Piran Days of Architecture 2025

You are kindly invited to the 42nd international conference Piran Days of Architecture, which will take place on Saturday, 22 November 2025, from 10 am to 6 pm at the Auditorium Portoroz. The 2025 Piranesi Awards will be presented at 6 pm, followed by the traditional opening of the Piranesi 2025 exhibition at 8 pm in the Monfort Exhibition hall and this year also the exhibition of the PIDA 2025 student workshop Beyond Auditorium.

The program starts on Thursday, 20 November.

Is Architecture Neutral?

As architects, we regard our field of expertise to be an autonomous discipline which is bound by its internal rules. To an extent, this is true as we are talking about a specific discipline boasting its own history as well as methods and operational techniques. But on the other hand, architecture affects everything, and everything affects architecture. As a result, it is in no way neutral but rather always situated in one place or another - physically, socially, and historically. If architecture were neutral, it wouldn't bear social, environmental, and political responsibility. It would be apolitical, confined to the ivory tower of its autonomy. Being, as it is, situated in the world and in time, however, it is beholden to acting responsibly right here and right now.

Architecture is about research which leads to the uncovering and modification of the designated function of the existing, rather than to the mere creation of new forms. This prompts the necessity of consideration, which accounts for the bigger picture and acts accordingly, too. As architects, we must be active, develop concepts, and take decisions even on levels which lie outside the autonomy of the architectural profession. Nowadays, this has chiefly to do the with the consideration on social injustice and the environmental crisis. Late capitalism is edging architecture's artistic and social, but also technical and scientific relevancy ever closer towards a state of crisis. Architecture is increasingly becoming a market commodity, be it either a luxury product or cultural heritage frozen in time, or a merciless tool employed by the capital to serve the purpose of profit-making. What is needed is a critical reflection on what architecture is, and what are the causes and manner of its operation, as well as its effects.

Miha Dešman

Please, note that number of seats in Auditorium is limited. We kindly suggest visitors to reserve the entrance to the conference by buying the ticket in advance. In case of the sold-out conference the entrance priority will be given to pre-payed tickets.