At the Venice Biennale 2016, British designers presented the concept of designing and furnishing housing, based on time parameters — the Home Economics exposition demonstrated how spaces in which you are supposed to spend a few hours, days, months, years or decades differ. And she clearly showed the difference in the principles of organizing a hotel room, a room in a student dormitory, a bachelor apartment or a house in which a family of 3 generations lives. The exhibition in the British pavilion aroused considerable interest, which shows how often the most seemingly simple things are not obvious, namely, housing, as well as clothes, should be purchased according to size. For your lifestyle, for yourself today, not "for growth".
In Ukraine, both during the Soviet era and after, typical houses were built en masse, with standard apartments for standard residents. In practice, it turned out that the "standard family" is the same oversimplification as the "spherical horse in a vacuum." It is almost impossible to comfortably settle in a standard apartment without preliminary repairs and redevelopment. More affluent clients who bought an apartment started by hiring a construction crew, and those who were forced to save money moved in and then over the years adapted and adapted housing to their needs. It was considered good luck to get an apartment "with a spare" area - in fact, it was the only opportunity to partially level the inconvenience of rooms in which it was rarely possible to optimally arrange furniture. In addition, for the generation that was born on the eve of the revolution, and has not yet forgotten the "compaction" campaign, the quality of an apartment was determined by its area - the bigger, the better. The structure of life in Soviet society differed little from that of the Middle Ages and implied the coexistence of representatives of several generations on the same territory, and the apartment was treated as a family nest and an object of inheritance. But the beginning of the XXI century all over the world was marked by a course to reduce the resource intensity of housing. Simply put, people are not ready to pay for extra square meters — they heat in winter and cool in summer. The general trend is the desire for rationality and cost optimization.
Layout of Khrushchev apartments of series 1‑335
PRO apartments from the project company ARCHIMATIKA
In Ukraine, people started talking about an innovative approach to the design of mass housing after the so-called PRO apartments appeared on the Kyiv real estate market. What is the fundamental difference between PRO apartments and typical residential units, the amount of which still makes up at least 80% of all housing offered for sale, and what is the "revolution in apartment planning" promised by the designers, he told us director of the ARCHIMATIKA company Alexander Popov.
"We conducted our own research - we decided to find out how apartments were transformed in the last 100 years, taking as a starting point the revolutionary "compaction" and the subsequent construction of mass housing. After the post-revolutionary housing reform, which started with the decision of the Mossovet "On the distribution of residential premises", according to which "compaction" was carried out at the rate of 1 room per 1 adult, the apartments, in fact, turned into dormitories. And in the representation of the Soviet person, it was the room that became an archetype, an atom, the core of private space, and the dormitory became the norm. By the way, an interesting statistic is that until the 80s, almost 20 percent of apartments in St. Petersburg were communal. We compared typical "Stalinka", "Khrushchevka" and apartments built already at the beginning of the XNUMXst century. And they came to the conclusion that during all these years, the apartment layout has not changed significantly. A one-room apartment, a two-room apartment, which is essentially the same one-room apartment, to which another room was added, and a corner three-bedroom apartment. Layouts remained the same, only the size of the rooms changed: they increased when the country had more money, or decreased during crises. It became obvious to us that this approach needs to be changed."
ARCHIMATIKA suggests giving preference to the European approach and classifying apartments by the number of bedrooms.
In fact, a typical one-room apartment is the same studio with a separate kitchen. In such cases, the public space is interrupted by a wall. Guests have to be received either in the same room where the owners sleep, or a cramped kitchen turns into a guest room. Kitchen gatherings inspired by the romanticism of urban folklore are a forced reaction to an unreasonably "cut" space.
The kitchen in a Soviet apartment building inevitably played the role of the center of the living space, where the family gathered and received guests
Full-size "Stalinka"
ARCHIMATIKA: layouts remained the same, only the size of the rooms changed. It became obvious to us that this approach needs to be changed
The evolution of the kitchen is a European experience
The prototype of the modern kitchen, the so-called "Frankfurt kitchen", was designed in 1926 by the German functionalist architect Margareta Schutte-Lyhotske. She, armed with a stopwatch, calculated how much the hostess spends on each of the kitchen operations, and came to the conclusion that due to the irrational arrangement of furniture, women lose a lot of time and get tired more, "winding up" extra kilometers.
Despite its modest size, "Frankfurt kitchen" remains an example of well-thought-out ergonomics and logistics
Then the architect drew a project of a modular kitchen on an area of 6,5 square meters — built cabinets along the walls, united by a work surface, a sink and a stove, and fixed hanging shelves above them. In one of the modules, the architect integrated 18 drawers for small items and loose products. That's how they were called "shuttenkami". Margaret even regulated the colors of the facade — dull blue, green, and gray. It was believed that they scare away insects.
