OFIS Architects is a firm of
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 ...
s based in
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
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,
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 ...
and established in 1996 by Rok Oman and Špela Videčnik. The firm has won several prominent tenders, such as the
Football Stadium Maribor and the
Ljubljana City Museum extension and renovation. Many of their projects have been nominated for awards, including the
Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...
Award.
History
Foundation
OFIS was established in 1996 by Rok Oman and Špela Videčnik, both graduates of the
Ljubljana School of Architecture and the
London Architectural Association, during a time when most of the larger architectural offices were being closed or scaled down to create space for younger groups of architects to participate in architectural competitions.
Projects
The firm won a large business complex in Venice
Marghera
Marghera is a ''municipalità'' (borough) of the ''comune'' of Venice, Italy, Venice, Italy. It includes the industrial area known as Porto Marghera (English: Marghera Port) or Venezia Porto Marghera.
Etymology
The name Marghera is said in popula ...
, Italy, and a residential complex in
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, Austria.
After winning a project for 180 apartments 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 ...
, France, their first large-scale development abroad, they also opened a branch office in France, in 2007.
In 2009 they received a silver
IOC/IAKS medal for their football stadium.
This was followed by a second large-scale development with the construction of a
football stadium for
FC BATE in
Borisov,
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, completed in 2014.
In 2012, they received the Platinum Pen award for their international achievements.
In 2013, they received the Plecnik Medal for the Habitable Space Habitable Wheel.
Multiple OFIS projects have been nominated for the
Mies van der Rohe award
The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award is a prize given biennially by the European Union and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona,Discovery
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discovery ...
and
RTL
RTL may refer to:
Media
* RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company
*** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels)
*** List of RTL Group's radio stations
** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...
. They have exhibited worldwide, including at the
Venice Biennale of Architecture
The Venice Biennale of Architecture ( Italian: ''Mostra di Architettura di Venezia'') is an international exhibition showcasing architectural works from around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year.
Originally held in even-numbered ...
,
the Architectural Biennale in Beijing, and the Biennale in Moscow.
Additionally, OFIS Architects has been profiled on the TV series ''
Deutsche Welle
(; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...
'' and CCTV in China.
Awards and recognition
* 2000 - Young Architect of the Year award winner, London
* November 2000 - Piranesi award, honors for housing block 16x68, Piran, SLO
* January 2001 - Young Architect of the Year Award, winner, YAYA, London, UK
* December 2001 - Design Vanguard 2001, architectural record, New York, USA
* 2004 - AR Award for Emerging Architecture commendation, ''
Architectural Review
''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism ...
'' for City Museum renovation and extension.
* December 2004 - AR+D awards, High commendation for the city museum Ljubljana
* January 2006 - Bienal Miami 2005, honors for villa under-extension, Miami, USA
* December 2006 - European Grand Prix for innovation awards, Monaco
* January 2007 - Mies van der Rohe Awards '06, Nomination for Housing on the Coast
[
* May 2009 - Mies van der Rohe Awards '08, Nomination for Football Stadium Maribor, selection][
* May 2009 - Mies van der Rohe Awards '08, Nomination for Shopping roof apartments][
* May 2009 - Mies van der Rohe Awards '08, Nomination for Hayrack Apartments][
* September 2009 - IOC/IAKS award, silver medal for Football Stadium Maribor][
* March 2010 - ArchDaily Building of the year 2009, Religious, Farewell Chapel
* November 2010 - Chernikhov prize 2010, selected nominee, ICIF, Moscow, RU
* January 2011 - Mies van der Rohe Awards '10 Nomination for Farewell Chapel
* October 2012 - Platinum Pencil 2012, the award for extensive architectural achievements, Ljubljana, SLO]
Publications
Their work is published around the globe in more than 200 international publications a year, including the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', ''El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'', ''Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', ''Die Welt
(, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...
'', ''Bild'', most architectural magazines, and various books. In 2000 Zaha Hadid
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...
selected them as one of her top 10 exceptional emerging architects for Phaidon 10x10. In 2006, Gustavo Gili published monograph issue 2G on OFIS. ''The Hinge'' magazine chose their Farewell chapel as a Stand up building in 2009, Lace and Tetris apartments were announced as two of the Worlds 10 most creative apartment buildings by Oddee and Guardian Arts Critics chose them as an Architectural Office to ˝Look out for˝.
Picture gallery
File:Farewell chapel foto-tomaz gregoric 03 .jpg, Farewell Chapel, Krasnja, Slovenia
File:Store, office & shop concrete container 001 .jpg, Store, office & shop concrete container, Trata, Slovenia
File:Tetris apartments 01.jpg, Tetris Apartments, Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
, perrow = 1/2/2/1
, total_widt ...
, Slovenia
References
External links
OFIS website
OFIS Arhitekti Archdaily
High Design, for a House of God, Fast Company
the Future" OFIS presented on Deutsche Welle TV Series
Glass House
on ''Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...
'', Season 5, episode 2, Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
, "Smithereens (Black Mirror)
"Smithereens" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction anthology series ''Black Mirror''. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by James Hawes, it premiered on Netflix on 5 June 2019 ...
"
{{Authority control
Architecture firms of Slovenia
Companies based in Ljubljana
Companies established in 1996
Slovenian architects