1/ Can you tell us a little about where you come from & why reuse is important to you?
I come from Bratislava a capital of Slovakia. Slovakia is small country which is very rich in traditional crafts and manufacturing. Somehow I feel deeply connected with the heritage - but let’s say in a “new and reloved way" :o) . I can source the techniques and principles, but I do not hang on the tradition too much. I fell in love with up-cycling because of the magic when the original materials are revealed and recognize in totally new creations. This is what drives me forward and always sparkles for me. Paying a huge respect to traditional craft is important to me and I like to mix it with a little bit of what I call is "industrial and punk feel”.

2/ How long have you been up-cycling & how did you start out?
I have studied architecture in Bratislava, but somehow I always found myself more intrigued in intricate details of product design. Or generally speaking, in small scale of products. I have started shaping my up-cycling business in 2009 after couple of years in architecture business. Founding the Juraj Vyboh studio was the result of closing the architecture office I have worked for and my personal questioning where do I want to put my heart into. I asked myself what would I like to do, if money were not and objective. I felt the itching "pins and needles” by making reality of my ideas long time ago but never thought it could be my way in life. My memories of visiting a small design studios in the city of New York during my stay in the US in 2000 I showed me the way in which i would like to move forward.

3/ Where do you find all the materials for your wonderful up-cycled pieces?
I always walk around with open eyes. I know it might actually sounds as huge cliché but it works that way. When you focus on creativity in certain area, the inputs will find you. Nowadays, it seems to me that the materials are chasing me everywhere :-) .. After couple of years in this field I feel like a magnet to a good old things, I cannot hide.. :-) I find them everywhere. In a certain way, I do not have a methodology in sourcing the right things. I have tried that, but it did not work for me. I work with what comes my way and that is why the results are so varied and unique all the time. It comes with a price though as the products are always very much a prototypes - “one-offs” - and requires a lot of thinking and improvisation in my workshop.

4/ How do you come up with your brilliant ideas?
I have to admit, this is truly a secret for me as well. The ideas sort of travel for months maybe years incognito in my head. Then at certain point, when I come across the right material input (when the material finds me) the idea blinks strongly and I start working on it. I carry loads of ideas in my head as well as in my sketchbook for future reference. So I would say, the things coming my way keep inspiring me to create. So far, it worked that way most of the time.