“This year we are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the company and I can say that all the goals that I have set for myself in this direction have been achieved,” says the creator of ARCHI STUDIO, architect Elena Arkhipova. None of the crises could interfere with the development, which continues today: the team opens up bright brands and makes ambitious plans, and the elegant office in the Zholtovsky house will soon grow with new areas.
Elena, you happened to observe the development of the furniture market practically from the beginning of its formation in the post-Soviet years. Moreover, your mission - to introduce our people to design icons - has become a catalyst for the demand for designer furniture in Russia. How did it all start?
- After working in a design studio in Bologna (Italy), where I designed not only interiors, but also furniture, I returned to Russia, and in 1994 I opened my own business. She began by staging an exhibition entitled "Classics of Modern Design" in the renovated White Hall of her native Moscow Architectural Institute, where everyone is defending their diplomas. There were presented for the first time in Russia cult pieces of furniture designed by Mackintosh, Mies van der Roe, Le Corbusier and other masters. I could find the only photographs of this exhibition in the Kommersant newspaper and in the Segodnya newspaper. There are no photos of my own, because I had to tear myself apart and be in all faces at once.
And my small design stand at the Mebel-94 exhibition in Krasnaya Presnya, of course, had no commercial success, but a start was made.
You did not have any team or influential support. Why did you decide to leave an interesting job in Italy and return to Moscow?
- Yes, I returned because I wanted to live in my homeland and was ready to share the experience I gained in Italy. It was interesting for me to design interiors for the first “new Russians”, to conduct a column in the magazine “Domovoy”, when Italian manufacturers approached me and offered to become their representative, I could not refuse. Back in 1991, in Milan, I exhibited furniture made according to my projects, at the famous Milan furniture salon, there were no Russian visitors there. And when they appeared, to my regret, the Italians took them by the hand to the pavilions of cheap classics. I couldn’t come to terms with it.
In addition, I was terribly sorry that interior magazines that appeared at that time in Russia deliberately fool people because of advertising paid for by someone: In the 90s, the printed word was blindly believed. And I actually declared war on a terrible bad taste. So initially, my goal was not to promote brands (the company represents leading Italian factories - Poltrona Frau, Cassina, MISSONI HOME, Alivar, FLOS, etc.), but to promote GOOD TASTE.
– How did you formulate the main goals for yourself then?
- I wanted to show that the main thing in furniture design is thought. It was necessary to convey to people that in addition to wood and leather there are other materials, there are designers and architects who can make not utilitarian furniture, but design works that are scattered throughout the museums of the world. That is why, in particular, at the Mebel 94 stand, I exhibited a glass chair from the Fiam Italia factory, the famous Le Corbusier bench and Saarinen tables. Then I was sure that it was enough to give an incentive to our designers, and, if not in 1995, then in 1998 everyone would throw their energies into designing furniture … The goal was this. And I must say that after the hobby of people with pseudo-classicism, we have a very fruitful period. Among the visitors of the Mebeli-94 stand were young designers from 2RStudio, with whom we spoke the same language, and the head of the bureau, Andrey Rudakov, suggested that I become a co-founder of the company. I agreed, and in turn made him a co-founder in my representation of Italian factories. So we worked together for a certain period of time. In 1995-1996, we had about 70 people on staff, whom I periodically began to take to factories in Italy and introduce them to leading brands. After that, the Italian partners realized that Russia was ripe to create representative offices … And then the time came when our customers began to admit that they themselves could not create an interior the way a professional architect or designer would do it. And during this period really great objects began to appear!
What competitions in the field of design and architecture do you consider the most interesting?
- I think we must pay tribute to the "Arkhip" competition, organized by the SALON magazine. He really contributed to the popularization of interior design in Russia. Now I really like the ARCHIWOOD award and what the Archplatform does on the Pinwin online site, where we have now announced our competition "The best interior in a modern style" in connection with the twentieth anniversary. I am happy to look at the worthy works sent to the competition. The competition jury (Rosita Missoni and architects Giulio Capellini, Vitorio Livi, Giulio Bavuso) find it difficult to choose a winner. This is not our first experience - back in 1998, ARCHI STUDIO was the organizer of the "Lamp for Russia" competition. Then the works of the participants were evaluated and awarded by the designers of the Lucheplan factory. The projects submitted were bright, but at that time they were very far from industrial implementation, so I cannot boast of their implementation, but I am sure that this competition also gave a lot of impetus to creativity.
– What inspires you in the interior?
- If we talk about what “charges”, then energetically I feel comfortable where the interior is not overloaded, where there is harmony not only between different volumes of flowing spaces, but also harmony of proportions of each individual object. Looking at such an interior is like listening to symphonic music. A good designer, like a good conductor, will not allow a single false note. And if we talk about a residential interior, then I prefer a house in which there are modern objects and things with history. For example, the Poltrona Frau armchair, which my grandmother bought, and which becomes more beautiful over the years. Even in our office, we have kept the old doors with stained-glass windows; the hand of the master is read in their drawing. In addition, an ingenious planning solution has turned out - anyone who comes to us immediately sees the light through these glass partitions. For example, in our meeting room, you can feel the "dialogue" between this table of Saarinen - and the completely anonymous black tabletop. In general, I am interested not only in the object itself, but also in how it "talks" with its neighbors.
– For many, the products of leading Italian brands are synonymous with good taste. But is it realistic now to purchase a designer item at an affordable price?
- In the furniture sector, there is no insane price difference between branded items and other brands. Anyone, even a not very wealthy person, can afford one significant thing, a design icon. It can be a very small object - a pillow, a lamp, a table. There are, for example, models of lamps that are quite affordable: do not go to a restaurant in Moscow twice, and the house will have a Philippe Starck lamp from the FLOS factory. So for connoisseurs and connoisseurs of good design, nothing is impossible.
20 years is a good age!
Archi.ru wishes prosperity to ARCHI STUDIO and wellbeing to employees and partners of the company.
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