Why is a vase like a house? From systems to fantasy with the designer Janja Lap

The scientific monograph systematically examines the life and work of the designer and architect Janja Lap through five thematic sections. As the first scientific monograph dedicated to a female designer and architect from Slovenia, it holds particular significance for research on late twentieth-century design in Slovenia and beyond. The opening chapter, The Elusively Restless Spirit of Janja Lap, places her biography within the context of her social network and explores how key encounters shaped her professional development and scholarly work. The chapter Opifex artis vitrae examines her fifty years of research and design in glass, with particular attention to her work at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. This forms the starting point for the section An Overlooked Body of Scholarly Research, which presents for the first time her largely neglected research in design, rooted in the pioneering period of design research in the United Kingdom. Emphasis is placed on her ability to analyse and plan complex systems and to develop new systemic approaches to identified problems. These insights were later transferred to industrial design, particularly during her decade of work at Iskra, discussed in the chapter Direct Contact with Industry. The final section, written by Maja Vardjan, examines the previously unexplored architectural and interior design work of Janja Lap, revealing an oeuvre that consistently crosses the boundaries between architecture and design. The study combines analysis of relevant scholarly literature with the authors’ own research findings. It is based on historical analysis of archival material, semi-structured interviews with family members, colleagues, contemporaries, and former students from her time teaching in the United Kingdom, as well as the examination of unpublished studies, research preparations, and a collection of 123 letters. The authors contextualise Lap’s research in relation to the work of her mentor Bruce Archer, while analyses of her glass design and industrial design draw on formal and comparative methods. Throughout the study, the interpretation of sources was verified through multiple references and considered within broader cultural, social, and political contexts, while also seeking to establish a transnational perspective.