Sergey Kiselev was an amazing person. By all accounts - a leader, a star, a master of his craft, one of the first independent architects to achieve success back in the 1990s, long before any construction boom. It seemed that he worked for days, without interruption, constantly and everywhere in time: to the architectural council, to the union of architects, and until midnight in the studio. They listened to his efficient and accurate speeches, his buildings were liked by colleagues, developers and critics, who invariably named him in the top ten Russian architects.
Despite his undoubted professional success, Sergei Kiselev was completely alien to "stellar" behavior - giving a lot of interviews, he spoke little about himself, more about the workshop, in every possible way emphasizing "we" instead of "I" and insisting that the word "Partners" in the title be written with a capital letter. It is amazing, but words unfashionable in our times: modesty, honesty, decency - in relation to Sergei Kiselev did not look worn out at all. He did not work with government orders. He did everything possible for the customer, but did not compromise the interests of the city. He strove for precision and clarity in everything - in words, in business relationships, and in architecture.
Because the architecture of Sergei Kiselev's studio is actually a mirror of his position in life in so many things. Kiselev did not strive for self-aggrandizement, and many different handwritings can be distinguished in the works of his architectural company - which not in the least suggests that working under his supervision was probably comfortable for many authors. But Kiselev considered it necessary to work within the framework of general rules, and all the company's projects are endowed with a commonality that makes the handwriting recognizable. So, although Sergey Kiselev always carefully outlined the extent of his participation in each specific project, he was not “only” an organizer. Those features that give commonality to the studio's projects: the adequacy of the means used for the set goal, clarity of design and purity of forms, simplicity without simplification - together create images that are calm and not alien to restrained nobility - the quality that is best conveyed by the word intelligence.
I don’t want to believe that Sergei Kiselev is no longer there. It is impossible to talk about this active, energetic, always benevolent person - "was"; so absurd and unexpected is this sudden death.
Civil funeral service - Friday, May 14, beginning at 10:00 in the Central House of Architects (Moscow, Granatny Lane, 9).
