AS Aperitivo by Nika Zupanc
Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc has finished her first interior project. With cherry-shaped pendant lights hang from metal branches on the ceiling, the AS Aperitivo bar in Ljubljana is a true image of Zupanc’s very dark and humorous style.
Mediterranean furniture from the 60s and 70s inspired Zupanc to create a bespoke collection especially for the restaurant, including tables with pleated fabric trims and folding blackboards with rounded edges.
Raised timber floors create platforms for tables that Zupanc originally designed for furniture brand Moooi, as well as chairs by designers Jamie Hayon and Antonio Citterio.
Lattices of timber and metal decorate the walls, creating wine racks and spirit cabinets.
Description from Zupanc:
March 2011 has seen the end of the wooden garden pavilion of the restaurant AS and the beginning of the audacious plans to build a new, larger object which includes not only its daily offer that has pampered us in our every-day hustle and bustle but also an area for evening gatherings, when people let go of their worries and meet friends in the company of a good glass of wine, a cocktail and delicious light specialties of the As trademark. Thus, AS Aperitivo.
The architecture, designed by the biro Arhé d.o.o., followed the motif of a 150 years old tree surrounded by a clean concrete construction floating above the garden. The airiness of the building is achieved by the glass walls which in the sunny spring and summer days will hide completely into the ground and behind the concrete walls, thus creating a feeling of comfort under the large treetop of the majestic Caucasian wingnut.
The internal open space and the client’s contextual indications were signed by the designer Nika Zupanc through her internationally renowned designer manuscript. The garden motif with the treetop coming down into the room was accentuated with three cherry branches, iconic lights, which were interpreted especially for this room, thus enhancing the tension between the interior and exterior. As a result, a kind of non-room was created, an open-closed garden with several small environments and details, crafted as verses which are left for each individual to interpret. The flowing poetical space of clean and archetypal solutions is enhanced with copper accents. Besides the cherries (La femme et la maison by Nika Zupanc, 2009), 5 o’clock tables (Moooi 2009), the legendary pendant lights by Alvar Aalto (Golden Bell, Artek, 1939), Pina chairs designed for Magis by the Spanish Jamie Hayon (2010) and armchairs designed for Maxalto by Antonio Citterio (2008), all other elements in this spatial tale were designed especially for our premises.
The family of furniture with plissé details, developed especially for As Aperitivo bar in Ljubljana, was inspired by iconic furniture and serving tables, found in mass tourists hotels in 60s and 70s on the Mediterranean Riviera. The bath sinks were designed in addition to the mini-bar tables, which are are one of the accents of the interior. The bath sink, named Bassin Plisse is made out of artificial stone, named Kerrock, the legs and under construction are made out of 200 year old oak wood. This Oak wood is coming from Vojvodina, from the old family house of the owners of AS Aperitivo and it was in the initial brief to use this wood as a detail throughout the whole interior and in all the products, designed for it. By using a fabric plisse, the basin can get a more feminine touch, but at the same time this kilt can act as a curtain, hiding the bathroom accessories underneath the basin.
This half open space with a very old tree in the middle was also a main inspiration to create a modular seating system of Picnic sofas, which would offer a great comfort, but would also posses the ascetic look of a garden bench at the same time. Execution of the Picnic sofa is designed as a collection of one-seater, two-seater or three-seater, with an option to be extended in infinitive.
Photography is by Saša Hess.
Read more: Nika Zupanc
SoFiliumm 
I love this space – the pops of red work so well, but my favorite parts are the wine racks and lattice liquor cabinet. So beautiful.