apartment in the center of Moscow (95 m2) Alexey Dolgov, Olga Lepetiukhina The interior of the apartment, decided in the style of black and white photographs. Purity of lines, simplicity of their mutual intersection in space

Passing the gallery

A photo: Evgeny Luchin, Mikhail Stepanov

Text: Marianna Mayevskaya

Architect: Alexey Dolgov, Olga Lepetyuha

Magazine: Na (47) 2001

The main feature of this apartment is conciseness. The complete absence of unnecessary details. The purity of the lines, the simplicity of their mutual intersection and coexistence in space. Clarity of color and black and white contrasts Living in an apartment takes place around the "bar counter" - the intersection of uneven tabletops separating the kitchen from the guest space of the apartment. Such a simple and functional solution is so interesting already in itself that it would support the modernity of the project idea, even if all other parts of the apartment were solved in a traditional or historical manner. In the case of the project of architects Alexey Dolgov and Olga Lepetyuha, modernity is not just a program slogan in interior renovation. This is an attempt to create a dialogue between the historical past of the locality (the house is located in the very center of Moscow) and the surrounding life, the predilections of the apartment's inhabitants. A dialogue built on contrasts and oppositions. From this general idea, the concept of simplicity and conciseness as the main value of the created space naturally “grows”. Its authors are well aware that overloading the interior with ultra-modern details can make it as old-fashioned as the oversaturation of overly fanciful forms and semi-antique accessories. However, any artistic understanding of a residential interior should be related to the lifestyle of its inhabitants. And although the overall design of the space was determined easily and immediately, literally every step, every detail of the design, the architects repeatedly agreed with customers. Redevelopment has affected almost all the rooms of the apartment, turning the old Moscow dwelling into an elegant interior for a young family. All vertical planes are solved in the style of black and white photographs: almost devoid of shades of colors, gloss of glass and polished marble softens a single horizontal accent - the floor - which returns us to the framework of traditional ideas about comfort, the warmth of the "hearth". In contrast to the anthropogenic materials of the apartment’s verticals, the parquet of mahogany barely perceptibly echoes the appearance of the entire building - the traditional Moscow apartment building. The minimalism of the image of the inner space is played up by another accent - curtains. Made of deliberately simple material, they enhance the feeling of conscious simplicity, emphasize the lines of the bay window in the living room, the depth of color in the bedroom. Additional freedom and ease of perception give all rooms a significant ceiling height (3.40 m) and black and white contrasts created by a system of specially designed luminaires. The vertical depth of space emphasizes the hidden light in the bathroom. The refined graphic quality of the lines and the purity of the colors, the forms of the interior created by the architects in this Moscow apartment, resemble not only experiments with the texture and color of the masters of Japanese modern architecture, but also correlate with the modern image of rigorous, sophisticated black and white cinema. After all, today it is no longer stylization, but the refinement and authenticity of concise images.