In mid-October, we were deeply saddened by the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend, Lucija Ažman Momirski – known as Lučka to those close to her.
Lučka was an architect and urban planner by training, with a professional and academic journey that spanned over four decades. Her work was anchored at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana, where she, despite numerous research and teaching periods abroad, dedicated herself as both a researcher and an educator.
Her teaching at UL FA extended across different disciplines, driven by her remarkable range of interests. She taught subjects at the intersection of archaeology and architecture – her initial specialisation and the focus of her PhD – as well as the historical development of cities and urban planning discipline, strategic and action planning, and, later, the integration of advanced digital technologies into design and planning processes. As a teacher and mentor, she helped shape the next generation of Slovene architects and planners, encouraging critical thinking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches.
The scope of her research interests was just as extraordinary. She studied relevant topics in architecture, urban design, and planning, addressing both large-scale strategic challenges and the intricate aspects of urban form and function. Above all, her research exemplified a need for an integrated approach to urbanism, bridging scales and disciplines to develop cohesive proposals and projects for urban, peri-urban, and rural contexts. Ahead of her time, she was particularly passionate about the potential of GIS and parametric modeling, paving the way for the implementation of these technologies within Slovenian academic and professional environments.
Her main research interests focused on spatially and socio-culturally complex areas. Since the late 1990s, she explored Slovenia’s urban derelict zones, local coastal areas, and terraced landscapes within broader international frameworks, showcasing the global relevance of her case studies. Among her most notable contributions was her applied research on waterfront redevelopment in the Slovene coastal town of Izola/Isola, where she highlighted the transformation of degraded and underutilised spaces as a viable approach to local planning.
Lučka was instrumental in advancing innovative methodologies that linked spatial planning with technological, environmental, and societal considerations. She advocated for negotiation and collaboration in planning processes, recognising the importance of aligning diverse stakeholders to craft innovative solutions. At the turn of the millennium, she organised and moderated several urban planning workshops across Slovenia, highlighting her commitment to multi-stakeholder and participatory approaches – a value she upheld throughout her career.
Central to her academic and professional focus was the study of port city territories, a topic she began exploring as early as the mid-2000s. She tackled the complex challenges of scale in their spatial design, particularly in contexts where global logistics intersect with local urban environments. One of her greatest professional achievements was her leadership role in the winning proposal for the development of the Port of Koper in 2007. The proposal introduced a forward-thinking concept of a "green port" that integrated solutions for climate responsiveness, water management, sustainable energy, and port-city permeability, all the while respecting local cultural heritage and protecting vulnerable ecosystems. Despite subsequent modifications to the project, she also helped shape the National Spatial Plan for the Port of Koper, which established key spatial guidelines for sustainable port planning and development in the region until today. The project earned her the Maks Fabiani Award in 2015, which stands as a testament to her impact on national and regional planning.
In the past decade, Lučka continued to view port cities as dynamic laboratories for addressing broader urban challenges through an interdisciplinary lens. Her work consistently engaged with themes of resilience, inclusivity, and human-centred design, making significant contributions to the discourse on port-city relationships, governance, and planning. In 2019, she began collaborating with PortCityFutures and co-authored several notable publications with some of the Centre’s leading researchers, including:
- Port Cities as Hubs of Diversity and Inclusivity: The Case of Rotterdam (2020), together with Carola Hein, Paul Van de Laar, Maurice Jansen, Sabine Luning, Amanda Brandellero, Sarah Hinman, Ingrid Mulder, and Maurice Harteveld;
- Straddling the Fence: Land Use Patterns in and around Ports as Hidden Designers (2021) and Port City Resilience: Piloting a Socio-Spatial Method for Understanding, Comparing, and Representing Linked Maritime Heritage (2022), together with Carola Hein and Yvonne van Mil;
- Placemaking at a Time of Changing Port-City Relations (2023), together with Carola Hein and Juan García-Esparza.
Her fruitful collaboration with Carola Hein and Yvonne van Mil eventually culminated in the book Port City Atlas, which represents an important conceptual and methodological framework for future research on port-city territories that will remain one of the cornerstones of her academic legacy.
In every aspect of her work – whether teaching, researching, or practice – Lučka exemplified a commitment to intellectualism, integrity, factualism, and professionalism above all else. Her passing has left a profound void in the fields of architecture, planning, and design in Slovenia and beyond, but her legacy lives on through her exceptional academic and professional contributions, and most importantly, through the countless students, colleagues, and collaborators she inspired.
She will be greatly missed by all members of PortCityFutures.