Buisiness and Learning Centre in Nova Gorica Part 2 Dissertation 2005 Matjaz Bolcina University of Ljubljana | Slovenia The first theoretical part of the dissertation deals with the phenomenon of constructing new towns. A particular situation after the second world war drew the latest border between the two countries – Slovenia and Italy. The Slovene countryside was left without a centre of its gravitation – the town of Gorizia – which became a part of Italy. Totalitarian government wished to strengthen its own political concept by constructing a new town. It is true that its faith in almightiness of its views enabled a risky venture of building a new town in an empty space, but the town rejected its concepts even before the history denied the ideals that built the town. At the same time the post war political context matches with the introduction of the principles of modern architecture in Slovenia which reflects in the first plan for Nova Gorica. In his plan, Edvard Ravnikar, renounced the square as a symbolic central identity of the town. He designed a town with an orthogonal scheme of streets. Separately from the classical urban tissue of Italian Goriza a new modern town started to develop – Nova Gorica.Today`s situation along the norther end of the main street requires urban structure with potential for generation of street space and establishment of the basis for the future spreading of the town towards the north. This is the beginning of the second, project part, of this dissertation. With the construction of a new bypass the Vojkova street, will no longer be used. Its abolition enables reorganization of space between church, fire station and extension of the Kidriceva Street. With two space shells the new boundaries of space are drawn and a new context is established. Under these shells there are plates inserted with the new programme of business and learning centre.Through a creative process the project assignment enables getting to know the role of today`s town, its potential utopias and its sense. During this process it makes a more realistic bond with the newly established conurbation of a classical and modern town. All this is still considered within the town`s essential connection with its border position and the last radical change of border – its abolition – with Slovenia entering the European Union. Matjaz Bolcina The town of Nova Gorica was founded next to the Italian town of Gorizia in the years following world war two as a result of socio-political events on the former Yugoslav – Italian border. Even though planned on the principles of Le Corbusier in the past few decades the new town has developed in a very obstinate manner and far from original town planning thought.Matjaž Bolcina took on a difficult assignment in his diploma research project - how to capture the rhythm of a contemporary city and at the same time respect the primary spatial guidelines of Nova Gorica. The careful site analysis along with the town planning theory analysis of the 50s and 60s led to a suggestive proposal for a rather chaotic site, where two different geometries belonging to different time zones of Nova Gorica meet.The nominated diploma of Matjaž Bolcina is one of the most mature works that resulted in my seminar therefore I propose it to the RIBA jury for evaluation.