Jože Plečnik

The Slovenian architect, urban planner, and teacher Jože Plečnik (23.1.1872 Ljubljana - 7.1.1957 Ljubljana) was originally apprenticed to a carpenter, but later completed his studies in architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Otto Wagner. At the recommendation of Jan Kotěra, he was granted a professorship at Prague's Academy of Applied Arts in 1911. In 1921, Plečnik took up the project of the thorough renovation of Prague Castle and the Lány Chateau at the personal request of Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. However, since he also had extensive commitments for urban, architectural, and pedagogical activity in Ljubljana, he needed a representative in Prague who could faithfully transmit his plans into reality. He selected his Prague pupil Otto Rothmayer, who had also worked with him in 1929-1932 during the construction of his Church of the Sacred Heart in Prague-Vinohrady. Their direct collaboration ended in 1934 with Masaryk's resignation as president and Plečnik's permanent relocation to Ljubljana, but they remained friends.