Product and interior designer Nika Zupanc became a globally recognised name with the launch of theLolita lamp, her first object to be produced by Moooi.
Zupanc works as an independent designer who is constantly involved in fresh projects that grow out of distinctive interpretations of modern culture, contemporary design and available technological options. Her products are part of the range of distinguished design companies such as Moooi, Moroso and Nodus. Her praised limited edition collections and installations are exhibited around the world, sometimes as part of high-end collaborations like the one with Rossana Orlandi. Along the way, Zupanc continuously produces objects under her own brand and is involved in various interior projects.
Besides the Lolita lamp, Zupanc has designed a long line of signature ready-to-use pieces like 5 O’Clock Table and 5 O’Clock Chair (Moooi) or Tailored Chair (Moroso). But it is her conceptual installations that saw her evolving into an authentic global voice – I Will Buy Flowers Myself (2009) and Gone with the Wind (2010) presented a collection of objects inside blown-up doll house structures that became a hallmark of Milan Design Week. The Black Cherry lamp, now one of the iconic pieces of her own brand, also debuted at Milan Design Week. The installations that followed, Selfdiscipline (2011) and Summertime (2012), mark the beginning of limited edition collections in partnership with Rossana Orlandi, where with a stubborn passion Zupanc examines the nature of furniture. In 2012, her hometown of Ljubljana had the privilege to be the first with an interior designed and art-directed by Zupanc personally. The noir refurbishment of As Aperitivo is an introduction to her new venture of designing interiors.
Since emerging on the global design platform, her work has been watched closely by the international press, describing her work as everything from “punk elegance” (Elle USA) and “techno chic” (BusinessWeek) to “larger than life” (Clear magazine) and Zupanc as “the real star” (The Wall Street Journal). Nika Zupanc’s work has also been featured in a number of international magazines, including The New York Times Style magazine, Domus, Wallpaper, Icon, AD, Elle, Elle Decoration, Elle Decor, Marie Claire, Damn, Urbis, Artravel, Serie Limitee, Clear magazine, Blueprint, Eigen huis & Interieur, Vogue, Le Figaro and Die Welt.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2012
The Cherry Orchard exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Luminosity at The Dock, hosted by Tom Dixon, London Design Week, United Kingdom)
Summertime exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Fuori Salone 2011, Milan, Italy)
2011
Can you imagine? (Alcantara, curated by Giullio Cappelini, Maxxxi museum, Rome, Italy)
Silk rugs (Nodus showroom, Fuori Salone 2011, Milan, Italy)
Selfdiscipline exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Fuori Salone 2011, Milan, Italy)
Gone with the Wind exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Spazio Pontaccio, Milan, Italy)
2010
Gone with the Wind exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Salone del Mobile, Superstudio Piu, Milan, Italy)
5 O’Clock Chair and 5 O’Clock Table (Moooi, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy)
2009
Tailored Chair (Moroso, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy)
Lolita Lamp family (Moooi, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy)
I Will Buy Flowers Myself exhibition by Nika Zupanc (Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy)
2008
Maid Chair (Backstage: A Sideview on the Moroso Design Collection curated by Patrizia Moroso, Gallery113, Kortrjik, Belgium)
2008
Lolita Lamp family (Moooi, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy)
2007
La femme et la maison (Design from 5 Continents curated by the British Council Department For Design and Architecture, Design Festival, London, United Kingdom)
La femme et la maison (Art Nhow, Milan, Italy)
La femme et la maison (Salone Satellite, Milan, Italy)
2006
Nursing Room 0+ (The Lighthouse, Glasgow, United Kingdom)
Nursing Room 0+ (Young Design Talent Show, Inno Design Centre, Hong Kong, China)
Nursing Room 0+ and La clinique d’amour (Salone Satellite, Milan, Italy)
2005
La clinique d’amour (100% Design, London, United Kingdom) 2003
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
Let's Go Out (Gestalten)
2009
Once upon a Chair (Gestalten)
2008
Idea Searching (Ava Academia publishing)
Material Thoughts (Ava Academia publishing)
