«Visualize with YourFoRest» winners
In February, YourFoRest once again held the “Visualize with YourFoRest” contest, which is already beloved by our readers. This is the second all-Ukrainian competition in which young designers and architects offer interior solutions using YourFoRest wall panels and furniture - and our subscribers choose the best of them.
In our work, we strive to constantly develop and grow, and we consider the support of young designers to be the best contribution to our development. YourFoRest is open to new solutions and a fresh look, and our talented designers always offer highly non-trivial solutions.
YourFoRest met with the winners of the competition to talk about their projects, dreams and ambitions. And also about the school teacher of drawing, unsuccessful measurements and predictions for the future. What came of it - read in an exclusive interview!
Olga Vinnichenko, co-founder of the Portal interior design studio, has been actively involved in design since 2009
If you could build 1 social, fully funded project - what would it be? Considering that your budget is not limited.
This thought has been around for a long time. My dream is to create at every large residential complex "Children's Club" - a kind of support center for working parents and their children.
It will host various lessons and master classes (cooking, handicrafts, programming, photography, drawing, etc.), children will be told about professions in a playful way and will be given the opportunity to try themselves in each of them. There will be a pool with water games, a gym, a game library, an educational cinema and a corner for pets, where specialists will help the child find a new friend, teach them how to communicate with animals and even prepare food for them.
Children will eat in a special restaurant, and the waiters will be etiquette teachers who, from childhood, will teach children the correct manners and rules of behavior in public places. The child will be able to feel independent and adult by choosing their own dishes.
In addition to the standard corridors, children will be able to move along pipes between the play areas; the center will be built in the form of a colored spiral, as a symbol of development (each floor will be of a different color, so it will be easier for children to orient and remember colors). Another social aspect is the opportunity for adults to make a “gift” day at the play center not only to their child, but to anyone whose parents cannot afford it. After all, children are our future, they are our most important investments.
What's the biggest mistake you've made in your job? How did you fix it?
One of the most "memorable" mistakes in work is a design project for a house in Italy. Arriving for measurements with a delay of a couple of days, in a hurry I forgot to measure the heights! Moreover, I discovered this already after returning to Kiev, and the owners of the house flew away from Italy. At first, of course, I panicked - but then I managed to get out of the situation using photos and video recordings. The house is brick and the walls are not plastered - knowing the size of the brick, I calculated the height. And I was mistaken by only 15 mm. Here's a funny story with a happy ending
Svetlana Ostapik, designer, graduated from KNUTD
What's your most challenging project? What would you do differently if you could live it again?
Without thinking twice - this is a project of a private primary school in two pavilions of VDNKh with an area of 2500 sq.m. The main goal was to create an innovative educational space in existing buildings from the 60s. The room should be flexible and articulatory and multi-purpose. To ensure these tasks, part of the roof and all existing partitions were dismantled, and a completely new project was developed. I don't even know if I could have improved this project - at this stage I consider it fully worked out.
What fundamentally new will be in our apartments in 20 years? What will change dramatically in your opinion?
It is difficult to talk about how our apartments will change in 20 years. Humanity is gradually choosing minimalism and reasonable consumption. I want to believe that in 20 years we will not buy so many clothes and various household appliances, because we will not need them. I hope that we will learn to make half of the things and furniture from recycled raw materials, we will be more economical in using the planet's non-renewable resources. In the end, I really want every home to use electricity and gas intelligently - using the most modern engineering solutions.
Elena Grabovskaya, co-founder of the Bubes & Grabovska Design studio
What does Elena Grabovskaya do in her free time from architecture?
Time is a valuable resource, and there are so many interesting things in this world, so in my free time, priorities are placed between family, sports, seeking inspiration while traveling and developing my skills in something completely new.
If the architect does not agree with the client and is sure that he is right, is it worth abandoning the project? Or is the client always right?
You should always try to find a compromise or persuasive arguments that will help the customer see the problem in a different way. Try to identify a zone in which solutions are still acceptable to both parties. If, after all attempts, the customer does not agree, it is better to let him go. In architecture and design, everything should be for love.
Victoria Kosyan, co-founder of Sweet Home interior studio, in interior design since 2013
If your high school drafting teacher found out that you were a designer, what would her reaction be?
A tricky question, but she hardly would have been very surprised. Drawing was one of my favorite subjects in school. And even now, when I need to think over some complex knot, or catch inspiration by the tail, I like to “work with my hands”. For me, there is a certain magic in how you can convey volume, perspective, and direction of light with lines on paper.
An apartment in the center or a country house? Where does Victoria Kosyan dream of living?
Of course, after the dream of your own apartment has come true, you want to have a country house. But i the dream house for me is not about the area or the number of floors, but about the sufficient distance to the neighbors. This is a large green area near the house, a river and a forest nearby. If you dream of a house, then only this!