Towards a Generation without Masters

The publication, as well as exhibition held at the Architektur am Ringturm Gallery in Vienna, are map the development and offer a “taste” of the extraordinarily rich architectural heritage of a small country like Slovenia. The book is divided into three sections which reflect the different historical and political conditions of the country in the 20th century: the first part is devoted to the period between the two world wars and corresponds to Slovenia as part of the Yugoslav Kingdom, the second deals with the years of Socialist Yugoslavia (1945-1991), and the third shows the latest developments following independence (1991). Each section is introduced with a text summarizing certain important aspects of the architectural debate, main cultural events, works as well as problems. My text Towards a Generation without Masters, deals with the production of Slovenian architectural culture during the last 20 years, in the transitional and post-transitional phases from socialism. It tries to demonstrate the potentially valuable contribution of Slovenian recent production to the international scene, while also focusing on new peripheral cultures in general, ones finally beginning to break out of the eternally “critical” cage of localism which has been attributed to them in the past.