WITH THE CURATORS TO FURTHER UNCOVER THE SLOVENIAN PAVILION’S SPATIAL EXPERIENCE AND SHARE SOME SURPRISING FINDINGS THAT HAVE EMERGED FROM THEIR QUEST FOR A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF

ECOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW.  +/- 1°C | In Search of Well-Tempered Architecture: Slovenian Pavilion, installation view image © Klemen Ilovar | @klemen_llovar

UNPACKING THE SLOVENIAN PAVILION DESIGN AND THEME DESIGNBOOM (DB): WALK US THROUGH THE SPATIAL EXPERIENCE AND DESIGN OF THE SLOVENIAN PAVILION. MERTELJ VRABIČ ARHITEKTI  & VIDIC GROHAR

ARHITEKTI (MVA & VGA): The Slovenian Pavilion project, curated and designed by architects Jure Grohar, Eva Gusel, Maša Mertelj, Anja Vidic, and Matic Vrabič from the MERTELJ VRABIČ

ARCHITECTS and VIDIC GROHAR ARCHITECTS studios, deals with ecology in architecture. It is a 1:1 scale spatial installation in the Arsenal in Venice. The pavilion is an expression of the five

energy principles developed herein: Room Within a Room, Hotspot, Intermediate Zone, Cocoon, and Spatial Compression. The pavilion also showcases more than 50 vernacular case studies

contributed by various invited European architects and other creatives. The intervention consists of two primary elements constructed from natural materials: the walls and ceiling assembled

from wooden frames with a swath of wool felt stretched between them, and the brick floor. Designed with the pavilion’s post-exhibition ‘second life’ in mind, the structure allows for simple

disassembly and reuse at another location. The specific materialization of the principles developed here results from the pavilion’s constructional logic – what grows up from the ground is

built in brick, and what is suspended from the ceiling or continues as a wall is made of wooden frames covered with felt. The resulting space is a series of energy principles materialized in

diverse environments with a strong material identity and takes on the appearance of an unconventional, abstract dwelling space. By translating those principles that are otherwise

characteristic of vernacular architecture into a concrete space, the pavilion reflects on how they might be applied in contemporary living environments or the design of contemporary

architecture. The pavilion, with its material presence and atmosphere, functions as an immersive space that initially communicates with the visitor on an experiential level. Spatial

Compression | image © Klemen Ilovar DB: IN WHAT WAYS DOES IT RESPOND TO THIS YEAR’S BIENNALE THEME, THE LABORATORY OF THE FUTURE?  VGA & MVA: The curator of this year’s Architecture

Biennale, Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko, titled the biennale with a speculative title, ‘Laboratory of the Future.’ However, many national pavilions added a third component to the

equation of present-future: the past. Thus, despite the distinctly futuristic title, the importance of heritage, knowledge, skills, and practices from the past for the present and future is

highlighted. This year’s Slovenian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale also explores the relationship between the past, present, and future. More precisely, the pavilion looks to the past to

shed light on the connection between contemporary architecture and ecology. In doing so, it raises the question of what we understand today by the often overlooked and overused term

‘ecological’ in architecture. We highlight the question: how can architecture create its own ecology and establish a positive relationship with its environment, to which it is inherently

connected? Room within a Room | image © Klemen Ilovar A LONG-AWAITED COLLABORATION FOR THE VENICE BIENNALE 2023 DB: AS CURATORS OF THE PAVILION, TALK TO US ABOUT THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN

BOTH YOUR STUDIOS. WHAT WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS AND/OR CHALLENGES? HOW DID YOUR INDIVIDUAL APPROACHES AND EXPERTISE COMPLEMENT ONE ANOTHER?  VGA & MVA: We had considered working together

several times in the past. As friends, we discuss architecture in our private gatherings regularly. We have often wondered how, as architects, we could distance ourselves critically from

architectural practice—both our own and in general—not only through conversation but also through a concrete, built architectural object that reflects the initial thesis. When the open call

for the Slovenian pavilion was announced, we decided it was a great opportunity to use architecture to communicate our potential thesis to the wider public. That’s why, from the very

beginning, when we had just entered the open call, it seemed important to us that our intervention should be small architecture, i.e., a spatial intervention. In this project, unlike the

‘usual’ office practice, we discussed and worked at a horizontal level. Thus, a way of discussing and organizing had to be developed, which, in a few months, resulted in a clear and coherent

concept and the resulting project. Five people with different (and partly also similar) interests and perspectives have put together a multifaceted project that we believe reflects a

potentially productive critique of the relationship between contemporary architecture and ecological problems: a wide network of different participants, the pavilion as an architectural

project, a publication that will be published soon, and even some pieces of furniture that round off the presentation that is the Slovenian pavilion. Cocoon | image © Klemen Ilovar EXPLORING

ECOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURE USING FIVE ENERGY PRINCIPLES DB: WE WERE PARTICULARLY INTRIGUED BY THE QUESTIONS DISPLAYED ACROSS THE SLOVENIAN PAVILION, ONE OF WHICH EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN HUMAN BODY WARMTH AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS. HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT OUTLINING THESE INTERROGRATIONS AND WHAT SURPRISING ANSWERS AND FINDINGS CAN YOU SHARE WITH US?  VGA & MVA: In

the pavilion, we presented five out of thirteen energy principles: Room within a Room, Cocoon, Intermediate Zone, Hot Spot, and Spatial Compression. Each principle was illustrated in two

ways: through a historical example of vernacular architecture and a thought-provoking question that brought the energy principle into the context of the present day. Our intention with these

questions was to initiate discussions about the contemporary significance of these energy principles and their potential roles in modern architecture.
 One of the principles, the Cocoon

principle, raised the poignant question: Can the warmth of the human body shape construction standards? This concept stems from the historical use of heat sources, which were scarce and

precious commodities in the past. People ingeniously used various heat sources, even unconventional ones, to create warmth. For instance, body heat was harnessed to warm small sleeping

chambers, often enclosed with wooden or fabric screens and situated as alcoves in the surrounding walls or as separate units within a room. These small chambers could be heated using one’s

own body heat.
However, in contemporary living environments, architectural norms and standards typically dictate room sizes, resulting in more generic spaces. Room within a Room, visual

essay with thermal camera | image © Klemen Ilovar While the human body is an efficient source of heat and could effectively warm small sleeping chambers, these simple solutions are often

incompatible with modern standards and are rarely applied in the design of public housing. Architecture that fully utilizes this potential would create radically different, non-standard

spaces with a hybrid heating system. Such an approach would require a reevaluation and rethinking of rigid construction standards. It may even be more ecological to construct smaller spaces

within larger ones, even if these smaller spaces only accommodate a single bed. This diversity in dimensions and solutions could offer advantages that current building codes and construction

standards do not permit.
Additionally, our exploration extended beyond the relationship between human body warmth and architecture; we also considered the connection between animal body

heat and architecture. A fascinating vernacular example illustrating the energy principle of Room within a Room is the herdsman hut on the mountain pasture of Velika Planina. In this

concept, a small room within a larger space significantly improved heating efficiency. The herdsman hut features a minimal living space with a fireplace situated in the middle of a barn for

livestock. The animals thus served to heat the central living space and also acted as living insulation.