The socialist realist design of the Nova Gorica City Municipality building, representing a new metropolis built on an ancient necropolis, is stylistically connected to the Mediterranean region. Hidden in its core lies an architectural curiosity – a stone atrium surrounded by a pergola. It is imbued with a classicist idyll, incredible beauty, but within it already sprouts the seed of transience, a memento mori.
From the dark shelter of the green pergola, views open on all sides towards the illuminated void of the atrium’s monumental nave. The essence of the atrium’s architectural design is this spatial and light transformation – from darkness to light, from veiled to free. The glow from above penetrates the depth of the atrium. We observe the shape of the light beam from the side. The details floating before our eyes are clearly visible, but the gaze through the airy layers into the sunken volume fades ever more.
This sublime transition, virtuously embodied by glaze painting, which with incredibly thin layers of oil paint materially creates the image’s deep glow, becomes the starting point for the textile intervention. The glazes in the spatial artistic installation are replaced by subtly visible layers of textile, aligned along the entire volume of the atrium. Their interconnectedness – layer upon layer, fold upon fold – builds a ripple that penetrates beyond the textile itself. Light passes through them, air gives them movement, their groundedness is connected to stone and metal. Their layering creates a coffered spatial impression that has already been touched by the passing of time.
Exhibition at BIEN 2025
Et in atrium ego (2025) is exhibited as part of the BIEN 2025, textile art biennial and can be seen in the atrium of the Nova Gorica City Municipality building until August 14, 2025.
About the authors
Et in atrium ego is the title of a group textile art intervention designed by Nika Batista, Mateja Golež, Lovro Ivančić, Marija Jenko, Maruša Kranjc and Alenka More.
Nika Batista is an interdisciplinary artist who constantly seeks a balance between the visualization of the intangible and the expressed performativity of her inner perception.
Mateja Golež follows the rhythm of natural and artificial stone, where in contact with the rock she comes closest to the process of its formation.
Lovro Ivančić, at the intersection of the visual expressions, explores materials and their properties, building composites through contrasts.
Marija Jenko draws from her multifaceted profession, which intertwines architecture, visual art, and textile art.
Maruša Kranjc explores the relationship between aesthetics and functionality. Through her work, she constantly seeks a balance between art and design.
Alenka More explores the raw perfections of the body. For her, clothing design is an experience of being dressed – that is, the relationship between body and garment from a psychological and sociological perspective.
Artistic intervention: Nika Batista, Mateja Golež, Lovro Ivančić, Marija Jenko, Maruša Kranjc, Alenka More
Lecture: Janko Rožić
Video: Ula Pogorevčnik
Photography: Urban Cerjak / BIEN 2025
Partners: Naravoslovnotehniška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije, Zavod Carnica Kranj, Mestna občina Nova Gorica, Projekt Nova Gorica
Thanks to: Janko Rožič (AB Odprti krog) for the lecture Prostor prostosti o treh urbanih prostorih Nove Gorice, Ula Pogorevčnik (Creativula) for the video, Vilko Šuligoj (Projekt Nova Gorica) for the static opinion, Nataša Kolenc (MONG) for advice on finding locations for the exhibition, Katja Kosič (ZVKD NG) for advice on obtaining permits, Božidar Bizjak (STIK PLUS d.o.o.), Nina Glavič
