cafe-club in Novosibirsk Grigory Kuzhelev, Galina Budnikova

Passing the gallery

Text: Valentina Fomenko

A photo: Evgeny Ivanov

Architect: Grigory Kuzhelev, Galina Budnikova

Architect-designer: Julia Chashkova

Woodwork: Vladimir Ivanov, Gennady Fomchenko

Metal Works: Sergey Ovodov

Builder: Vasily Tolstov

Painter: Elena Bertollo

Magazine: (63)

The complex, conceived as a cafe-club (Novosibirsk, Vokzalnaya st., 16), is a two-level space and includes four rooms and a summer cafe, united by the theme of the East. However, the cuisine that is offered to visitors by the organizers of the place is not particularly Eastern, but the most diverse European. So the name Fusion fully justifies itself. The upper hall is made on the theme "The Future of Central Asia". And if Oriental motifs in the interior are a retrospectio view, in the historical, architectural past, then the Siberian ideas about the East, on the contrary, are oriented ... to the future. The authors of the project believe that this is the "right East" in architecture. The architects allowed themselves to cite traditional historical images of Central Asia through the prism of high tech and cutting-edge aesthetics. This "amount of technology" led to the desired ideological result. The interior reads, perhaps, a bold, but very convincing attempt to determine one of the possible directions in the trajectory of the development of a Middle Eastern civilization. No less. The horizontal minaret - the stained glass window against the "star" ceiling - hovers freely, like a carpet-plane, while zoning the room. “Old-fashioned”, as if genuine scrolls, polished glass, which gives tempting optical effects, translucent fabric screens - this is not a complete list of elements that create a finely stylized composition. The ladder is a “mast” with raised “sails”, penetrating the space vertically, it provides the necessary communicative function and casually reminds an adventure sea plot. Smooth steel steps lead down to a platform with a Japanese character. Here the Far Eastern initiative with its refined and self-sufficient minimalism prevails. On the ground floor there are also two small rooms for VIP guests. It is a mini-theater of shadows with a composition of fans-light filters ("Tatami-hall") and a cozy muted dark comfortable room with karaoke. So, in the very center of the "Siberian capital" a modern public complex is now functioning, which satisfies the sophisticated demands of the most exacting visitors.