ILYA UTKIN
THE ART OF BALANCE
''CHIC'': As the 'father' of many architectural projects, tell me, is there a “beloved child” among them?
I.U.: All projects are loved, but few implemented. Residential building in Bolshoi Levshinsky Lane is the most difficult child. A lot of effort was spent on him. There, every detail is experienced and painted by my hand.
''CHIC'': Would you like to live in a similar building? Does it embody your ideal home vision?
I.U.: I didn’t even dream about it. At the beginning of the 90s, I had another dream - a ghostly hope to return my great-grandmother's house with a mezzanine near Kotelnicheskaya Embankment. Previously, our ancestors lived there, and today offices are located. As a result, we were evicted from an old house on the Arbat. But this is all in the past. It seems to me that it would be ideal for family and children to live in a house with a history in which, as once, family traditions are maintained, guests are received when friends, relatives meet at joint evenings. It is about the revival, preservation and development of traditions. At such evenings, interesting adult communication reflected itself in raising children. Ethics of relations was transmitted in communication from the older generation to the younger. And the architecture of the house, as well as its contents, played an important role in this upbringing.
''CHIC'': Has the culture of such houses been preserved somewhere?
I.U.: In Soviet times, there were gatherings in the kitchens, but there were people who really preserved this culture. In Moscow, there is still a unique house - a myth house, which was built in the thirties. Then several artists - Efimov, Kardashev, among them Favorsky - united and created a house in the Perovo district near Moscow, where the intellectual and creative elite lived and quietly met. Even in Soviet times, noble traditions were observed in this house. For example, there was a puppet theater, children's and musical evenings were held.
''CHIC'': And your favorite family tradition?
I.U.: Our tradition is to become architects. My family has three generations of architects, and my whole life revolves around the Architectural Institute. My parents, my wife and daughter are architects, another daughter, a student, the third is a scenographer, which is a profession related to architecture, my son also wants to be an architect.
''CHIC'': Today in society, the tendency of individualization is clearly expressed as opposed to nepotism, is this phenomenon reflected in architecture?
I.U.: Today, to be different from others, to seek new forms is the shortest path to success in my profession. An attempt to break out of the traditional scheme of the laws of nature generally characterizes the entire XX century. But in essence, little changes in architecture, because there is a person with his own scale and the old compositional laws of equilibrium are inseparable from the concept of harmony and beauty. Therefore, no matter how modern artists or architects puff up and try to break the stereotypes of thinking, the traditional understanding of beauty and classics in architecture will exist, develop and take on new forms.
Unfortunately, the war declared by modernism at the beginning of the 20th century is still being waged. And modern international architecture destroys historic cities, considering this renewal a natural process. Meanwhile, you should go on a trip and see the beauty of cities that have historically been built up in the framework of traditions and respect for the past, and everything falls into place.
The task of a modern architect is not only to invent new forms, but also to seek inspiration in traditions - the deepest source for creativity. Create harmony while maintaining a balance between past, present and future. The nepotism you spoke of, by the way, is the same tradition, it is also a kind of architecture. I would call it family architecture.
''CHIC'': In this question, are you also a supporter of traditions?
I.U.: I think for architecture
building a family is ideal only the classical scheme. Modernism in family relationships is unacceptable. Any deviations from the middle ground lead to trouble.
''CHIC'': What about your native Moscow?
I.U.: This is a sore subject. I can only say that Moscow was at the level of the best historical capitals in the world - original and distinctive. Almost a finished work of art, to which you could add just a couple of strokes. But lately we have lost in Moscow a lot of historical architecture, which was the true value of the city. We have lost the past, and today it is no longer possible to see with our own eyes the street where
this or that historical character or literary hero lived, and in cities such as Venice or Paris, for example, this is possible.
''CHIC'': What is “chic” in architecture, in your opinion?
I.U.: I do not know. Chic is a virtue. It is an independent pride. Intelligence. Sometimes an old man in a dilapidated coat carries himself with such dignity that a socialite never dreamed of.
So elegantly stood an old house in Arbat lane with peeling plaster, with broken windows. He stood proudly, abandoned by everyone, as if saying goodbye to the street, taking with him the history of many generations. The next day he was demolished..