apartment of architect Elena Kochetkova in the center of Moscow Elena Kochetkova

Passing the gallery

A photo: Sergey Morgunov, Ekaterina Morgunov

Materials prepared: Julia Sakharova

Project author: Елена Кочеткова

Magazine: H (76) 2003

Elena Kochetkova lives in Moscow. She graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute in 1978, once worked in Mosproject-2. Among the "notable" objects of the Soviet period is the complex of the apparatus of the economic adviser of Nigeria in the city of Lagos, the dacha of Brezhnev. Already there, signs of Elena's corporate style appeared - a combination of functionality with bright imagery and non-standard solutions. In the "fisherman's house," the owner, sitting in an armchair by the fireplace, could swing a fishing rod and get straight into the trout pond, over which the house hung. In terms of the house looked like a snail ... What is not a beautiful metaphor? And the new time has given rise to new architectural symbols: the house-ark, the house-boat, the house-list ... The works of the architect are marked with national and international architectural awards. And Helen has a wonderful family: husband, son and daughter “In 1995, we bought a five-room apartment in a Stalin-era building on Goncharnaya Embankment,” says Elena. “Live in the center. Besides being convenient to get to work from here, and my daughter to school, here, on the high bank of the Moscow River, it's very beautiful: Our windows offer a panoramic view of the river and Zamoskvorechye with its historic buildings. Since our goal was to quickly start living in this apartment, I did everything very quickly: sketches, repairs, furniture bought the one that was in the store in stock. After 4 months after breaking the walls, we moved in here. It concerns the layout, it is quite simple and subordinated to several main tasks. Spread room sons and daughters in space, as they both play music (daughter does vocals, son plays guitar). Make a room where I could work. Place our books " . The height of the ceilings - 3.5 m - allowed the levels to play: the private areas and the library area are raised, the living room, on the contrary, is lowered. The height difference echoes the natural relief of the Moskva River, and the living room, lying "in the valley", as if invites you to admire the landscape of the opposite bank. Behind the sliding glass panels of the living room, home theater equipment is visible. Watch a good movie (not TV!) Love here. Another kind of rest after a hard day’s work, as the architect notes with humor, is “to come home and fall.” From this point of view, the bedroom is the perfect place. Natural materials (wood and cotton) and pastel colors all contribute to good sleep. Above the bed hangs a graphic work - a gift of a son brought from England. The family of birds, according to Elena, symbolically denotes her family. The son, by the way, recently moved to live in his own apartment, and his room became the “additional territory” of his daughter. In her room there is a white piano and a stretcher with her mother's graphics depicting Venice. Elena's daughters like minimalism, and she was somewhat disappointed to see that her room was decorated in a general style for the whole apartment with notes of classic and country music. Still, minimalism is the style of the young, and this state quickly passes. A family where two or three generations live together is easier to live in classic interiors. “It’s difficult to live in pure minimalism,” the architect believes. boat, house-leaf, house-wave ...