Onoffice magazine

“I’m kind of a rebel,” announces Nika Zupanc, slowly stirring her coffee. “Even in school, I always tried to make a point or subvert things – to give new meaning to the ordinary parts of life.” It seems the Slovenian designer, 37, has used the same motto to carve out her niche in the contemporary design world. A world that, by her account, is still a boys’ club where rational utilitarianism reigns supreme. An object or piece of furniture has to…

A concrete cube doesn’t seem entirely out of place on the fringes of Škofja Loka in Slovenia. Similar buildings are clustered together in the city’s burgeoning industrial zone  – but since Lokatrade Škofja Loka, which produces safety equipment, intended to use this particular site as an office and retail outlet as well as a storage warehouse, the design called for something that stretched beyond the usual nondescript box. Certain limitations came with the job, however. The fact that Lokatrade had…