Luxury of freedom

BIG BERRY PEOPLE

Meet Rok Žnidaršič and Jerneja Fischer Knap, our organic-thinker designers

After the two first group of designers: Poke Studio and Hana Karim & Janža Dolinšek, BIG BERRY Kolpa River was very proud to welcome our third participants in the BB Product Design Project of the 2018 season: Rok Žnidaršič and Jerneja Fischer Knap from Medprostor architectural atelier in Ljubljana. We spent three amazing days together during which we learnt a lot about design, architecture and spirituality.

Rok Žnidaršč is a professional architect and teacher in the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture. With Jerneja Fischer Knap who comes from Ljubljana where she studied architecture, they decided to go on their own together and to establish a company, after working for others. In 2011, on Valentine’s day, Medprostor architectural atelier was born.

They devoted around twenty years now of their lives on architecture and design. A true passion and devotion filled with so many amazing projects. Projects that give them lots of challenges. But for these two professionals, challenges are always exciting and moreover, are part of the job: “it’s very exciting to get the answers of those challenges”. It is important also in their work to make places and spaces that people will like. As we said, solving problems is probably the most basic thing in architecture because it is one of the biggest challenges. How to transform problems into something useful in order to obtain a new space.

Throughout their stay here at BIG BERRY, Rok and Jerneja were kindly letting us following and observing them. We had the real chance to learn a lot, not only on architecture and design, but also in how to think and observe what surrounds us and how to capture inspiration.

From their side, they get inspiration mainly from Japan and nature but also from all around the world. Inspirations that are only related to architecture but also cultures, history or cultivated nature. There is so many interesting and exciting things that surround us, especially architectural examples.

For Rok, the most important thing would probably be our roots, traditions and cultural environment: “We are always trying to combine all these aspects to consider different opportunities to evoke again traditional heritage”.

A way of thinking shared by Jerneja who always tries to find the best things that are in some places or in nature in order to bring it out into their architectural projects.

Finally, the context is also very important. First, it’s important to understand the space and to study it before any kind of intervention, to understand it in many ways such as physical and spiritual ways, the environment but also history and future of it.

Creating their own company gives them the opportunity for each project to become somehow crazy or memorable but also to enjoy it because “it’s probably the most interesting thing in our work. there are so many different projects in which you need to be innovative, creative and responsible”. From furniture to design, an exhibition or houses, they intend to make that all the projects are challenges for them and to make something new. But if they had to pick up one, it would be public places - which are a big part of Medprostor’s activities - because there is a lot of people involved as users afterwards so it is a real challenge of how to design them and at the same time, make people happy about it.

During these three days, they enjoyed being in the nature to relax and get fresh inspiration: “It’s a special experience because it combines really well nature and quality design in a such nice environment which allows us to create”. A great experience to be here and also understand the environment of Kolpa River. They think it’s a real chance to have this place where you can create while observing and feeling the nature. “It becomes like you are living into your project”.

A living project which will emerge very soon in BIG BERRY Kolpa River. It sure will add a new experience connected to nature and relaxation.

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