Interviewed in Ljubljana, December 20th 2005

This architectural office Ofis was established by Rok Oman and Špela Videčnik, whose professional collaboration dates back to their university days. With a fresh approach and recognizable architectural expression they attracted attention in Slovenia, confirmed by several competitions they won for larger residential and non-residential buildings. In the past two years, several of their significant buildings were constructed, so their architectural works (constructed and project designs) are regularly showcased at international exhibitions and in all major European magazines, even on the front covers.

ORIS: First, let us go back to the beginnings of your professional training and education. After you graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, you continued your study of architecture in 1998 at the Architectural Association (AA) in London. How do you look at your departure from Ljubljana and your return now, seven years later?

Oman: In retrospect, I would say that for me the greatest experience with all its subsequent consequences came from the fact that I went somewhere abroad where I felt an outsider. Now that I’m back here, well, believe it or not, I still feel an outsider.