The expert jury of the Open House Slovenia 2025 architectural festival
We present to you the expert jury of the Open House Slovenia 2025 architecture festival, which, together with the OHS team, will shape the program of the 16th architecture festival. Their task is to select the finest architectural projects that will open their doors and offer insight into high-quality built environments.
The festival will take place from April 11 to April 13, 2025, across Slovenia, allowing visitors to discover outstanding architecture, meet its creators, and understand the importance of spatial design for communities and sustainable development.
The members of this year’s expert jury are:
Prof. Tina Gregorič – architect and professor
As a practicing architect and professor, she strategically intertwines research and the practice of architecture to address current social and climate challenges. Dekleva Gregoric architects’ award-winning projects span a variety of contexts in the EU and the US, from affordable housing to the transformation of public open space. Her research topics include nanotourism (a participatory, responsible alternative to overtourism), material and circular design strategies, and social interaction.
“The Open House Festival is of great importance for raising public awareness of architecture, as it allows for a direct experience of spaces, which is crucial for understanding architecture as an experiential art. This approach relates to John Dewey’s thought in his book Art as Experience, where he stresses that art – including architecture – is most authentically understood through a personal and sensual experience that goes beyond mere intellectual or technical analysis. According to Dewey, experience is what connects a person to a work of art; it is this contact between the individual and the space during the festival that allows us to perceive architecture not only as a material object, but as a living, dynamic process involving our senses, thoughts and emotions. Open House thus become a platform where people can experience first-hand how architecture shapes our environment, our relationships and our way of life, deepening their understanding of its meaning in a social, cultural and environmental context.”
Andraž Keršič –architect, researcher, curator and educator
Andraž Keršič studied at the Faculty ofArchitecture in Ljubljana and the Faculty of Architecture and Design in Aalborg, Denmark. After working in the architectural studios Medprostor 2013-2017 and Arrea arhitektura 2018-2019, he co-founded a2o2 arhitekti in 2019. He was awarded the Faculty Prešeren Prize for his research Sustainable Approaches for the Protection of Post-War 20th Century Architectural Heritage. For the project City Park Rakova Jelša, he and his project team were awarded the Golden Pencil for excellence in 2016. In 2022, together with a2o2 architects, he was awarded the Golden Pencil for Excellence for the renovation of the MM House, and in 2024 for the renovation of the apartments in the Dukiće Blocks. He has co-authored several exhibitions on architecture and spatial culture. With Natalija Lapajne and Matevž Čelik, he curated the exhibition Renovating!!! at MAO Ljubljana in 2019 and the exhibition Looking for an Apartment in 2021 with Ajda Bračič, Dr. Bogo Zupančič and Dr. Miloš Kosec. He is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, where he teaches courses in Design and Composition, Architectural Design 1, Renovations and Adaptations, and Architectural Renovation and Conservation. He is a member of the Commission for Immovable Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture. He is involved in the renovation of anonymous architecture, protected heritage buildings and research on the second generation of Slovenian modernists.
“Any good architecture can only be understood when you visit it. The OHS Festival is an exceptional opportunity for everyone to visit private homes, offices, institutions or key buildings from the history of Slovenian architecture, free of charge. Only when we feel these spaces on a one-to-one scale can we satisfy our spatial curiosity for a moment. The festival’s significance extends beyond the experience of good architecture, as it keeps close on the heels of the elusive zeitgeist by presenting the current achievements of architectural production. Otherwise inaccessible buildings reveal again and again to the professional and general public the far-reaching creative potential of their creators and the good culture of building.”
Ana Grk – architect
Ana Grk graduated from the Ljubljana School of Architecture and worked in offices at home and abroad. Later, together with her colleagues co-founded the urban planning studio Prostorož and, after returning from abroad, became a partner in the Kombinat office. The firm develops projects of different scales for different programmes. Each time they try to rethink how a project can contribute to the improvement of the living culture of both the individual and the community. They want to push boundaries and create spaces where people feel good and adopt them as their own. In her spare time, she plants trees.
“To be able to experience good architecture in the flesh is an extraordinary experience. Open House Slovenia festival opens doors that are normally closed to us. The festival offers many opportunities to see the buildings and developments in person, and to meet their authors, clients and users. At the same time, it educates both professionals and the general public about the importance of well-designed private and public spaces.”
Asist. Jure Henigsman – architect and researcher
Jure Henigsman has been working at STRIP LAB d.o.o. since 2014, and between 2019 and 2023 he was employed as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 2015 with a thesis on the urban renewal of the UKC Ljubljana. As a co-founder of the STRIP collective, he develops sustainable urban and architectural concepts and has co-authored a number of award-winning competition papers. He has extensive experience in urban planning and architecture, where he collaborates within the collective with other related practices at home and abroad. Jure is a member of the Board of Directors of the Slovenian Chamber of Architecture and Spatial Planning (ZAPS) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Ljubljana Association of Architects (DAL).
“Open House Slovenia is an exceptional platform that has been supporting good architecture for many years and bringing it closer to people in the most direct way – through experience. They allow us not only to see architecture, but also to feel it, study it and understand it in its true context. Such initiatives are key to raising awareness of the importance of quality built space.”
Mateja Kurir – philosopher and researcher
Mateja Kurir graduated and obtained her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana. She received the Plečnik Medal in 2022 for her contribution to architectural theory, criticism and journalism as co-editor of On Power in Architecture and in 2024 as co-editor of The Garden and Metaphor. She is currently collaborating with various academic, research and artistic organisations. Previously, she was a visiting researcher at the Department of Architecture, KU Leuven. (2015) and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rijeka (2017), and has produced several programmes for Radio Študent.
“ The Open House Slovenia festival spreads knowledge about quality architecture and democratises it.”