“I am very interested in everything that is told between the lines, not in the direct messages but in the hidden ones,” says Nika Zupanc in the fourth episode of UNSCRIPTED. The Ljubljana-based product and interior designer, for whom wilderness and silence are her best friends, gives an undiscovered peek into her life: from her passion for the woods and the sea, her love for the written word, to her breakfast routine and daily rituals.

I would like to be remembered as someone courageous, always trying to find the way despite obstacles. – Nika Zupanc

For Zupanc, curiosity, a love for getting lost in fairy tales and a drive for process and challenges form a way of life. “One cannot be out of ideas because the questions are always new and so are the answers,” she replies when we ask her where she heads to when her creative well runs dry. Having consciously chosen nature over city living to establish her eponymous studio, she focuses on movement (of any kind), outside of the studio, to keep her mind refreshed.

Zupanc first garnered global recognition in 2008 with the launch of her maiden product – the Lolita Lamp – conceived for Dutch design company MOOI under the creative direction of Italian designer, Marcel Wanders. The product, which came with the byline, ‘Who’s afraid of pink’, rebelled against the dominant thinking that typecasted the hue as being ‘too delicate’, ‘feminine’ and ‘a no-go area’ in serious design.

I don’t think I have a style. I would say I have a methodology. – Nika Zupanc

Building upon the art of storytelling and a sustainable outlook towards her practice, works coming out of her studio include conceptual installations, signature products, and limited-edition collections for contemporary furniture and interiors companies as well as for her own brand. ‘I Will Buy Flowers for Myself’ (2009), ‘Gone With The Wind’ (2010) and the Black Cherry Lamp presented at the Milan Design Week over the years are a few projects that saw her evolving into an authentic global voice. Recognised for putting immersive narratives to her works, the Slovenian designer says that she often finds herself more as a storyteller than an actual designer.

More on UNSCRIPTED, Zupanc shares a design advice she swears by and reveals why her project titles steer away from functional terminologies and rather evoke strong feelings and gestures.

Tap on the cover video for the complete conversation.

UNSCRIPTED:
Curated by Pramiti Madhavji (Consultant, Content Adviser, STIR), UNSCRIPTED is a STIR-original series of quick-witted video interviews with leading design professionals who give a peek into their undiscovered lives. A melting pot of quests, revelations and quirks, the series releases a new episode every Sunday as designers reveal unheard and unknown nuggets from their lives, in response to 30 questions.  

All photographs © Nika Zupanc. Images may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, or used in part or whole without obtaining permission. The photographs in this video are not licensed for personal, commercial, or public use, or use in the public domain in any form.