The Schutte-Lyhotske project was implemented in typical buildings in Frankfurt, and then around the world.
In the Soviet Union, they managed to pervert the idea of a "frankfurt kitchen" - in the "Khrushchev" projects, the area of the kitchen was reduced to 6 square meters and the proportions were changed, inscribing it in a square. And this killed all jewelry ergonomics.
Kitchen modules were finally standardized in the 60s — they set typical dimensions for height, width, and depth. Kitchen furniture became so elegant that it began to define the aesthetics of the space.
American cuisine is from the "Victorian" black zone to open space.
Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the first lobbyists of "open plan" in private houses. A characteristic feature of his organic "Prairie Houses" and later "Usonian Houses" was an open space, the center of which was the kitchen - a hearth that gathered family members around itself.
Frank Lloyd Wright
In American multi-apartment houses during the war and post-war years, the kitchen "includes" the common space. In 1942, Fort Greene Houses was built in Brooklyn, a residential complex to house families of Navy personnel. In budget apartments, kitchen and dining room spaces were separated only conditionally, and the presentation of the project was accompanied by an advertising campaign promoting the advantages of such a layout. Combining the kitchen with the common space allowed the hostess to watch over the children while cooking, and in the evening to chat with her husband who had come home from work.
"Mrs. Fort Greene" 1942 - housewives were the target audience of the Fort Greene Houses advertising campaign
The American designers used the ergonomic calculations of European Bauhaus architects, and the revolutionary designs of military engineers were used for the technical equipment of the kitchen.
The open layout was preferable for post-war residential construction, also because it was cheaper - fewer partitions, doors, communication costs, and with the use of monolithic frame structures, it became possible to serially implement similar projects. Gradually, the kitchen integrated into (or integrated into) the space not only of the dining room, but also of the living room.
The kitchen in the Kinney House—Wright's "Usonian home"—is incorporated into the living room space.
Multifunctional space of the American kitchen of the 1960s
The fashion for living room kitchens in New York eventually led to the appearance of "designer kitchens" and kitchen islands. In the 60s, this once "black" zone finally turned into a social housing center.
The ARCHIMATIKA company has developed a revolutionary system for organizing living spaces. In other words, here they know how to furnish square meters as comfortably as possible.
Alexander Popov, director of the ARCHIMATIKA company: "Every additional square meter of the apartment is obliged to create additional comfort for the residents. If the amount of additional meters is proportional to the comfort created, the layout is worthy of PRO status, if not, it is sent for processing."
There are no universal apartment layouts suitable for all families, ARCHIIMATIKA believes. For each type of family, taking into account the lifestyle, level of prosperity, an individual layout of the apartment is developed here.
Alexander Popov: "Planning is not bare walls, but a project of future life. Therefore, the line of PRO apartments is not a closed set of layouts. We create new models of apartments that will exactly meet the needs of future residents."
The range of one-bedroom PRO apartments from ARCHIMATIKA includes apartments with an area of 28 to 85 square meters. The uniqueness of the layout approach is easiest to explain using the example of a one-bedroom apartment.
One-bedroom PRO apartment with an area of 35 square meters. m.
Alexander Popov: "How did we allocate our 35 meters? We do not single out the kitchen. We allocate a small bedroom, in which there is everything necessary - a bed, a wardrobe and a writing table. And we allocate the combined large space under the kitchen-living room. Here we place all the necessary utensils for cooking and a storage system, organize the dining area and insert a sofa. We allocate a minimum area to the entrance group, leaving only a place for a wardrobe and transit.
Privacy in such an apartment is provided in the designated sleeping area. And on the sofa in the living room you can even leave a late guest to stay overnight, and this will not disturb the peace of the owners.
Alexander Popov: "But in an apartment with an area of 52,1 meters, we can already separate not only the bedroom, but also the kitchen into a separate room. Sometimes designers suddenly forget about such an integral attribute of our life as a washing machine. And if there is no place for it in the bathroom, then the owners are forced to install the machine in the kitchen. In our projects, there are no such shortcomings - the washing machine is planned in the bathroom, it is removed from the public space, and in the kitchen-living room there is nothing to prevent watching TV, working or relaxing."
Plan of a one-bedroom PRO apartment from ARCHIMATIKA with zoning, furniture arrangement and types of families that, according to the designers, are suitable for this housing. Residential complex "FINE TOWN", Kyiv
The ultimate functionality of 35 square meters of one-bedroom PRO apartment leaves far behind the typical projects of the usual "one-bedroom apartments". In fact, the area is the same, and the level of comfort is an order of magnitude higher. After that, the ARCHIMATIKA company is talking about a revolution in apartment planning. Of course, this revolution is not global, but very local. After all, for example, in the USA, the first attempts to combine the kitchen with the living space were made back in the 40s.
