#CAFE #LIGHTNESS #EMPTINESS
Drozdov & Partners – drozdov-partners.com
The plot is a relatively empty space located in the middle of the dense urban development. A small cafe was built here in the early ’90s. However, as time went by, there appeared a need for its renovation.
Historically, this place has always represented a gap in the urban tissue, the Caf C.A.F.E. by Drozdov & Partners wants to retain this presence of emptiness, but at the same time provide it with a new content. To this end,it was used the typology of ai???urban roomsai??? to create a variety of miscellaneous interconnected spaces. The whole space is divided into three major ai???roomsai???: the main room with a wooden terrace and a bar, with movable canopies above; a middle room with a summer kitchen and a fixed canopy, and a small ai???roomai??? on the upper open-air terrace, which adjoins the cafe itself.
Light-weight perforated structures create cozy ai???urban roomsai??? without losing visual connection with the surrounding space. This duality is even more emphasized by a window in the perforated screen. A light modular frame suggests a variety of scenarios and identifies the space within the surrounding development by means of creating a unifying shell of a ghost-house.
The indoor part of the caf preserves the atmosphere of the summer pavilion with a slight hint of intimacy. A clever play of light and shadows creates a feeling of sun rays piercing through the foliage.
CREDITS
architects: Drozdov & Partners
location: 77 Sumska St., Kharkiv, Ukraine
surface: 600 m2
year/status: 2011/built
materials: perforated panels, modular frame, textile
project team: Aleksandr Abrosimov, Segey Vlasov, Denis Davydov, Oleg Drozdov, Sergey Rusanov
photography: Andrey Avdeenko, Aleksandr Abrosimov
