Vladimir Šubic

Who was Vladimir Šubic?

Vladimir Šubic, was a Slovene architect. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He designed many buildings, most notably Nebotičnik in Ljubljana, which was the tallest building in Yugoslavia upon its completion.

Vladimir Šubic began his studies at the Technical University of Vienna in 1912, studying mechanical engineering. He studied shipbuilding at the University of Graz a year later, and in 1919 enrolled in the department of architecture at VTŠ in Prague. He passed his final examinations in 1922 and began his career as an architect and engineer.

He returned to Ljubljana, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and soon became a successful architect. His interest in contemporary architectural developments led him to design the first Slovene skyscraper, based on the most recent architectural developments.

After World War II his career became endangered because of his liberal worldview, regarded as hostile by the new Communist authorities. He was first imprisoned on secret charges and sentenced to forced labor, and then released and denied work. In 1946, he was sent by the Titoist regime of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the work brigade in Bosnia, to work as an engineer on the construction of the Brčko-Banovići railway line. He died building the line the same year under unknown circumstances, although the cause of death was officially reported as a heart attack. He is buried in the Žale cemetery in Ljubljana.