About PDA and Piranesi award

Piran Days of Architecture

Piran Days of Architecture (PDA) is an international architectural conference with one of the longest traditions in the world. Initiated by a group of Slovene architects and from 1986 to 2007 presided by architect prof. Vojteh Ravnikar (1943–2010) it has taken place annually since 1983 at the end of November in the charming Tartini theatre in the medieval Slovene coastal town of Piran and from 2019 - due to unpredictable sea flooding - in the nearby Portorož Auditorium.

Until 2008, the symposium was organized by the Coastal Galleries of Piran, from 2008 to 2015 together with the DESSA Gallery, and since 2015 the holder and organizer of the PDA conference and the Piranesi Award is the DESSA Gallery, and the co-organizer are the Coastal Galleries of Piran. Between 1986 and 2007, the organizing committee was chaired by the founding member, architect prof. Vojteh Ravnikar (1943–2010). Since 2008, the new organizing committee has been headed by architect Maja Ivanič. 

The aim of the conference is to evaluate the social architectural situation and to present the most progressive and innovative ideas of contemporary architectural and spatial production which preserve cultural identity and diversity through the understanding and respect for the geographical and cultural context.

Many world-renowned architects have lectured at the conference, including: Friedrich Achleitner, Boris Podrecca, Heinz Tesar, Luigi Semerani, Gino Valle, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Alvaro Siza Vieira, Peter Zumthor, Enrique Miralles, Sverre Fehn, Kenneth Frampton, David Chipperfield, Wang Shu, Bijoy Jain among others. Many of them received prestigious international architectural awards later in their careers, such as the Pritzker Prize, the European Mies van der Rohe Prize or the Biennial Venice Architectural Lion.

PDA conference is traditionally accompanied by several architectural events. Among them, the most important is the exhibition for the prestigious international Piranesi Award.

Piranesi Award

The Piranesi Award is the first international architectural award in the Republic of Slovenia. It was created as part of the Piran Days of Architecture international conference, and it is presented by the DESSA Gallery, the Coastal Galleries of Piran and the Piranesi International Jury. It was first presented in 1989 to the Serbian architect Bogdan Bogdanović for the Dudik Memorial Park in Vukovar, Croatia.

The award, named after the 18th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), whose family roots are said to be from Piran, rewards the best architectural realizations created in the last two years in the territory of Central European countries: Austria, Czech, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, Serbia joined in 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019, and Montenegro in 2020.

The projects that are exhibited at the Piranesi international exhibition as part of the PDA conference are chosen and nominated by the national selectors of the above-mentioned countries every year at the end of October. Each selector can nominate five projects.

Part of the exhibition for Piranesi Award is also an international (since 2008) student exhibition in which 21 European architectural faculties participate – Graz, Spittal, Vienna, Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo, Split, Zagreb, Thessaloniki, Budapest, Ferrara, Pescara, Trieste, Podgorica, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Maribor, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, AA London. Student selectors of each faculty can nominate two projects designed in the last two academic years.

About 55 architectural realizations and 42 student projects compete for the Piranesi award. The prestigious Piranesi Award, two Piranesi Honorary Mentions and the Piranesi Student Honorary Mention are selected by an international Piranesi jury made up of that year's PDA lecturers. The awards are presented by the honorary patron of the PDA conference.

The Piranesi Award was presented to diverse projects of various sizes and programs that reflect the relationship of modern architecture to the natural, cultural, historical and social context.

Founders of PDA

Vojteh Ravnikar (1943–2010), president of PDA 1986–2007
Anton Biloslav (1946–2013), director of OGP 1975–2012
Matjaž Garzarolli (1948–2018)
Sonja Ana Hoyer
Ranko Novak
Boris Podrecca
Luciano Semerani (1933–2021)

Former members of PDA organizing comittee

from 1983 to 2007
Vojteh Ravnikar (1943–2010), president of PDA 1986–2007
Anton Biloslav (1946–2013), director of OGP 1975–2012
Majda Božeglav-Japelj
Tomaž Brate (1963–2008)
Matjaž Garzarolli (1948–2018)
Sonja Ana Hoyer
Andrej Hrausky
Jurij Kobe
Janez Koželj
Tone Mikeln
Mirko Mršnik
Ranko Novak
Boris Podrecca
Luciano Semerani (1933–2021)
Branko Silađin
Marjan Vrabec
Giovanni Vragnaz

from 2008
Ana Struna Bregar
Tanja Barle
Katarina Čakš