Set in a Milanese palazzo (a grand public building) north of the city centre, the concept is a winning combination of a three-room hotel, art gallery, design boutique and cafe-restaurant, and Sozzani has since replicated its success in Tokyo and Seoul.

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Dzyga Art Gallery, which houses a bohemian cafe under a dome-shaped roof.

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"We have a clear customer focus, which is: People who want to make money in print, " says Bernhard Schreier, Heidelberger Druck's 47-year-old CEO, over breakfast at the art deco corporate cafe in Heidelberg.

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Setting itself firmly in Mitteleuropa rather than the Balkans, the country has transformed its capital of Ljubljana into a pedestrianised, cafe-kissed oasis, where a collage of refurbished medieval, Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings shine as brightly as the shimmering waters of the Ljubljanica River.

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