Design studio: Sergey Makhno Architects
Project: Bila Wabi Sabi
Designers: Sergey Makhno, Alexander Makhno
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Year: 2018
Area: 50 sq m
Text and images provided by Sergey Makhno Architects
They do. Bila Wabi Sabi is our no ordinary project because it embraces one of cult Japanese philosophies called ‘wabi-sabi’, or ‘imperfect beauty’. Its calm white (‘bila’ means that clean color) interior contrasts with a bustling city outside.
Nothing lasts forever, every tiny detail is important. Poorness is not an excuse, but poverty of the soul is a verdict. Wabi-sabi rules of life are universal.
Moreover, it is important to put them in the tiniest objects. Area of the flat is 50 sq m, so the main task was to create an open space broadened as possible. Sergey Makhno, founder of Sergey Makhno Architects with his brother Alexander Makhno, co-author and the leading architecture of Bila Wabi Sabi, are sharing 4 techniques of reaching the beauty in interior design.
Technique 1. Naturalness
Wabi-sabi claims that nature is the strongest force that the world has come up with, we should love and appreciate it.
Therefore, we wrapped bed cover, carpets under bare feet and design lamps “Clouds” by Sergey Makhno Architects in a warm natural linen. We used wood and didn’t spoil its rough texture. Wabi-sabi praises every birthmark, scar and wrinkle on the human body, on the body of the tree.
Technique 2. Years and years
You can present second life and you should do that. We gave the rusty iron plate the shape of a designer lamp and called it «Strumok», old-fashioned kitchen was covered with old-world wood, intact and real. Age is a benefit, it shows experience and history, which you can tell, or you can keep in secret.
Technique 3. Mom
Grand mom and great-grand mom.
Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors whitewashed their huts with clay – and today in completely modern interior of Bila Wabi Sabi, we did the same with the ceiling of the apartment. We travelled in time for a couple of thousand years ago, when people lived in caves, followed their example and imitated a stone wall with plaster. Its texture is not smooth, but that beautiful roughness provokes you to touch it even when are just looking at the picture.
Technique 4. Big heart
They say there is more of me to love. We paraphrased: there is less of design to live in. “Puffy”, round forms of an extract, author lamp «Kvitka» over a dining table, set «Umbrellas» near the bed, a fireplace, a bath, and all bathroom zone. Grey ceramics seem cold, but in rounded forms, it looks friendly, calm and comfortable. Wabi-sabi principles – here they are.
Every technique is important. There may be more of them, but these four are legs of the table, where whole family will have some dinner. They are four walls of the house, where you feel total security. They are four general truths, by which one can reach zen without meditation.
