Page 122 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

Belveder. Between 1949 and 1951, the unfinished
fascist school was converted into the Triglav ho-
tel and Omnia department store. The plans for
the adaptation were drawn up by one of Slove-
nia’s leading post-war architects, Edo Mihevc
(Čebron Lipovec 2012, 216–217; Čebron Lipov-
ec 2020, 259–261).

The Primary School in Koper: From Osnovna
šola – Scuola cittadina to Osnovna šola Janko
Premrl Vojko
The decision to build a new school was Figure 5: Janko Premrl Vojko Primary School,
122 made for practical and ideological reasons. The built on the site of the former penitentiary
practical reasons included the outdatedness and (photo: Neža Čebron Lipovec, 2007)
inadequate furnishings of the building used for ti
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 11 (2023), številka 2 / volume 11 (2023), number 2
the Slovene school, as evidenced by the school re- centre. The plan for the new school was drawn
cords. The main Italian school was located in a up by Ervino Velušček (Kregar 1952, 36; Čebron
wing of the former convent of the Poor Clares, Lipovec 2018), an architect who originated from
while the Slovene school did not have its own Trieste and who was completely unknown at ta
premises. As already mentioned, it was original- the time but who emigrated to Italy in 1950 and
ly housed together with the grammar school in created a prominent architectural oeuvre. The
the renovated building of the former fascist na- original plan for the school building envisaged
val school. The primary school was located on a monumental complex with three three-storey
the upper floors on the north side of the build- wings to be built on the floor plan of the former di
ing, and from 1948 onwards it was housed in prison. One wing was intended for the Slovene
three dark classrooms on the ground floor. The classes, another for Italian classes, and the third
first makeshift benches, which satisfied neither was for the administration (Kregar 1952, 36; Če-
the requirements nor the hygiene regulations, bron Lipovec 2018).
were provided by the Military Administration, In the end, only one simple single-sto-
and it was not until the school year 1947/48 that rey wing was built and handed over for use here
the Education Department provided new bench- on 3 March 1951 (La nostra lotta 1951, 2). The
es and cupboards. The primary school pupils had new school building, which had only 16 class-
a separate entrance from the grammar school rooms and not the larger number that had been
pupils, but they came together in the courtyard planned, also deviated from the conceptual plan
during breaks. in terms of design, as it lost its original character
In 1948, the unknown local architect Ma- with the reduction in size and a different roof. It
tossi was still planning to complete the pre-war is said that the original plan was abandoned due
fascist school building, but the authorities de- to a lack of funds (Kregar 1952, 36).
cided to demolish the former monumental pris- From a socio-historical point of view, the po-
on on the old town’s highest point, the Belveder, litical-ideological function of this school build-
and build a new school on that site. The demoli- ing was crucial as it was built to house Slovene
tion of the old building and the construction of and Italian pupils under the same roof. In pub-
14
the new one, which began in 1949, was the first lic discourse it was presented as a Slovene-Italian studiauniversitatis
and most visible urban intervention in the town primary school or scuola cittadina, which sym-
bolised the so-called fratellanza − the brother-
14 PAK, 23, Istrski okrožni ljudski odbor, 9, 11. November
1950. hood of Slovenes and Italians in Istria. It there-