two-level Moscow apartment (340 m2) in the Art Nouveau style Svetlana Pisarskaya, Maria Khanova, Olga Berezina

Passing the gallery

A photo: Dmitry Livshits

Interview prepared: Olga Vologdina

Stylist: Anna Subbotina

Project author: Svetlana Pisarskaya, Maria Khanova, Olga Berezina

Finishing work: Ksenia Malaytseva

Woodwork: Mikhail Romanov

Glass works (stained glass and other products): Ivan Mishin

Magazine: N10 (88) 2004

An old mansion of the end of the XIX century in one of the Old Arbat lanes stood abandoned for seven years, until it was acquired by a famous banker. The ground floor occupied office space, the other three were turned into private apartments. The new homeowner invited the architect Svetlana Pisarskaya to do the reconstruction of the whole house, including the interior of his apartment. The client specified the stylistic direction of design immediately: "I love modern, especially Shechtel!" “It was a tough condition for our cooperation with him,” says Svetlana. Already in the process of reconstruction began to emerge another picture. The strict geometry of the space, some design features of the layout, bearing beams in the living room strongly resembled the architecture of the interiors of Charles McIntosh. So in this apartment appeared Macintosh style.SALON: How did the customer react to the fact that the general direction has changed? Svetlana Pisarskaya: Like any business person, sensibly. The aesthetics of Shekhtel does not fit into the architecture of the apartment space, which means that the concept must be revised. A "Mac" is a worthy replacement. The same temporal context, style more than sign. In my opinion, it looks very modern.S: Have you exactly followed the historical type? - I think it is not very relevant to reproduce the style exactly, to the smallest details. It seems to me that the feeling of style should remain ... And the atmosphere is much easier to achieve with antiques. In the case of this apartment, the style-forming motive, of course, was architecture, which we supported with typical elements: latticed windows, wooden panels around the living room, dark oak stairs, stained glass, a mosaic fireplace (the same squares), chairs from CASSINA ( design by Frank Lloyd Wright). Everything else is object decor. Here we didn’t particularly adhere to the purity of style, we were more interested in their aesthetic harmony. These are authentic things of the time, and copies.S: The interior is almost no items in a modern style. Is this your principled position? - Not really mine. It would be interesting to me to mix all this antiquity with something modern, but ... the customer is simply not able to buy anything from today's time. (Laughs.) The only thing that he agreed with the pain is on the sofa in the living room, and then only because of the size ... S: Tell us about the reconstruction. - Changed the configuration of the two-light living room space. I didn’t like the way it “sat down” initially, it was necessary to get three symmetrical windows. Tormented, of course. But in reality, the main difficulty was presented not so much by constructive aspects as by problems with a “unfrozen” house. When everything was rotting, when the paint after application crawled, when there was no electricity ... But now you can live beautifully and comfortably.Svetlana Pisarskaya: "The story with this interior is unique for me in all senses. And the way it appeared (and it appeared by chance), and the fact that, despite the demand for modernity, the Macintosh style in the interior is rare. I think I was lucky that I found a customer who was not afraid to experiment, and, in my opinion, it turned out great. "