Platana Bar and Bistro

Bar Platana was already a popular meeting place for artists and intellectuals before its renovation. In the 1980s, the need arose for an interior that would go beyond the conventional standards of cafés and bars of the time. The use of polished stone, glass and metal, combined with carefully selected wood and leather, reflects an ambition to create a more refined environment shaped by both Mediterranean and Central European cultural influences.

Boris Podrecca responded to the existing sequence of diverse spaces by giving each its own character and narrative. Platana is divided into two distinct parts: the café and the bistro. Drawing on his understanding of Ljubljana as a meeting point between Mediterranean and Central European cultures, Podrecca associated the café with Trieste and the bistro with Vienna – two cities with strong but distinctly different café traditions.

The café, characterised by blue tones, is organised around a long bar, large mirrors and narrow wall-mounted shelves, evoking the Triestine custom of drinking espresso while standing at the counter. The green-toned bistro, in contrast, refers to the Viennese tradition of lingering at café tables over newspapers and food. Its first room pays tribute to Adolf Loos and, in particular, his American Bar in Vienna, through the use of green stone, distinctive coat hooks and illuminated translucent tabletops. The upholstered chairs and furnishings of the rear room, meanwhile, reference the work of Loos’s contemporary Josef Hoffmann. Platana is thus conceived as an interior rich in architectural references, revealing its different layers and narratives to the attentive observer.