Moscow restaurant "Red" Boris Matveev, Elena Franchyan

Passing the gallery

A photo: Mikhail Stepanov

Text: Sonya Oleinik

Architect: Boris Matveev, Elena Franchyan

Builder: Nikolay Vorobev

Magazine: N1 (68) 2003

In the interior of the Moscow restaurant "Red" (Prechistenka St., 30) architects Boris Matveyev and Elena Franchyan tried to speak on the theme of the East from the point of view of Europeans. Decisively abandoning the use of decorative oriental paraphernalia, generously presented in modern Moscow restaurant, they took the path of metaphor. The architects simply and exquisitely told the room something subtly oriental. They managed to find capacious images that organize the space, making it expressive and authentic. Without exception, all the design objects in the restaurant are handmade: lacquered tables with gold inserts, heavy cubic lamps, even decorative coating on walls and ceilings ... The walls are dotted with ancient Mongolian hieroglyphs, each of which was painted scrupulously, in several layers: a look falling on These mysterious signs, should not slide on the surface, but as if penetrate deep into. The compositional axis, along which the restaurant halls are located, is emphasized by a tall aged mirror in a massive frame. In the mirror, the wrong reflection of the red table encrusted with golden petals is guessed. The image is very strong and no less convincing than the taste of horse meat or jellyfish cooked on an open plate right in front of visitors.