ANA ZADNIK

ANA ZADNIK RIJEČKI POTPIS NA MINIJU MINI WITH A SIGNATURE FROM RIJEKA

Ana Zadnik u Ljubljani je diplomirala kiparstvo, a u Londonu je završila znameniti Royal College of Art. Danas se bavi dizajnom jednog od najlegendarnijih automobila u povijesti Ana Zadnik obtained her degree in sculpture in Ljubljana and graduated from the famous Royal College of Art in London. Today she designs one of the most iconic cars in history

Kao djevojčica nije se igrala autićima ni lijepila postere Ferrarija i Porschea na zidove sobe. Nije se Ana Zadnik žurila ni sjesti za upravljač automobila. Na polaganje vozačkog ispita krenula je nakon što je diplomirala studij kiparstva na akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Ljubljani, no u svijet automobila nije ušla nimalo slučajno. As a little girl, she didn’t play with cars or put up posters of Ferraris and Porsches on the walls of her room. Neither was Ana Zadnik in a hurry to get behind the wheel of a car. She took her driving test after receiving a degree in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana; however, her entry into the world of cars was no accident.

Fotogarfije / Photos: Sanjin Kaštelan / Start

- Nikad nisam imala posebnu strast prema automobilima. Uvijek sam ih gledala isključivo kao objekte dizajna i inženjeringa. Diploma kiparstva je bila rezultat ljubavi prema fizičkom stvaralaštvu, a dizajn me je oduvijek zanimao u svim domenama, od mode, do arhitekture i namještaja. Tijekom studija imala sam priliku pohađati nekoliko studentskih razmjena na području Europske unije i sve su bile na temu automobilskog inženjeringa. To, doduše, nije bilo namjerno. Slučajno sam bila primljena baš na tečajeve s tom tematikom, ali kada sam spojila te tri grane, pojavila se ideja o dizajnu automobila kao poslu koji bi ujedinio sve što volim raditi i u čemu sam imala prilike steći znanje kroz nekoliko godina studija, pojašnjava nam svoj životni put Riječanka koja posljednjih šest godina živi u Münchenu i radi u dizajnerskom odjelu Minija. Ključni trenutak za Anino profesionalno usmjeravanje stigao je 2005. kada je zahvaljujući odličnim rezultatima tijekom studija (2003. bila je dobitnica Prešernove studentske nagrade, najvišeg priznanja ljubljanske Univerze) stekla pravo na stipendiju slovenske vlade za upis Kraljevskog fakulteta za umjetnost u Londonu, znamenitog Royal College of Art. Tijekom studija u Londonu provela je dva mjeseca na specijalizaciji u Japanu, točnije - I never had a special passion for cars. I always looked at them solely as objects of design and engineering. My degree in sculpture was the result of my love for physical creativity, and design has always interested me in all its aspects, from fashion to architecture and furniture. In the course of my studies, I had the opportunity to attend several student exchanges in the European Union and they were all on the topic of automotive engineering. That wasn’t intentional, though. I happened to be accepted into courses with this topic, but when I combined these three branches, the idea of car design as a job appeared that would unite everything I love to do and which I had the opportunity to learn about in several years of study, explains the course of her life Ana Zadnik, this woman from Rijeka who has lived in Munich for the past six years and who works in the design department of Mini. The key moment that determined Ana’s choice of profession was in 2005, when, thanks to excellent results in her studies (in 2003, she received the Prešern Student Award, the highest recognition of the University in Ljubljana), she was granted a scholarship by the Slovenian government to study at the famous Royal College of Art in London. While studying in London, she did a

u Toyoti, a potom joj je prestižna diploma otvorila vrata koncerna Renault Nissan i sljedećih je pet godina živjela i radila u Bukureštu, Barceloni i Parizu. Profesionalni angažman 2012. vodi je u okrilje grupacije Jaguar - Land Rover, dvije godine kasnije seli u bavarsku prijestolnicu gdje počinje raditi kao vanjski suradnik u BMW Grupi, a 2015. postaje stalni član dizajnerskog odjela zaduženog za dizajn unutrašnjosti Minija.

Svih ovih godina uglavnom ste radili na interijerima automobila, ali u vrlo različitim okruženjima. Postoje li još uvijek škole dizajna s nacionalnim predznakom poput talijanske, francuske, njemačke ili je ta klasična tradicionalna podjela nestala?

