Although the open space behind the church of sv. Jurij seems to be self-evident these days, it was never intended to be a city square. The space used to home military barracks, which with its brick roof contributed to the recognisable image of Ptuj as a city of red roofs.
The market place is paved with reddish terrazzo in the form of the former barracks, returning Ptuj what the destruction of the barracks took away.
Two local materials were used to pave the square, the Drava river gravel paving and the Pohorje Tonalite. The market place structure is made of red concrete and features distinctly horizontal geometry. The horizontal roof underscores the vertical of the church bell tower and so gives even more prominence to this city dominant.
A specific element of the market place are bespoke chairs, which are positioned in a way that creates various ambient compositions. Some groups of chairs are linear, others are round, they are placed under trees and some singular chairs are found throughout the market place.
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PTUJ MARKET PLACE
Location: Ptuj, Slovenia
Client: City Municipality of Ptuj
Architecture firm: ARK Arhitektura Krušec d.o.o.
Authors: izr. prof. mag. Tomaž Krušec, u.d.i.a., Lena Krušec, u.d.i.a., Vid Kurinčič, u.d.i.a., Zala Likavec, u.d.i.a.
Collaborators: Jurij Nemec, u.d.i.a.. Neža Novak, m.i.a., Ajda Merslavič, m.i.a., Rok Primažič abs.arh.
Landscape architecture: Studio AKKA
Project: 2017-2018
Construction: 2018-2020
Photography: Miran Kambič, Tomaž Krušec
