TIVOLI CASTLE RENOVATION
Tivoli Castle was first mentioned in the 15th century. After many centuries of renovations and alterations, it was given its present appearance in the 19th century.
Since 1986, the castle has been home to the International Centre of Graphic Arts. The castle has adapted to its new content through gallery activities, but has never been completely renovated. With partial interventions the clarity of the basic spatial design has been lost, and many layers of whitewash still cover the historical paintings.
The Municipality of Ljubljana has started the gradual renovation of the castle by improving the reception areas for visitors. The project consists of three interventions: an information centre with a shop on the ground floor, lockers and toilets in the basement, and an elevator.
The interventions are small, but they touch the whole spatial story of the castle. The project began with the removal of redundant elements, the reopening of passages between spaces and the discovery of old paintings under layers of plaster. When light from the park enters the renovated rooms and illuminates the paintings, the old spaces become even more evocative. Any contemporary intervention in them is subject to this impression.
On the ground floor, the two entrance lobbies are used to receive visitors. The slightly vaulted ceilings have been restored to their historic paintings after many decades. The reception desk with a small shop has been moved out of the lobby into a side room. A new window connects the reception with the lobby. The visitor centre equipment is hidden behind a refurbished wooden wall that once divided the kitchen from the rest of the room. An arcaded corridor connects the reception centre to the new lift, and large windows give visitors a view of the park.
In the basement there are new service areas, with wardrobe lockers and toilets for visitors. The basement was closed, but the intervention has opened up the space. The arches from different periods have been materially unified with the walls to form a single internal volume. A completely independent element with new programmes has been inserted into it. The façade of the inserted volume is made of brushed metal, which unexpectedly reflects the historical structures.
All new interventions follow the logic of contemporary elements, which are spatially and materially independent and are placed in a unified primary volume of the building. A similar logic is applied to the elevator, which is hidden in one of the extensions on the west façade of the building. This highly technical element occupies the entire volume of the southern extension, but does not alter the spatial logic of the building or its façade. The paintings removed during construction are now on display in the arcade corridor on the ground floor, in the immediate vicinity of the room where they were discovered. The lift finally allows all the rooms to be accessible to people with reduced mobility.
The renovated spaces are already welcoming visitors.
