Presenting the new edition to the guests of the presentation, the CEO of ABD architects Boris Levyant noted that summing up the results has become a good tradition for the bureau. Last year, the jubilee exhibition "ABD architects: 20 years of dialogue" took place, and this year a portfolio of commercial interiors was published. “This allows us to be in good shape and remember that we need to report. On the other hand, the published interiors can be a curious handbook for architects and designers,”he said. Moreover, Levyant stressed, in contrast to the objects of "big architecture", it is best to study interiors from photographs, since they "do not last long": the ideas laid down by architects are often distorted in the process of project implementation and its subsequent operation.
The main heroes of the evening were the employees of the Interior Department of ABD architects, which provides a full range of services for the development, creation and turnkey delivery of corporate interiors. Among the clients of the department are such companies as Autodesk, Johnson & Johnson, Bacardi, Jones Lang LaSalle, Credit Suisse, KPMG and many others. Its head Denis Kuvshinnikov also spoke at the presentation of the book. He spoke about what corporate is called an interior designed for comfortable and efficient work of employees and at the same time for the visual embodiment of the interests and values of this company. However, although the main work of the department is the design of offices and headquarters of firms and corporations, the team also often works on the creation of interiors of shopping malls, commercial medical centers, and is engaged in the design of public areas in multifunctional and commercial buildings. At the presentation, Denis Kuvshinnikov thanked all his employees, stressing that the most important thing in every project is “it's people”.
In total, the book (strategic partner of the edition - Contract Interiors, general partner - Smart Company, partners: Brandi & Schnipper, Hunter Douglas, Nayada, Martini Group, Opus, Solo, Spector Lab, Zumtobel) presents 46 commercial interiors out of 54 created by the architectural studio in 21 year of work. These are the interiors of representative offices of Western corporations, and the offices of the largest Russian companies and banks, medical centers and public spaces. The projects are arranged in chronological order - from 1998 to 2011 - each of them is accompanied by a brief description in two languages (Russian and English), a table of technical and economic indicators, citations from publications in the press and, of course, the most detailed drawings and illustrations … And the selection is preceded by the wishes of partners and interviews with Boris Levyant and Denis Kuvshinnikov.
Perhaps the first thing that catches your eye when reading a new book is the relevance of even the earliest works. Interiors made by ABD architects 15 and more years ago are not only ergonomic and comfortable, but still look modern. The conclusion suggests itself: the concept of office space design is developed taking into account possible changes and transformations of the company. Impeccable taste and impeccable rationalism of projects are supported by the highest quality of project implementation.
At the end of the short solemn part of the presentation, Boris Levyant admitted: “The projects presented in this book are a part of our soul. They are a pleasure for us architects and our clients. We try to create a positive, therefore, life is very boring for us and projects turn out to be just as boring."
A positive atmosphere was created at the very evening. A jazz band was playing, and helpful waiters were serving food. Numerous guests and friends of the workshop - colleagues, partners, journalists - communicated, exchanging news and impressions accumulated over the summer. Many did not forget about work, making useful contacts. The CEO of ABD architects also had to work - Boris Levyant was signing a book for everyone, and there was a real queue of those.