- Mislim da se stil u dizajnu i načinu rada donekle još uvijek može klasificirati po državama. Ono sto je značajno za njemačku školu bilo bi prilično drugačije koncipirano u primjerice britanskoj ili švedskoj školi i obrnuto. Zbog toga mislim da je vrlo poželjno imati međunarodnu atmosferu u uredu. Svaka škola daje određene kvalitete, a dizajn je uvijek višestruko obogaćen ako je kreiran s različitim stilistima kroz proces stvaranja. two-month internship in Japan, more precisely in Toyota; her prestigious degree then led her to the Renault Nissan group, and for the next five years she lived and worked in Bucharest, Barcelona and Paris. In 2012, her professional career took her into the fold of Jaguar Land Rover, and two years later she moved to the Bavarian capital, where she was first an external associate for the BMW Group. In 2015, she became a permanent member of the design department in charge of the Mini’s interior design.

Osim automobila, zanimaju me arhitektura i kiparsko – slikarsko stvaralaštvo. Kao nekome s diplomom likovne akademije, smjer kiparstva, nedostaje mi onaj nered i kreativnost umjetničkog ateljea, strojevi za varenje, rezanje, dlijeta i čekići.

In addition to cars, I am interested in architecture, as well as sculpture and painting. As someone with an art academy degree and a specialisation in sculpture, I miss the mess and creativity of an art atelier, the welding machines, the cutting, the chisels and hammers.

All these years you have mostly worked on car interiors, but in very different environments. Are there still design schools with a national ‘stamp’, like Italian, French, German, or is this classic traditional division gone?

- I think that style as design and a way of doing things can still be classified by countries to some extent. What is characteristic for German design would be quite differently done in the British or Swedish school of design, for example, and vice versa. That’s why I think it’s desirable to have an international atmosphere in the office. Each school of design has certain qualities, and the design is always much more enriched if different stylists participate in the process of creation.

Art and artists are very often characterised by strong individual personalities, while the design of modern cars is a team effort. How do you manage to reconcile those two opposites?

- I don’t think many designers find this aspect easy. You must strike a good balance between individual and collective contribution. There is a time in the process of automotive design (in the first, creative phase) where individual work is the general idea. So, in a way, we compete against each other, and only one or two are

Umjetnost i umjetnike vrlo često karakteriziraju izražene individualne osobnosti dok je dizajn modernih automobila timski rad. Kako uspijevate pomiriti te dvije suprotnosti?

- Mislim da mnogim dizajnerima nije lako u tom kontekstu. Mora se naći dobar balans između individualnog i kolektivnog doprinosa. Postoji razdoblje unutar procesa (prva, kreativna faza) u automobilskom dizajnu gdje je generalna ideja rad individualaca. Dakle, natječemo se na neki način, jedan protiv drugih, a samo 1 ili 2 su izabrani da nastave raditi na projektu. Dakle, faza osobne kreativnosti postoji i tu se može povući paralela s umjetnikom-kreativcem. Zatim slijedi faza kad se projektu priključi velik broj ljudi, pa i oni koji su prije bili konkurencija. Znači, nema mjesta egoizmu; na kraju krajeva je to ipak timski rad; ponekad se pobijedi, ponekad izgubi, ali najbitnije je zadržati dobre odnose bez emocionalnih skokova.

Nakon odlasku u mirovinu Walter de Silva posvetio se dizajnu cipela, Bruno Sacco slavinama. Vaša karijera tek je počela, ali postoje li već sada neka područja u kojima biste se željeli okušati?

- Dvije stvari me vrlo zanimaju, pored trenutnog posla. Jedno je arhitektura, posebno manje arhitekturne jedinice, 'micro living space', inspirirane mojom studentskom praksom u Japanu gdje sam provela nekoliko mjeseci živeći u jednoj takvoj jedinici. Drugo je kiparsko – slikarsko stvaralaštvo. Kao nekome s diplomom likovne akademije, smjer kiparstva, nedostaje mi onaj nered i kreativnost umjetničkog ateljea, strojevi za varenje, rezanje, dlijeta i čekići. Voljela bih se tome vratiti, možda kad budem u mirovini. chosen to continue working on the project. In this way, the stage of personal creativity exists, and it is here where a parallel with the artist-creative person can be drawn. Then there is the stage when a large number of people join the project, including even those who previously competed against each other. So, there’s no room for ego; after all, it is a team effort. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but the most important thing is to maintain good relationships without emotional outbursts.

After retiring, Walter de Silva devoted himself to shoe design, Bruno Sacco to taps. Your career has only just begun, but are there any areas you’d like to try your hand at?

- There are two things I’m very interested in, in addition to my current job. One is architecture, especially small-scale architecture – micro living space – inspired by my student practice in Japan, where I spent several months living in one such unit. The other is sculpture and painting. As someone with an art academy degree and a specialisation in sculpture, I miss the mess and creativity of an art atelier, the welding machines, the cutting, the chisels and hammers. I’d like to go back to that, maybe when I’m retired.

Volvo and BMW were among the first companies to give women a chance, but automotive design is still perceived as a man’s job. What are your experiences?

