apartment Marina Zaynetdinova, Oleg Zhuravlev Elements of the colonial style in the interior of the apartment. Clear logical space, strict living ergonomics combined with warm home comfort

Passing the gallery

A photo: Zinon Rasudinov

Text: Olga Korotkova

Architect: Marina Zainetdinov, Олег Журавлев

Glass works (stained glass and other products): Alexander Demin

Builder: Dmitry Matyushenko

Painter: Andrei Khodakov, Lev Stepanov

Magazine: N1 (57) 2002

Exotics in the interior has long been exotic as such. Since the first Europeans settled in the hot lands of Morocco, India, Australia, the "colonial" style has forever entered the world interior practice. The fact that the apartment is made "for African reasons" is far from obvious. But for a sophisticated gaze, African allusions are unconditional. The task in no way boiled down to the exact copying of the North African dwelling. It is rather Africa, passed through the prism of the European consciousness. The hot “degree” in the interior was not immediately determined: the authors were looking for an image that was able to reconcile the opposite ideas of customers about comfort. On the one hand, there is a man's predilection for a clear logical space, strict residential ergonomics. On the other - feminine Victorian ideal, warm home comfort. Of course, neither the harsh pragmatist of high tech, nor the pompous fanciful Empire style is in any way compatible within a single space. Common family addiction - travel and passion for exotic - led, in the end, the style decision. African realities are read in the interior not as borrowing, but as signs, symbols. Coloring consists of tones connected for us - both non-Europeans and non-Asians - with Africa. This is primarily the color of the flame: orange, brick, shades of brown - from sandy fawn and terracotta to the color of charred wood. The color scheme plays a priority role in creating the image: even authentic African things (statues, vases, paintings) do not give the apartment such a convincing resemblance to our stereotypes related to Africa, like color. Olive and baked milk (curtains) seem to resist the burning solar and "burned" planes and volumes. Rough wooden beams, supporting ceilings, as if smoked by the smoke of an ancient hearth, against the background of ocher walls are perceived “in an African way”. Textured plaster, on which the paint is applied deliberately rough, recalls the native primitivism. Lamps in the living room, located "nests", perform a decorative, but not actually illuminating role: these "light centers" zone a favorite place of hot "siesta" - imposing sofas, located in a semicircle. Fiery yellow cylinders of translucent veneer seem made of rough paper, or "homemade" parchment. Uneven tiles, as if from sintered clay, also paraphrase not so much Africa itself, as stylized artisanal, handicraft production, far from advanced technologies and impeccable quality. The tile, the color of burnt sugar, is laid not only in the kitchen, but also frames the floor in the rooms, boldly combining with traditional European parquet. Genuinely African things in the house are by no means abundant: ottoman black leather in the bedroom, vases and figurines, a picture. Accents give the image completeness and completeness. Here, in the center of Moscow, as nowhere else, you will have the way the poetic story of Nikolai Gumilyov that "... far, far, on Lake Chad, a giraffe wanders exquisitely ..."Marina Zainetdinov: "The main principle of our studio is to avoid direct quoting. This applies to any style. Therefore, we do not make this or that style - we create an image. The main creative idea in this project is the creation of an imaginative interior. Even the color cannot be planned: “I mean.” And only then, by selecting colors and experimenting with lighting, an accurate color appearance is born.