A Hike to Bovljek
Written by Matej Gašperič
Architect
2nd of June, 2025
I am ascending.
Step by step.
Slowly but steadily.
Not so much because of the sheer number of steps, although three hundred and forty-six steps are quite a few. Since a wooden cloak enveloped me after the first turn, pleasantly preventing my usual dizziness that I always get at such viewpoints, new and ever-changing views have been constantly revealed to me through the fragmented wooden screen. Here, a nearby tree whose branches tell the story of this year's just-passed winter, which was very generous with snow after a long time. There, a competition between two crowns racing towards the sun. Elsewhere, my gaze is captured by a squirrel playfully darting towards the treetop. Stops are frequent. Fortunately, the steps are wide. In fact, each small observation platform is. So, I can calmly and without haste pause and enjoy the views without disturbing the ascent or descent of other visitors.
Well, today this wasn't a problem. Although a quick glance at the visitor's book reveals that, since the tower was erected, the number of visitors has significantly increased. But today, at least for now, we are alone.
I have been here... hmm... countless times.
Several times during the time when we were preparing the competition task. The official visit was useful. But I wanted to see the place for myself, experience it intimately, in peace. After, to our pleasant surprise and overall joy, we even won and enthusiastically started detailing the project, I've been here quite a few times. Alone. With the team. With the clients. With friends. And then, of course, during construction. I wouldn't have missed the moment when the helicopter brought the tower's spindle for anything in the world. Despite all the preparations, everything could have gone wrong here. Fortunately, it turned out that my acquaintance, the helicopter pilot, was right: "this is nothing special for him." The massive piece gently floated through the air as if it were made of steel. The workers skillfully caught it and secured it to the prepared massive concrete foundation. And that was it. Everything else followed smoothly, according to a carefully thought-out assembly plan. Above all, it was important to me that we were there during the installation of the tower's wooden screen, as we were able to make some improvised changes on the spot that allowed for more interesting views. Some things just can't be done on a computer and paper - you need to be there. In just over a month, everything was finished. I expected that at the opening, it would be us, maybe a deputy mayor, and some members of the tourist association that initiated it. But when the moment came, it seemed that a mass of people, as if all the residents of Ivančna Gorica, Stična, and surrounding hamlets had set out on the path, twisted towards the top. I would almost dare to say that many people that day didn't actually see the tower, hidden and inconspicuous as it is, because reaching the spot, unless you arrived at least an hour earlier, like us, was practically impossible through the crowd.
But people dispersed.
Today, the tower stands alone.
We left the car at the same turn as during the first visit and, in the mists of early spring morning, headed towards the top. The path is somewhat tidier and better marked than the first time I was here. Markings, signs, and signposts. Here and there, even a wooden bench, offering a welcome support to older visitors.
"Is it far? Tired!" I heard for the fifteenth time from the younger companions. This time, I didn't even bother with an answer. I had already seen it - the tower, that is - but only because I knew it was there. Inconspicuous as it is, it's practically invisible to an untrained eye, modestly hidden behind the spring-green trees. Apart from a modest but well-trodden path through the vegetation and rocks, testifying that we are not the first here, there are no other hints that we are close. The surrounding nature remains primal, untouched. Just as we wanted.
"I see it!" a shout finally echoed. They rushed ahead, and they were gone. At that moment, I again reflected on how much reserve energy is still evident in us, even in a moment when we think we can't go on.
Finally, the tree canopy above us also parted, and in front of me unfolded the view of a composition that felt so familiar to me. Three objects with an inconspicuous arrangement around the top itself, respectfully acknowledging its primacy. Softened, geometrized forms don't attempt to mimic the organic shapes that nature has shaped over millions of years but, with a clear deviation from them, accentuate them. The low-service space, which, despite its subordinate role, takes care of more than everything. The tower reveals itself here with its otherwise very simple, yet very characteristic and unique form, which has no match on Pinterest. It's no coincidence that its images are already some of the most widely shared photos on the topic of observation towers in nature. And, last but by no means least, the object that was initially mentioned as optional but, in a way, is even more dear to me than the tower itself. The tower's little brother - a small tower, where you can find shelter in case of necessity. A dry public toilet... which is much more. Due to the view from the open cabin, men here pee like women. If you're not too loud, you might even, with a bit of luck, spot a forest inhabitant. And despite the fact that there is no plumbing here, you can practically always wash your hands with collected rainwater after fulfilling your needs. Considering that the lifting bridge was down, I assumed that it was likely unoccupied at that moment. At this point, I remembered how much thought went into the mechanism so that the bridge could now, despite its weight, also be lifted by a child. I will definitely visit and test it later.
But first, up.
To the tower.
Above the treetops.
A stone step, shaped by nature and there since forever, led me to the bridge that leads to the tower. After a few steps, I slowly detached from the forest floor. The greenery of the bushes, which greedily extended its freshly green branches towards me, remained beneath my feet. For a few moments, I was taken by the very pleasant feeling of floating. This continued even when I reached the staircase and persisted until the staircase was enveloped in the aforementioned wooden cloak.
A hundred steps later, the cloak thins, and I find myself among the treetops. Free. And liberated. I become still again. I stand. I observe. I admire. When I finally continue my ascent, the steps are slow. The film in front of my eyes spins at a low speed. The staircase narrows, and the view is obscured again, only to open moments later, as I find myself on the platform, in all its magnificence. With the treetops beneath my feet, an all-encompassing panorama unfolds, stretching beyond the wooded local hills and meadows with scattered hamlets all the way to the snowy peaks of the Alps. The view is so breathtaking. Despite looking at it from above, its magnitude evokes humility, respect for the mighty nature, and... a prevailing sense of happiness... that I am alive.
Unfortunately, that story that I lived in my mind will never happen. The tower as we envisioned it will unfortunately not be build.
Bovljek observation tower was an architectural competition by the municipality of Ivančna Gorica. Some of Slovenian most renown architectural studios participated. An although amongst eighteen others, our entry caught an eye of the jury and was awarded one of only four awards we missed the first prise and with that a chance to make it happen for real.
Nevertheless, this being our first competition, I am proud of my BIRO GAŠPERIČ TEAM and our achivement. We proposed a thoroughly thought out and a well designed solution.
Photographies:
Biro Gašperič Ltd. archive
