— I need a re-planning and interior design for the office of a tourist company.
— Well, we can design it.
- Here there will be a reception - at the entrance. And here, I think, it is necessary to remove the partition.
- This one is possible, not a carrier.
Anna Cooper
- We'll figure out the furnace, it still doesn't work, but it takes up a lot of space, - the furnace really took up a lot of space, on the BTI plan it stood out as a large rectangle, half shaded diagonally, - well, we'll remove it all.
"That's all" consisted of two original fireplaces from the period the house was built. One is in the former living room, the other is in the bedroom.
- Well, why are you taking them apart? Look, here are real Kyiv tiles. I would restore them... - I objected.
- Who needs this rubbish? - the customer was indignant in response.
I thought that the fireplaces would definitely need to be preserved, but since the customer does not immediately agree, time must pass: water sharpens the stone.
"Let's see," I answered peacefully.
I began the design process, created a list of the necessary premises for the office, sketched several sketches of the redevelopment and selected analogues in interior design. The customer is a modern office hotel. The stove was supposed to be disassembled - it was without tiles, whitewashed, in the apartments above and below, the same stoves were disassembled a long time ago, but I left the fireplaces on the plan.
- I asked them to be removed!
- It is always possible to remove, wait a little, we will offer you a solution in which the fireplaces will become a decoration of your office.
The customer calmed down.
- Okay, show further.
We showed
— Here there will be a reception desk, and here — a kitchenette, — I continued the presentation of pre-project proposals.
At the next meeting, we looked at the first "pictures".
— Look how good the interior will look with fireplaces! Modern interior, and it has an unexpected spicy accent - old fireplaces. Some people make copies of old fireplaces, but you have an original, a rarity, an antique, - I poured out all possible suitable and not so good words, trying to convince the customer, - it is only necessary to restore it, it will require additional finances ... - I cautiously added, seeing that the eyes the customer was warmed up.
The architect is not the one who can defeat the customer, but the one who puts his broader vision into the head of another person so that he perceives this knowledge as his own
"Well, let's allocate financing..." replied the customer, and I calmed down.
But, as it turned out, not for long, however, as it often happens: there are always some surprises on the construction site, especially when working with old houses.
The project was ready, and builders entered the facility.
- What did you draw? You see, the square opening does not come out - the wooden beams of the ceiling have sunk! - the foreman was indignant.
Indeed, the designed square opening in nature looked "not very good" - the straight line only emphasized the curvature of the ceiling.
"Okay, we'll make an arch, I'll give you the drawings," I answered tiredly.
- What is this? Why are there two types of paint on the wall?
— Because there will be two different zones here: the manager's office and the negotiation room. Then we will put a sliding partition.
— And where to draw the border?
- Well, it's shown in the drawings.
- No, you show me on the wall! - the foreman began to seethe.
- So you can't read blueprints? - I got angry too, measured with a tape measure the mark of the border of two colors on the wall - here it is.
We looked at each other and calmed down.
The next time, when I came to the object, I was stunned: the clay tiles of one of the fireplaces, not covered with water, sparkled with unnaturally bright colors: crimson, lilac, and yellow.
- What is this? - I suffocated from anger - who dared to touch the fireplaces? — while I was looking for suitable restorers, the foreman convinced the customer that the builders would handle it themselves. There was a set of gouache on the mantelpiece.
- Don't dare! Do not touch! I shouted, ran out of the facility and called the customer.
- We need to meet urgently! We have problems at the facility!
During the meeting, I explained to the customer for a long time and painstakingly how a restorer differs from a builder and showed him the business card of a professional painting restorer.
- And also, pay attention: your apartment is located in a house belonging to an ordinary historical building, which means that an inspector can come to you at any time! And what will he see? Lilac and crimson fireplace, like a gangster jacket of the late 1990s? — of course, I lied. The house in Mykhaylovsky Pereulok was indeed an ordinary historical building, but it was not listed as an object of cultural heritage, so no inspector would ever come to the customer's apartment. But what did I have to do? The fireplaces had to be saved!
In the end, everything worked out for the best. The owner of the apartment ordered a full restoration, it cost him a penny, but he did not say a word about this complication. The renovation was completed, the office turned out to be sunny and modern, but with spicy antique accents. We parted as good friends. The customer selected the furniture himself.
Two years later, my mother, the head of the architectural workshop where I worked, complained that she could not find the records of completed works on the object in Mykhaylovsky Pereulok, and there was a tax inspection on her nose.
- Let's go to the facility - the office is there now - and sign the documents again, - I suggested.
So we did.
In the office, in the manager's office, sat a successful business customer.
- Oh, by what fate? Coffee? Tea? Let me show you the office! We put a sofa here, see? - for visitors, - the customer was clearly proud of the office, - and also, look: these are old fireplaces from the end of the XNUMXth century. I restored them. First, it is a rarity, and secondly, suddenly the inspector will come, and I have everything "chiki-spikes", according to the law! And in general, some copies are made to look old, and I preserve the cultural heritage! — the customer proudly shared this information as if we were not involved in its repair.
I left the meeting completely satisfied: the architect is not the one who can defeat the customer, and not the one who can convince him of his rightness, but the one who puts his broader vision into the head of the other person so that he perceives this knowledge as his own own
