The city's uniqueness is in the humanistic approach to its design:
open spaces, streets, parks,
and arrangements created for all people,
and of course [Jože] Plečnik's timeless architecture,
which can't be found anywhere else.
Plečnik named his project The Slovenian Acropolis.
If the Ljubljana Castle is an acropolis, where is the necropolis?
If we look for an agora, we discover it in Congress Square.
And if we look for a stoa [a covered portico],
we find it in Ljubljana's market.
Plečnik came to Ljubljana with the great idea
of transforming Ljubljana into the new Athens.
Plečnik envisioned Ljubljana as a network of intertwined axes and systems.
The main axis, which symbolically starts from Plečnik's house
[and goes] from south to north, passes Trnovo Bridge and Zoisova Street,
continues past Križanke Summer Theatre
to Vegova Street next to the National and University Library,
and ends at Congress Square and Zvezda Park.
Another great accomplishment is the water axis that takes us
along the Ljubljanica River embankment from Špica Park
past Cobblers' Bridge, Triple Bridge, and from the Central Market
to the Sluice Gate outside the centre of Ljubljana.
Along these two main axes, he placed various rectangles.
At the time, modernism and functionalism were on the march,
but Plečnik rejected them.
Both styles satisfied basic functions or needs
but did not have the spiritual component Plečnik was looking for.
Plečnik rearranged classical elements, such as columns, arches and wreaths.
These were practically banned under modernist orthodoxy;
nevertheless, Plečnik uses them as the basis of his modern visual language.
Plečnik banned cars from the centre, as he thought
that building cities around traffic was the main problem in modernism.
Instead, he designed the axes [of the city]
primarily for pedestrians.
The city is truly designed for walking,
which gives us time to be aware of our surroundings,
to appreciate the architecture, and finally, yet importantly,
the plants and trees that surround us.
[Unesco is not celebrating] a list of architectural elements
as in the case of Frank Lloyd Wright or Le Corbusier.
It's Plečnik's architecture as a whole [that is awarded],
it's Plečnik's Ljubljana.
Namely, what stands out isn't a singular building,
but rather the connection of his architecture with the city's life.
What we see in modernism as lacerations,
Plečnik tries to bridge as connected links: the architecture,
the roads, the greenery, the tree-lined avenues and so on.
In short, it's as architectural whole, an urban whole.
This concept should inspire us when designing [cities] today.