School Centipede

architect Edo Mihevc
project Primary School, Koper, Slovenia
written by Nataša Koselj

 

The Pinko Tomažič primary school built in Koper’s Bonifika neighbourhood in the 1960s represents a conceptual exception both inside the body of works by architect Edo Mihevc and in the history of the erection of school buildings in Slovenia. The school is currently in very bad condition and it needs a thorough reconstruction. Its market-wise extremely attractive location, in the vicinity of the old core of the city of Koper, and its current offer for sale pose the threat of its destruction once its owner and the programme change, despite the fact that architects consider it as one of the better examples of post-war Slovenian Modernism and also catalogue it in the evidence and evaluation of Slovenian modern architecture 1945-1970. Now, thirty or more years since Slovenian post-war Modernism was established, the movement is regaining currency because it largely stands for the currently threatened Slovenian national identity.