Republic Square complex is the biggest project of a single architect in Ljubljana's center. Edvard Ravnikar won first prize in 1960 competition. The original request was to make a monument memory for the revolution. It was planned as a new Slovenian political center with a square for mass meetings and two skyscrapers (26 floors each). The project is the result of nearly twenty years study of the urban area.

Two Towers

Two towers were lowered from original plan and expanded on the ground floor. The construction of skyscrapers is covered by luxurious facade of a thin cut granite slabs. They echo the spatial axis of the Ljubljana gate. Ravnikar made use of the triangular ground plan of the two skyscrapers to derive a geometric web characteristic of the structuralism. The skyscrapers are constructed with prefabricated consoles of reinforced concrete built into a central core what permits the flexible organization of the ground plan.

Department Store

The building department store Maximarket divide and at the same time connects two squares: the monumental platform dedicated to events and more intimate square in the former monastery courtyard. There are several memorial sculptures by Slavko Tihec and Marjan Trsar. Ravnikar created an urban center that was contemporary and monumental and such become an integral part of the city.

Cankarjev Cultural and Congress Center

After a ten year interval a Cultural and Congress Center was built on the corner of the square. Ravnikar was careful not to overwhelm the proportions of the existing buildings of the square or interrupt its composition. Therefore more of the auditoriums were placed underground. The entrance from the square is covered by a baldaquin following the Gottfried Semper model.