Nominator: Tadej Glažar

Nominator's statement

Ana Jerman is a highly successful, independent architect actively engaged in the community. Just before finishing her studies, she led a young team that won the competition for a kindergarten in Bohinjska Bistrica. After graduation, they brought the project to life and were awarded the prestigious Plečnik Medal. Following this, she won a competition for residential housing in Maribor, which is now in the design phase.

She has also received recognition for her thesis work. Two years ago, she organized a series of engaging lectures, workshops, and discussions highlighting the emerging architectural scene in the United States. In short, Ana is a versatile, promising young architect whose work is deeply connected to community and public engagement.

BOHINJ KINDERGARTEN
The new kindergarten in Bohinjska Bistrica is located on the outskirts of the largest settlement in the Bohinj Valley. Its horizontal composition is defined by three large gabled roofs, resulting from the fragmentation of the programme into three distinct volumes that gradually decrease in scale and, together with the adjacent primary school, form an entrance square. A dialogue between the two educational institutions is thus established both functionally and formally.

The kindergarten was designed in response to the programmatic and spatial challenge of providing children with spaces for social interaction and free choice, while also enabling them to observe, explore, and experience their local environment. The building draws on local architectural typologies and is conceived as a continuous playground, seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces, and organised around a series of interconnected service cores. The project aims to create a nurturing environment for children while fostering a strong connection with the surrounding landscape and local community.

SPACE FOR ALL: CASE STUDY OF NEW RESIDENTIAL TYPOLOGIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND A PROPOSAL FOR A NEW COMMUNITY CENTER IN THE AREA OF HROVATIN GARDEN IN LJUBLJANA

Caring for vulnerable people is becoming an urgent priority in our society. While the number of the elderly population and people with disabilities in Slovenia is constantly growing, the diversity of typologies available for people with disabilities remains insufficient. Due to their specific situation, these people are often pushed to the brink of the city and society.

Rooted in my personal experience, the master thesis is exploring possible ways of living outside existing institutions. Its main focus is creating housing typologies on the basis of inclusiveness for all inhabitants and deinstitutionalized collective living in direct connection to the city and its dwellers. The master thesis poses the question of how and if architecture can enable the integration of different underprivileged groups into society. It also highlights the spatial potential of the city, which should enable the diversity of spaces and ways of usage for multitude of needs of all its residents. After all, the city can be a place for all!

The master thesis is not only focusing on accessibility, barrier-free design, opening architecture to everyone, but also questions how space can enable equal opportunities and possibilities for all people.

ORGANIZATION OF A SERIES OF GUEST LECTURES, STUDENT WORKSHOPS, AND AN EXHIBITION: “NEW AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE: A LOOK AHEAD”

The lecture series grew out of a residency I attended in New York in January 2024, supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, where I established new connections with universities and professors across the United States.

»New American Architecture: A Look Ahead« presents the outcomes of the translatlantic initiative as a series of guest lectures at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, during the 2024–2025 academic year, organised together with prof. Vasa J. Perović. The project explored a new generation of American architects whose work resonates both in the US and within contemporary European architectural discourse.

The series included different guest lectures, alongside two student workshops. The program concluded with the exhibition Building Worlds at Mala galerija Banke Slovenije.

The exhibition Building Worlds presents a collection of student projects developed during two architectural workshops led by American architects John David Todd (WOJR) and Hilary Sample (MOS). The works on display moved between the intimate and the public, and between fiction and function, illustrating architecture’s capacity to shape not only objects but also shared worlds.

The project will culminate in a book to be published by the end of the year.