The apartment, the design project of which was to come up with an architect Natalya Oleksienko, was supposed to be an organic part of the old, known to every Kievite at home. The apartment house, built in the era of modernity, all as if embroidered with white and white folklore reliefs, is now experiencing a second life. At the beginning of the 19th century, the offices of two leading magazines on contemporary art were located in it, and in a certain sense this house, where famous artists and poets often gathered, was the focus of Kiev’s cultural life.

Now its facades were restored, the courtyard and main entrance were made, and most importantly, only one apartment of 250 square meters was left on each floor. meters

Design created Natalya Oleksienko, despite the utmost modernity, as if imbued with the sunny spirit of the Ukrainian modernity. “Kyiv modern, unlike European, is devoid of decadent notes. Ukrainian artists of the early twentieth century looked at the world optimistically. Their life-making was embodied in a variety of shades of white, and not in gloomy contrasts,” says the architect. Indeed, large white spaces have become form-building. This is the main thing in which the wishes of the hostess, a young, energetic business woman, an architect, and the house itself coincided.

The symbol of their mutual understanding was a large winged lion, as if released, as on ancient Ukrainian engravings, from the white flesh of the walls in the living room and joyfully welcoming the incoming ones. The rest of this apartment is reminiscent of the installation of contemporary artists. Every corner in it can be represented as a separate artifact. The hostess of the house, realizing that her "instinct of theatricality" requires implementation, suggested that the architect turn the whole house into a theater ...

The start was taken in the living room, which Natalya connected to the dining room and the kitchen by the "runway". Its imitation of frosted glass with internal illumination rests on the kitchen limit - "horizon". Additionally, it was decided to emphasize the direction and dynamics by hanging a fragment of "sky" over the strip. The artifact has become and the masonry of some walls, such as walls with a fireplace in the living room. Firstly, the material for it was chosen interesting - representing tree species that had hardened many centuries ago. At the request of the hostess, the architect decorated all the doors of this fabulous house with quotes from various literary works. In one of them - the leitmotif of the whole design: "On earth there is no paradise, but you can find its corners."