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MAO Museum of Architecture and Design

MAO is the caretaker and promotor of the world’s most comprehensive collection of Slovenian architectural and design heritage. It is a national and international centre and hub for the transfer of knowledge in the fields of heritage and creativity.

Fužine castle, Ljubljana. ©MAO


Collection
Focus: national and international architecture, design. MAO houses nearly 80.000 different objects, from plans, sketches, and models for buildings to various kinds of furniture, small objects, instruments and appliances, posters, various kinds of printed materials, and photographs. Almost all the prominent Slovene architects and designers from the 20th and 21st century, as well as many photographers, are represented in the museum’s holdings, totalling more 1,000 authors altogether. MAO’s architectural depots hold a variety of documents about more than seventy Slovene architects, from Joze Plecnik, Ivan Vurnik, Edvard Ravnikar, and Edo Mihevc to Danilo Fürst, Vinko Glanz, Ivo Spincic, Vladimir Subic, and others. MAO preserves the plans of many of Slovenia’s important and fascinating buildings, from the Slovene Parliament, the National and University Library, and the Museum of Modern Art to various residential buildings, schools, tourist sites, and infrastructural buildings. The Industrial Design Collection includes works by such international authors as Alvar Aalto, Ron Arad, Konstantin Grcic, Richard Sapper, and Judith Rataitz. The great figures of Slovene design, too, are represented in MAO’s holdings, from Niko Kralj, Albert Kastelec, Oskar Kogoj, and Sasa Mächtig to Davorin Savnik and others, as well as their successors Vladimir Pezdirc, Janez Smerdelj, Igor Rosa, Gigodesign, Jure Miklavc, Bojan Klancar, and Rok Oblak. MAO is the only institution in Slovenia that preserves and catalogues visual communications, from posters, graphic identities, books, catalogues, and calendars to stamps and other printed matter. Amongst the 340 designers here one finds Ivan Vavpotic, Janez Trpin, Domicijan Serajnik, Grega Kosak, Joze Brumen, Uros Vagaja, Matjaz Vipotnik, Janez Suhadolc, Jani Bavcer, Kostja Gatnik, Miljenko Licul, Ranko Novak, New Collectivism, and numerous younger designers. International authors are also represented in the collection, including Ivan Picelj, Dalibor Martinis, Boris Bucan, Shin Matsunaga, Per Arnoldi, Giovanni Pintori, and others. The Photography Department maintains a rich collection on the history Slovene photography, with more than 400 photographers represented; for the most part, their works cover the period from 1930 to 1980. Amongst the complete oeuvres within the collection one finds large individual estates, such as the works of Milenko Pegan and Marjan Pfeifer Sr., as well as large donations by artists themselves, such as works by Bogo Cerin, Oskar Karel Dolenc, Janko Andrej Jelnikar, Stojan Kerbler, and Mitja Vidmar. MAO also holds some of the oldest photographic works in Slovenia, reaching back to 1850, as well as a collection of more than seventy old cameras, donated by Oskar Karel Dolenc.

Library Holdings
MAO is the main Slovene museum of architecture and design and therefore its library consists mostly of books on these two areas of human creativity. It features some 10,000 monograph titles and 4,500 serial publications. It also encompasses a large archive of Slovene and international journals. Since 1972 the library staff has also collected articles on the museum’s areas of interest from the main Slovene newspapers and magazines. Holdings: Joze Plecnik’s original library, including rare books, catalogues, portfolios, etc. Also includes collection of volumes on architecture, town planning, ind

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