Project: Yogo Apartment
Architects: Sergey Makhno Architects
Team: Designers: Sergey Makhno, Illia Tovstonog, Oleksandr Makhno, Artem Meshchankin, Oleksandr Doikov, Pavlo Fisenko
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Area: 344,09 m2
Year 2019
Photos and text by Sergey Makhno Architects
CLIENT Our customer is 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, he decided that one of his headquarters should be in the heart of Kyiv.
OBJECTIVE To create an interior design for a Swiss businessman, the bachelor. Space that would be a comfortable 5-star hotel and a cozy home at the same time — a place to feel comfortable both in the company of friends and alone.
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.
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 Yogo 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.
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.
THE SECOND GUEST ROOM
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 OF YOGO APARTMENT
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.
