The group of ceramic piles, an artistic interpretation of the foundation stones, (pre) chairs, was created at the invitation of the Kranj ceramics festival ΠrKVADRAT 2020. The projects comes from the memory of the black clay from which the piles are made. With their playful placement opposite each other, the urban chairs join the integrated floor architecture in front of the glass pavilion above the entrance to the ossuary, the space of the spirit. The floor is enriched by glazed window openings in the shape of an octagonal baptistery with an apse, which reminds passers-by of the importance and connection of the settlement from the early Christian period with the present time. In the heart of the Principality of Carniola, it “survived” the migration of peoples and has retained its central role to this day.
Reflections on the glass reminded an interdisciplinary group (Marija Jenko and Janko Rožič, both architects, PhD Darja Rant, textile designer and PhD Mateja Golež, a geologist) of the glaze, a thin and delicate epidermis with which people have always protected and beautified fired ceramics. Glazing was carried out at the Civil Engineering Institute of Slovenia in cooperation with experts from the company Emo Frite d.o.o., which donated frit for glazing. The installation of the piles at the selected location along the Main Square in Kranj was performed by the company Siips AD d.o.o.
Urban furniture made of clay bricks adapts in color and design to its surroundings. Not far from the entrance to the ossuary, it becomes an active part of the architectural plan of the collective memory of Kranj. The shape of ceramic bricks, which can be folded into various spatial forms, is modular, based on the details of industrial architecture, which represents an important part of Kranj’s urban identity. The bricks, which are an industrial product in themselves, are systematically processed according to technological procedures that enable the use of natural ocher pigment from the former Sitarjevec mine near Litija, which Mateja Golež has been researching for several years. In connection with various materials and techniques, Darjo Rant has already collected quite a nice set of ornate shades, and now they have tried them in recipes for glaze, with which the bricks have gained noble protection, water repellency and picturesqueness. When placed in the space of memory in the center of Kranj, the group of pilots has a different, painting purpose: as bearers of a fragile crust that glows in a multitude of overflowing grays, which are now reddish, now purple.
Thanks to: Siips AD d.o.o., Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije, Naravoslovnotehniška fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani, Oddelek za tekstilstvo, grafiko in oblikovanje, Emo Frite d.o.o.
Research was made within the Project nr. C3330-19-952043 "Raziskovalci-2.1-ZAG-952043" and is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Slovenia, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.
Πr KVADRAT 2020 is a initiative of Layer House / Carnica Institute and curated by Nina Koželj.
