apartment with a total area of ​​195 m2 Yulia Mikhailova, Alexander Kutsenko

Passing the gallery

A photo: Oleg Parfenov

Text: Nadezhda Nadimova

Architect: Alexander Kutsenko, Yulia Mikhailova

Builder: Oleg Kovalevsky

Textile: Elena Kurakina, Natalya Trubnikova

Magazine: N11 (78) 2003

The fashion for Japan in European architecture is a special topic. Eastern exotic plus sophisticated minimalism - this is what Japan takes from a romantic European. Architects Julia Mikhailova and Alexander Kutsenko presented their interpretation of the Japanese theme. Interestingly, not at all the fascination with Japan as such was the starting point in the creation of the project. At first, customers did not even imagine that their future housing would receive such an extravagant design. They had only two indispensable conditions. First, the interior of the apartment should create a feeling of peace, reliability, some contemplative pacification. Secondly, no artificial materials should be used in the decoration, only natural wood, natural fabrics, ceramics, and stone. Such wishes brought the authors of the project to the idea of ​​Japan, and the customers, appreciating the delights of a different aesthetics, supported this idea. The planning task of the project was to combine the two apartments into one, to create in a single space a ceremonial zone, the core of which would be the living room, and a private one, including the children's room and the parents' bedroom. The vast initial area, not "overloaded" with capital walls, and a small number of specified premises allowed us to implement our plans very consistently and clearly. Clarity and logic inherent in the planning decision, characterize the interior as a whole. It is dominated by flawless geometry of openings and niches, extended horizontals, suspended ceilings and partitions, lined with a dark grid of squares. The delicate use of Japanese motifs in the decoration and décor informs all rooms of a strict stylistic unity. “Neither we nor the customers,” says Yulia Mikhailova, “were aiming to reliably recreate the traditional Japanese interior, a life in which would perhaps be torture for a person belonging to our civilization. Rather, we sought to use elements Japan ... "These low-solid tables made of dark wood, decorative niches lined with cork and bamboo, mats, sliding partitions divided into squares, became the symbols referring the spectator to their ethnic prototype. Ata. The color scheme itself - a combination of bright accents of red and dark brown in furnishings with a light overall tone of the floor, ceiling and walls - creates an association with colored Japanese engraving. The authors believe that such a style with the use of Oriental motifs and the maximum approximation to natural materials is very promising for large cities. In such a space, a person can find peace and a sense of balance, so necessary in our hectic life ...Julia Mikhailova: "From the very beginning, customers liked our idea - oriental style, adapted to the European environment. Creating a" Japanese "interior, we worked quietly, without fuss, as Eastern wisdom teaches, and everything went on as usual. Even the workers in this apartment spoke quietly. - that's what the magic of the East means ... "