ARCHIMATIKA's unique approach to planning allows functionality and comfort to leave typical projects far behind
Alexander Popov: "We created a whole line of PRO apartments from ARCHIMATIKA, classified them by the number of bedrooms and by size. As a sample, they took the international classification of sizes — from XS to XXL."
The project of a student apartment with an area of 32 square meters. m. from the Polish studio Zapraszam & Michal Kaczanowski
And it all started with the design of studios — smart apartments, which are so popular now. After the crisis of the 14th year, the purchasing power of the country's population dropped by one and a half times. That is, the average Ukrainian can afford one and a half times less square meters than before the devaluation of the hryvnia. If in 2013 his income allowed him to buy a one-room apartment with an area of 30 square meters, then in the fall of 2014 - only 20. But 20-meter apartments did not exist in nature then. At the request of KAN Development, the ARCHIMATIKA company analyzed world practice, and it turned out that the topic of micro-suites is extremely popular.
Economic crises, bankruptcies of entire cities occur not only in the post-Soviet space. The London real estate market is feverish. In the British capital, the area of a one-room apartment cannot be less than 505 square feet — that's almost 50 square meters. But there are fewer and fewer buyers who can shell out hundreds of thousands of pounds for such apartments. Therefore, architects and designers are actively looking for new housing concepts. The developers are pushing for a review of the minimum standards of the area — there is a real war for square meters.
So, for example, Londoners, holding their breath, are watching the requests of one of the developers to obtain permission to build a building with apartments in the historic part of the city with an area of only 452 square feet (42 square meters). The developer is confident that a whole army of young specialists wants to live in the center of the metropolis, but cannot afford to pay 1500 pounds per month for rent. They will be happy if so-called tiny apartments appear on the real estate market, with a rent not exceeding 800 pounds. And in addition, if the city authorities remove the restrictions on the minimum standard area, then as a result it will relieve road traffic, saving office workers from the need to get to work from the outskirts to the center and back every day.
Tiny apartments on 13 square meters. in Wroclaw by the Polish designer Szymon Hanchar
Micro-suites are enjoying great success in Tokyo, Toronto, and Vancouver. In 2013, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, proudly announced the appearance of a new format of apartments - microunits, with an area of 22 square meters. And one of the leaders of the movement is Sweden, where apartments of 20 square meters are allowed. The Swedish government even stimulates the construction of micro-dwellings and allows the construction of houses with an area of up to 25 square meters without a special permit.
As for standards in Ukraine, the minimum area of a one-room apartment is 28 square meters. By 2017, the figure was higher — 30 squares. However, considering that the state regulation of private housing space is a kind of relic that contradicts the requirements of the market, developers often circumvent this norm, registering micro-apartments either as non-residential real estate or as apartments, or they are obtained from the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine permission to deviate from the norms, for which justifications and results of studies and examinations are presented to officials. Mass demand for small-sized housing is dictated by young specialists who prefer the energy of a megalopolis to bucolic sleeping areas. And their number is steadily growing. Energetic and practical millennials want to be in the center of events. And, as sociologists promise, the priorities of representatives of generation Y will be in the mainstream for a long time.
However, the ARCHIMATIKA company believes that no matter how high the demand for micro-apartments is, a reasonable balance must be observed within one complex.
Alexander Popov: "We are sure that it is impossible to build an entire district from micro-apartments. So we risk creating a kind of reservation, a ghetto, a huge hostel. Foreign practice shows that after just a few years such areas are marginalized. By the way, in Comfort Town smart apartments are only 5% of the total volume.
Home Economics. Exhibition of British designers at the XV Architecture Biennale in Venice
By the way, the area of the minimum smart in the Comfort Towne mentioned by Alexander Popov is only 18,91 square meters. It is not surprising that the designers from ARCHIMATIKA had to work out the layout in great detail. In such a limited space, every centimeter had to be justified.
Tikku microhouse
Alexander Popov: "You moved the wall a little, and that's all — there's no room for a shower cabin, a kitchen, or a bed. We even took into account such a parameter as the necessary volume of air - in the smart apartments of Comfort Town, we used the innovative "warm window" technology, which provides ventilation even when the windows are closed. Why did we calculate everything so meticulously? A small apartment is like a small-capacity suitcase. In a large one, you can throw everything without looking, and in a small one - only competently, thoughtfully put it. Voznyk vopros — is it not worth extending such an approach to apartments with a larger area?
The functional area can be more actual
In PRO apartments from ARCHIMATIKA, every meter "works", and every additional meter of space is a new function. After the implementation of this principle of evaluating the useful area, the designers revised their early projects and discovered new opportunities. Because it turned out that there are apartments in which the additional area does not make people's lives more comfortable.
