Ukrainian Contemporary Apartment by Sergey Makhno Architects
Type: four-level apartment
Area: 200 sq m
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Year: 2019
Authors: Serghii Makhno, Olexandr Kovpak
Not to say a lot, we show — a project where, wherever you cast your glance, everywhere is that very “Ukrainian modern style”. Ukrainian Contemporary Apartment is about the philosophy of the Ukrainian workshop - to honor nature, to remember history, love art and be brave enough. It is about what this new vector of modern design movement is.
Hundreds of years ago, our great-grandparents erected their huts out of clay — the strongest and the most refined natural material. And then, more than one generation of our ancestors lived there.
Ukrainian Contemporary Apartment can be hardly called a hut. This is a four-level apartment in a skyscraper in the center of the metropolis, which, despite all these factors, respects the traditions of the native land and is not shy to accept its gifts.
In 2019, clay is still there — on the walls of the home for two. But now it does not inferior in terms of aesthetic appearance to paintings by famous artists. It is not a background for the artworks, it is as an independent accent.
What about the more traditional art? Here are paintings by Adam Hall, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and famous figurines by Brian Donnelly, known as Kaws. The expensive Italian lighting stands as a competent illumination for each exhibit. Above the kitchen bar — Makivka lamps, handmade ceramic lighting by Sergey Makhno Architects. They set off the clay on walls and contrast with black quilted art-bar-stools.
Interfering with styles is not scary, but bold, it just needs to be done wisely.
A staircase of natural lightwood leads to the second floor. Another unifying component here is a wall of tetrapods, which grows from the hall into the master bedroom. Duplicating the covering of the wall with Tetrapod tiles, we do not allow the composition to burst.
The emphasis is shifted to zoning, which is absent here. The bedroom is merged with the bathroom. Even the shower cabin does not hide behind the glass doors, moreover, a translucent, slightly visible window covers it from the “landing area”.
Don’t be shy, don’t be afraid — experiment.
We confess the apartment is not four-level. Well, it was not four-level originally. The architects considered that the ceilings on the second and third floors were even too high. Visually it gave freedom to the eye but did not perform any function, even stole it slightly. To neutralize this absurdity — we removed the overlap between the second and third floors in the area of the stairs and made another floor at this place — added one more group of steps, stealing a place from the second and third floors. The apartment has become a four-level. This allowed us to use more space for living: to assemble on this floor a men's wardrobe, a home library, and a continuation of the gallery.
Each wall plane is either used for storage or serves as a home for art. So the walls also have a function.
There are only 4 doors in the entire project: to the guest bedroom, to the guest bathroom at the entrance, a storage room (wine room) under the stairs on the first floor and a door to the exit to the outdoor terrace. We have removed all non-bearing structures to maximize the open space. We divide the apartment not into premises, but zones. It will be noisy here, but the apartment is designed for a married, also not a quiet couple.
And on the final fourth floor there is an entrance onto the open-air terrace for the outdoor rest.
