Ivan Vurnik

Ivan Vurnik (1 June 1884 – 8 April 1971) was a Slovene architect that helped found the Ljubljana School of Architecture. His early style in the 1920s is associated with the search for Slovene "National Style", inspired by Slovene folk art and the Vienna Secession style of architecture (a type of Art Nouveau). Upon embracing the functionalist approach in the 1930s, Vurnik rivaled the more conservative Plečnik's approach. The Cooperative Business Bank, designed by Vurnik and his wife Helena Kottler Vurnik, who designed the decorative facade in the hues of the Slovene tricolor, has been called the most beautiful building in Ljubljana. Vurnik also created a number of urban plans, among these the plans for Bled (1930), Kranj (1933–1937), and Ljubljana (1935).