{"id":55613,"date":"2026-09-02T11:11:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/?p=55613"},"modified":"2026-09-02T11:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:11:39","slug":"lah-museum-architecture-for-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/lah-museum-architecture-for-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Lah Museum: Architecture for Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
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View of the Lah Museum with Richard Deacon\u2019s sculpture *Another Mountain* (2007). Photo: Jo\u0161t Gantar<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Lah Museum in Bled is the first project by David Chipperfield Architects in Slovenia, and its construction has attracted architects and other visitors to guided tours of the construction site for more than four years. The building received its occupancy permit at the end of 2025 and will soon be open to the public.<\/p>\n

The museum is designed as a home to the Lah Foundation art collection, designed by collectors Igor and Mojca Lah, and is itself a distinct work of art. It is designed by David Chipperfield Architects, an architectural firm founded by British architect and Pritzker Prize laureate Sir David Chipperfield.<\/p>\n

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Rendering: \u00a9 David Chipperfield Architects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The architectural design was decisively shaped by two factors: the sensitive location below Bled Castle and the requirements of certain works of art in the Lah Foundation collection. The building is set into a hillside and divided into several connected volumes. Their sloping, serrated roofs follow the slope of the terrain, allowing uniform northern light into the galleries. The different spatial needs of the collection thus determine the geometry of individual parts, while the uniform materiality and roof landscape maintain the museum’s overall external appearance.<\/p>\n

Access to the museum, shop and restaurant is via a covered entrance courtyard. The gallery spaces on the upper floor open onto the surroundings via filtered skylights, a large panoramic window and a terrace with views towards the castle. The lower galleries are introverted and predominantly artificially lit, creating an almost subterranean atmosphere. The exception is the high, top-lit hall for works by Anselm Kiefer. The entrance gallery connects to the sculpture garden, an outdoor setting that further embeds the building in the landscape.<\/p>\n

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Rendering: \u00a9 David Chipperfield Architects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The galleries vary in scale, height, light and atmosphere, each designed with specific artworks and how they are experienced. The museum is planned for a well-known collection, while maintaining sufficient flexibility for its future changes.<\/p>\n

The massiveness of the dynamic volumes is connected by a stucco concrete facade, which gives the building a monolithic expression. In contrast, the roof consists of distinctly articulated roof tiles, specially designed for this project. Collaboration with local craftsmen and the use of locally available materials, where possible, further anchor the architecture in the cultural and landscape context of Bled: the facade and interior terrazzo floors use aggregate from the Sava River in delicate, diverse shades, while the exterior floors and staircases use precious stone from a nearby quarry.<\/p>\n

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Rendering: \u00a9 David Chipperfield Architects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The collaboration between Elea iC and David Chipperfield Architects began in the fall of 2019, when the project was still in the conceptual phase. As a local partner, Elea iC often collaborates with foreign architectural firms, but the collaboration with David Chipperfield Architects was particularly inclusive \u2013 as partners, the two firms worked closely together with a great deal of personal commitment throughout all phases of planning and implementation. The same applies to the founders of the museum, as for them the project represents more than just a house \u2013 it is a creative process with a multitude of decision-making milestones. This established trust between the designers, authors and the client, which was indispensable during construction. Any changes were checked at three levels: first by Elea iC, then by the author’s firm and finally by the client.<\/p>\n

In addition to its architectural complexity, the Lah Museum is also a technologically complex building. Given the required standards of execution, the 3D BIM model was a key tool that enabled the necessary precision in planning and implementing demanding details.<\/p>\n

While collaboration with the contractor during design is not common in Slovenia, it is an established practice at the David Chipperfield Architects architectural office, as this way of working enables the design of technologically very demanding buildings that follow their clearly defined architectural idea. Even before the construction site was opened, the most important architectural elements and their processing were checked on samples with key contractors. Already in the early phase of construction, a 1:1 model segment of the building was set up on the construction site, on which mutual compatibility was checked and installation details were determined in more detail. Many of the solutions were unique and required a completely new approach from the contractors.<\/p>\n

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At the production of roof tiles with architects from David Chipperfield Architects. Photo: ELEA iC archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Challenges during construction repeatedly required rethinking individual solutions and triggered a new round of materiality checks. Among other things, the material for diffusing natural and artificial light in the main gallery was withdrawn from production, the stainless steel supporting columns could not be processed as originally conceived \u2013 as blackened, and in the case of the thin-layer terrazzo floor, the mineral raw material that is key to its quality was no longer available. But each time, a solution was found that faithfully follows the design.<\/p>\n

The international note of David Chipperfield Architects is transferred to the Slovenian space through the Lah Museum and is intertwined with the excellence of the context, the specificity of the artworks and local building blocks, materials, details and craftsmanship. For them, the project, despite its modest size, is “a very special gem”. It is intended to become one for the local environment and beyond.<\/p>\n

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Client: Muzej Lah d.o.o.<\/p>\n

Conceptual design: David Chipperfield Architects in collaboration with Expedit, Arup, Djao-Rakitin<\/p>\n

Project author: David Chipperfield Architects<\/p>\n

Architecture: ELEA iC d.o.o.<\/p>\n

Landscape architecture: BRUTO d.o.o.<\/p>\n

Building structures: ELEA iC d.o.o.<\/p>\n

Electrical and mechanical installations: Biro ES d.o.o.<\/p>\n

Fire safety: Fojkarfire d.o.o.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lah Museum in Bled is the first project by David Chipperfield Architects in Slovenia, and its construction has attracted architects and other visitors to guided tours of the construction site for more than four …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":55601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55613"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55771,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55613\/revisions\/55771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odprtehiseslovenije.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}