Alexander Popov: "We have no right to compromise and rent out a house in which some of the apartments are "smart" and some are not very good." They should all be PRO."
Tell us about your family
Just as there are no universal recipes for happiness (according to Tolstoy), there are no universal apartments suitable for all families. Everyone should find housing that matches their lifestyle and family budget.
Alexander Popov: "On our recommendation, the manager of the sales department of Faina Town residential complex from KAN Development meets each potential client with the question: "For which family do you plan to buy an apartment?" If we are talking about a young couple, then the optimal option will be a studio or a one-bedroom apartment. And if this is a family with a small child, then you need to provide a place for a cot, and understand that very soon the child will need a separate room."
Well, what should be a two-bedroom apartment for a couple with a child? At ARCHIMATIKA, they calculated - at least 48 square meters. This is a little more than a typical "odnushki". Such a project of a two-bedroom PRO apartment (XS in the company's classification) is a new start for families who currently do not have enough funds to purchase additional square meters, but there is a need for two isolated sleeping areas. Of course, 48 squares is a minimum, a starting point. The range of two-bedroom apartments from ARCHIMATIKA includes layouts XS, S, M, L, XL and even XXL with an area of 120 square meters.
Alexander Popov: "We suggest that sales departments start not with discussing the budget, but with clarifying the needs of the family."
Each type of PRO apartments ARCHIMATIKA assigns a passport of functional use depending on the composition of the family, its lifestyle and plans, which indicates the functional area and functional front, separate characteristics introduced by the company to evaluate such an ephemeral concept as comfort. In some cases, the functional area exceeds the actual square footage. How is this possible?
Alexander Popov: "To assess the quality of the apartment, we have identified 11 functional zones. Among them are the usual sleep zone, kitchen zone, dining zone, sanitary zone, and so on. But we determined the presence of another important zone, which we called the free zone, a free place for physical activity. We determined its minimum size — 1,8 by 1,8 meters, based on anthropometric parameters. A person lying with outstretched arms was taken as a basis. This is the minimum area required for sports, for example, yoga. A distinctive feature of the free zone is that there are no pieces of furniture that are difficult to move. The size of the free zone can be bigger, if a person can afford it, why not? Its absence is the case when there is not enough "air".
Minimalism and Scandinavian style are best suited for short films
Apartment Verbi
The ARCHIMATIKA company decided to translate the abstract concept of "apartment quality" into numbers. First, the designers calculate the overall functional front: these are indicators of the length of the wardrobe, the length of the kitchen. In the case of a dining room, this is the length of the unfolded line of seats at the dining table. And so — for each of the zones. Then, ergonomics is calculated - so that convenient access to each of the functional fronts is provided. And with a well-thought-out layout, with a compact arrangement of furniture, it turns out that the functional area of the apartment can exceed the actual one by 10 or 15 percent. This is achieved in cases where the same space is used to access several functional fronts at once. For example, the passage between the bed and the wardrobe in terms of ergonomics is at least 80 centimeters, and it is used to access the functional fronts of both the wardrobe and the bed at the same time.
The plan of a three-bedroom PRO apartment with an area of 89,43 square meters. m. with a passport of functional use in a residential complex at Pasechnoi Street, 133 in Lviv
Alexander Popov: "At first we thought that, having calculated the ratio of the functional area to the area of the apartment, we found the coefficient of its useful use, and now we can use it to "digitize" the quality of apartments. But it turned out that there is an apartment with a coefficient of 0,89, and we really like it. But the second - with a coefficient of 1,1, but we like it less, despite the fact that the square meters in it carry more useful load. Because there is more air in the first one. And free space is a luxury. And if we can afford it, then, of course, we need to choose an apartment with a larger area, with more air, more height, finally. In the case when it is necessary to save money, for example, for a young family, then it is logical to give preference to PRO apartments with the maximum functional load."
"Air" is a luxury
In short, the designers set themselves the ambitious goal of providing buyers with the opportunity to choose housing based on their needs, capabilities, lifestyle and preferences. And they prepared for the sales department not only drawings with layouts of apartments in sizes from XS to XXL, from studios to four-bedroom apartments, where each bedroom has its own dressing room and bathroom (the so-called master bedroom), but also supplemented them with tables with the calculation of functional area and functional front for each specific type of family.
Having developed about a hundred apartment options, ARCHIMATIKA architects are not ready to close the line and limit themselves to this set. They claim that every new project of a residential building or complex still requires an individual approach — it is necessary to take into account the landscape of the plot, insolation, infrastructure, and calculate "smart meters" anew every time. And despite the fact that PRO apartments are a mass market, there is nothing "typical" or "standard" left in them. Well, in general, PROkvartals, for example, the "Faina Town" residential complex on Salyutnaya, are designed to finally refute the stereotype that mass construction is doomed to be monotonous, boring and faceless.
