.htaccess file wont redirect to /public folder (laravel issue)

I have folder /var/www/html/project/himp and there is my laravel installation. In /var/www/html/project is my landing page index.html and some css files.

Inside /himp folder I have .htaccess:

    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^public
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ public/$1 [L]
</IfModule>

also in /himp/public folder I have also .htaccess:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    <IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
        Options -MultiViews
    </IfModule>

    RewriteEngine On

    # Redirect Trailing Slashes If Not A Folder...
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]

    # Handle Front Controller...
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
</IfModule>

Now when I go to the domain.com/himp/public I get Laravel installation and startup screen but when I go to the domain.com/himp I get just folder views, so there is no redirection to public folder ...

Why? What can be a problem here? Please help.

via Aleks Per