- I think that today a large number of car companies employ an equal number of men and women in their design departments,

Inspiraciju za nove automobile dobivam na izložbama, od studentskih do priznatih imena. Također uzor mi je sve od arhitekture do modnog dizajna. I find my inspiration for new cars at exhibitions, both by students and renowned artists. Another great source of inspiration is everything from architecture to fashion design.

Volvo i BMW bile su među prvim kompanijama koje su pružile prigodu ženama, no dizajn automobila još uvijek se doživljava kao muški posao. Kakva su vaša iskustva?

- Mislim da danas velik broj automobilskih tvrtki zapošljava u dizajnu podjednak broj muškaraca i žena, ako nije riječ o fizički vrlo zahtjevnom poslu. Dizajn automobila nije nikako fizički zahtjevan. Čak i fizički najzahtjevniji dio, izrada 1:1 modela u glini, zapošljava jednak omjer muških i ženskih. Nije bitan spol već dobro školovanje i kreativnost. Tu i tamo sam radila u tvrtkama gdje nije bilo drugih žena, ali to se je u posljednjih 15 godina promijenilo i izbalansiralo, i čini mi se da su svi sretniji u miješanoj atmosferi.

Koga biste naveli kao uzor kada je u pitanju dizajn automobila?

- Mogla bih navesti nekoliko velikih imena, opet, neki modeli su mi draži od drugih, neki me fasciniraju više, neki manje. Ono što bih radije istaknula kao uzor i veliku inspiraciju su izložbe. Studentske ili one već priznatih imena. I to ne one vezane direktno uz dizajn automobila. Rijetko su mi uzor postojeći modeli. Tu postoji opasnost od ponavljanja već viđenog. Naravno, uvijek treba uspoređivati i učiti iz uspjeha i padova postojećih modela, ali uzor mi je sve od arhitekture do modnog dizajna.

Koji je vaš stav o retro dizajnu?

- Riječ 'retro' je zapravo vrlo teško prisvojiti kad je riječ o suvremenom automobilskom dizajnu, bar u posljednjih nekoliko godina. Retro često ima prizvuk nostalgičnog ili staromodnog. Gotovo nikad taj pojam ne koristimo kod stvaranja novih modela. Retro bi značilo moderniziranje starog, postojećeg modela dok je u suvremenom dizajnu cilj stvoriti novitet ne zaboravljajući ikonične elemente određenog branda ili modela. Tako se dobije svjež, inovativan proizvod koji je uglavnom 'iconic' a manje 'retro'.

Koliko ste vezani za Rijeku i koliko je uspijevate često posjetiti?

- Jednom do dvaput godišnje uspijevam doći u Rijeku, vidim se s najbližima. Pola ljudi koje planiram vidjeti, ne stignem. Možda se situacija popravi kroz par godina, ali svako šestosatno putovanje s dvoje male dječice se obično otegne u višednevnu avanturu pa se zasad uglavnom držimo Bavarske. Rijeka je sve ljepša i ima puno potencijala, često mi nedostaje, pogotovo more i mamina kuhinja.  unless the work is physically very demanding. Automotive design is in no way physically demanding. An equal ratio of men and women are employed even in the most physically demanding part of it, which is making 1:1 scale models in clay. It’s not about gender, it’s about good education and creativity. Now and then I’ve worked in companies where there were no other women, but that’s changed and evened out over the past 15 years, and it seems to me that everyone is happier in this ‘mixed’ atmosphere.

Who would you list as a role model when it comes to car design?

- I could name a few big names. Again, I like some models better than others; some I find more fascinating, some less. What I would rather point out as my role models and a great source of inspiration are exhibitions, both by students and by renown artists. And not only the ones that are directly related to car design. Existing models are rarely a source of inspiration to me. There is a risk of repeating of what has already been seen. Of course, one should always compare and learn from the successes and failures of existing models, but I find inspiration in everything from architecture to fashion design.

What is your stand on retro design?

- I actually find it very difficult to use the word ‘retro’ when it comes to contemporary automotive design, at least in recent years. Retro often has the overtones of nostalgic or old-fashioned. We almost never use this term when creating new models. Retro would mean modernising an old, existing model, while in modern design the goal is to create a novelty without forgetting the iconic elements of a particular brand or model. This produces a fresh, innovative product that is mostly ‘iconic’ and less ‘retro’.

How attached are you to Rijeka and how often do you manage to visit?

- Once or twice a year I make it to Rijeka and meet my nearest and dearest. I don’t manage to see half the people I plan to meet. Maybe the situation will improve in a few years’ time, but each six-hour trip with two little children usually turns into a few days of adventure, so for now we mostly stick to Bavaria. Rijeka is getting more and more beautiful and it has a lot of potential. I often miss it, especially the sea and mum’s cooking. 