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OFIS Architects is a firm of architects established in 1996 by Rok Oman and Špela Videčnik, both graduates of the Ljubljana School of Architecture and the London Architectural Association. Upon graduation they had already won several prominent competitions, such as 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 award. In 2013 they received the Plecnik medal for the Habitable Space Habitable Wheel, in 2012 they received the Platinum Pen award for their international achievements, in 2009 they received a silver IOC/IAKS medal for their football stadium, in 2006 they received the European Grand Prix for Innovation Award, in 2005 their Villa Bled received an honourable mention at the Miami Biennial and in 2004 they were highly commended for their City Museum renovation and extension by the UK Architectural Review’s annual AR+D awards. In 2000, they won the “Young architect of the year” award in London.
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The company is based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, but works internationally. They won a large business complex in Venice Marghera, Italy and a residential complex in Graz, Austria. However, it was by winning 180 apartments in Paris, France their first large scale development abroad, which led them to open a branch office in France, 2007. This has been followed by a second large scale development with the construction of a football stadium for FC BATE in Borisov, Belarus, due for completion in 2013. They also have partner firm agreements in London, Paris and Moscow. Their academic career involves teaching at Harvard University in USA.
Foundation
The beginnings of OFIS' activities date back to the nineties, which was as an exciting yet difficult period for the former Yugoslavian republics that were undergoing intense self-re-evaluation and reinvention from scratch, economically and culturally. In terms of architecture this meant that most of the larger architectural offices had to be scaled down or went bankrupt and so creating an empty space for younger groups or individuals to participate in architectural competitions.
Work
The firm's work encompasses architecture, urbanism, art and stage design. It ranges from new buildings to interventions within old structures; scales from stadiums down to a small farewell chapel; programs from social housing, luxurious villas and residences, sport facilities, cultural and office programs. Over the past ten years they have been dealing with various national and international clients from the private sector to the commercial sector and also state institutions.
Recognition
The firm has won several national and international competitions. Many projects have been nominated for a Mies van der Rohe award, in 2009 they received a Silver IOC/IAKS medal for football stadium, in 2006 they received the European Grand Prix for Innovation Award, in 2005 their Villa under-extension received an honorable mention at the Miami Bienal, in 2004 they were awarded high commendation for their City Museum renovation and extension by the UK Architectural Review's annual AR+D awards, and in 2000 they won the 'Young architect of the year'award in London, UK.
Their work has been shown on various TV channels including Discovery and RTL. They have exhibited worldwide including the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Architectural Biennale in Beijing, and the Biennale in Moscow. Additionally OFIS Architects has been presented on the Deutsche Welle TV series and CCTV from China.
Selected awards
Publications
Their work is published around the globe with more than 200 international publications a year including the New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, El País, Der Spiegel, Die Welt, Bild, most architectural magazines and various books. In 2000 Zaha Hadid 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˝. In 2011 DAMDI published OFIS_open archive files 98-11, their second monograph issue DD series.