Video Tour: Directed by Maryna Grechko
Architects: Sergey Makhno, Illia Tovstonog, Pavlo Fisenko, Oleksandr Makhno, Artem Meshchankin, Tetiana Maslo, Anton Siryak, Julia Siryak
What: Apartment | Where: Residential complex Skyline, Kyiv, Ukraine | The main idea: Minimalism to the bones and metallic character | Area: 344.09 sq. m. | Year: 2019 | Photo: Andriy Avdeenko | Video: Maryna Grechko
Client: a businessman from Switzerland, who fell in love with Kyiv during business visits. Although it is almost impossible to determine his permanent place of residence — somewhere in the sky between countries — he decided that one of his headquarters should be in the heart of Kyiv.
What we needed to do:
Sometimes there are projects with our customers being really active — when the architect also performs the role of a therapist. This time, everything was just the opposite — from the first idea to the finished design project, we had only three short meetings. The main challenge was the complex redevelopment: it was necessary to unite three radius apartments into one coherent apartment that would not look like a crescent.
What we really did:
We gave out the project from the first sketch and we were given full freedom of action — the implementation of 99% corresponds to the rendering. The hall remained to be radial, but the rooms were turned into rectangular ones. The interior is made in the style of Ukrainian Contemporary, which combines Ukrainian traditions and modern design.
Living Room
First, it seems like you’re in a cave, but the sun in the panoramic windows turns you back to reality. Stone walls by Kelsis breathe cool. Metal columns look as if they are holding all 25 floors. Big home cinema sounds like the one at Cinema City. The billiard table is easily converted into a dinner one. A concrete floor can be washed with champagne — it will withstand any cocktails. In this case, even a very big party “never killed nobody”. Nearly a thousand square kilometers of Kyiv landscapes are seen through the panoramic windows. And for dessert — a ceramic lady with a metal skin made by Sergey Makhno, she will be the only voiceless witness of all the parties, successful contracts and the first gray on the temple.
Secret Room:
The door leading nowhere actually leads to the owner’s office. Here, there are 50 shades of black: the walls, windows, curtains, and the table appearing from nowhere — everything was chosen exclusively for the client. For dessert, there is a collection of books, a wine cellar, a hidden monitor behind the painting, and the author’s ceramic sculpture “Peace”. It’s better to make decisions with a cold head.
The first guest room:
The apartment has three bedrooms — one for the owner and two for guests. The first one is minimalistic and cozy. The metal-decorated wall contrasts with the soft upholstery of the bed. Designer ceramic lamps Lakuna’s sisters by Sergey Makhno are on the guard of light and comfort. In the bathroom, somebody spilled milk on the night, so the walls and the floor became sweet. Ceramic lamps Lakuna shed syrup of the light into the intimate blackness of the room, filling it with softness.
The second guest room:
Bed — to submerge into dreams. Bulrush panel near the headboard — instead of catchers of good dreams. Made with ecological materials and collected together by hand. For homogeneity of color and practicality, the straws were treated with mordant. To create this panel, masters spent 72 hours and hundreds of reed trunks. All the walls in this room are different, one is painted with “suede” tactile paint, others are covered with unique Sergey Makhno Architects technology. Even a flower-lamp has a metallic character — the iron petals are reminiscent of who the owner is. It’s a new lamp by Sergey Makhno — Rosychka — by the name of a rare flower-predator that eats small insects. As if with an annoying mosquito, it is easy to deal with insomnia, intrusive thoughts and hangover.
Master’s Bedroom
The owner says “The party is over” and hides in its cave where the ceiling flows into the walls and the bed. It’s simple and elegant, at the same time — everything is in their places. When the whole world was screaming about the “ideal”, we chose another way — finding the perfect in the imperfect. Leave guests, hundreds of missed calls and messages — here you are there for yourself. Here, nobody needs to pretend, you can just relax, for example, soaking in your jacuzzi at the height of the bird’s eye.
USED MATERIALS
Weathering Steel:
Steel that is easy to process, high-quality and resistant to atmospheric corrosion. It is possible to use both in construction and design. Steel oxidizes, acquires copper color and never suffers.
Concrete:
We hope that there are no more people who believe that concrete is used only for reinforced concrete structures. Just because we use it both on the walls and the floor. Just because with concrete we can go through fire and water.
Linen:
People began to use linen 5 thousand years ago, and its value increases every year with the speed of light. The simplest materials are the best for our body and soul. Bed linen here is totally white and totally flax — we wanted to remind guests of the comfort and some obvious benefits of wabi-sabi materials.
Ceramics:
Clay with a mixture of different chemical elements has come across — and unique objects have been created, by one person for another. No one will ever have something similar — they are one of a kind. Why do we love clay? For unexpectedness and uniqueness. Even in such a minimalist interior, there was a place for our vase, and the room immediately breathed life in.
Layout design by Ihor Havrylenko, Nikita Uvarov
THANKS FOR WATCHING
Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/83642439/YOGO-APARTMENT by https://www.behance.net/sergeymakhno is licensed under cc by-nc-nd (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en_US)
