Drago Ibler (14 August 1894 – 12 September 1964) was a
Croatian architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
pedagogue
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
. His style can be described as pure simplicity and
functional architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
.
Ibler was born in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
and he earned a diploma in architecture at the Technische Hochschule in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, Germany.
He became acquainted with
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
and ''L'Esprit Nouveau'' in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He then studied from 1922 to 1924 at the ''Staatliche Kunstakademie'' in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, in the studio of German architect
Hans Poelzig which influenced his work during 1920s.
Drago Ibler was a strong supporter of the social ideals of modern architecture as well as the aesthetics, and founded the
Earth Group (), with a group of left-oriented progressive artists. He was also a member of
CIAM. His work was responsible for introducing
ribbon windows and other elements of Le Corbusier's architecture to Yugoslavia.
[Iber, Drago](_blank)
''Artnet.com''. Archived from the original on June 26, 2003
In 1926, Drago Ibler became a professor of architecture at the
Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts.
During his time there, Ibler designed villas on the island of
Korčula and in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, several industrial buildings, and the District Labour Insurance Building in
Skopje
Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
(1932).
He left the Zagreb Academy in 1941 moved to the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...
, Switzerland.
He moved back to Zagreb in 1950 and resumed his former post at the Zagreb Academy. He designed many more buildings in Zagreb, including several residential blocks and a residence for
Tito. He also drafted designs for a potential opera house and embassy, though these were never constructed.
Ibler died, aged 70, in an automobile accident near
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto (; ; also known by #Name, alternative names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, seventh-largest city of Slovenia. It is the economic and cultural centre of the traditional region of Lower Carniola (southeastern Slovenia) and ...
,
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
.
References
External links
Ibler, Dragoat the
Croatian Biographical Lexicon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibler, Drago
1894 births
1964 deaths
Architects from Zagreb
People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Academic staff of the University of Zagreb
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery
Road incident deaths in Slovenia
Croatian architects