Beyond the Looking-glass

architect Aleš Vodopivec
project Family House, Ljubljana, Slovenia
written by Vera Grimmer

 

‘But oh!’ thought Alice, suddenly jumping up, ‘if I don’t make haste I shall have to go back through the Looking-glass, before I’ve seen what the rest of the house is like! Let’s have a look at the garden first!’
Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass (Chapter One)

 

When you find yourself in front or perhaps already beyond the mirror in the architect’s house in the cottage district of Krakovo in Ljubljana, for a second you might wonder whether you are still in the house or already in the garden. This moment of uncertainty is also a moment of delight that leads you to recognize the existential character of this smallscale, almost humble building (modest could be too strong a word).