Fužine district, Ljubljana

New Fužine district in Ljubljana were constructed from 1977 to 1988 and remain the largest housing project in Slovenia, sprawling on 61 hectares, a home for almost 20.000 people. New Fužine are the most densely populated area in Slovenia, with over 38.500 inhabitants per square kilometre.

View across the apartment blocks towards the Ljubljana centre.

Fužine 'hood used to be an urban ghetto, having the reputation of one of the most dangerous part of Ljubljana (but bear in mind that crime rates in Slovenia and Ljubljana are and were extremely low compared to pretty much any other country in Europe).

Fužine castle - today Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO).

Fužine district got its name from 'fužine' - the ironworks that were built by the Fužine (Kaltenbrunnn, 'cold spring') castle. The castle itself is a Reneissance mansion from 1552, situated on the left bank of Ljubljanica river, by the natural dam and rapids that were used first for millling and later for the ironworks. Today the castle houses the Museum of Architecture and Design - MAO.

"Labyrinth of Art" - top left - was built in honour of Ljubljana's title of UNESCO's World Book Capital in 2010 and 2011. It's conceived as a maze park dedicated to the culture of reading and particularly intended for readers. The way through the maze, made of 500 currently still young trees is marked by verses about walking as art.

The spacious design of the apartment blocks interspersed with parks, playgrounds and sport facilities, kindergartens and schools and retirement home for elderly, shops, restaurants and bars, succeeds in bringing the people together, creating a nice, knit community. Overall the neighbourhood is a big success in urban planning.

As far as densely populated banlieues go, New Fužine are one of the best of them.

All aerial shots taken by Canon A810 flying on a Rokkaku kite. Young Viktor proved himself again as a skilled kite co-pilot.