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The coronavirus pandemic has caused serious damage to the world economy, and the lockdown regime, in which people are ordered not to leave their homes, except for extreme necessity, has been very difficult for some companies.
Today we decided to talk with the director of the famous Kyiv architectural workshop Archae Vysta, Artem Proshchenko.
In this interview, Artem will tell how he organized his work during the quarantine and shared his predictions for the architectural field as a whole.
Int. We are all extremely happy about the end of the quarantine, but the risk of its re-appointment is consistently high. Tell us how such a period affected your work and life?
A. Quarantine brought many changes and helped rethink many things. In work processes, we experimented, trying to set up remote work. But in the end, our specialists came to the conclusion that being in the office and working in a team significantly simplifies and speeds up work processes. No matter how hard it is, our work is quite creative and, after all, live communication helps in solving many problems.
Int. In general, you did not give up the office, like the majority, and returned to your workplace.
A. Yes. With great pleasure.
Int. And how are things with work, were there new interesting projects?
A. The work did not become less, it became more difficult to perform and solve many work-related issues. As you say, many companies have gone "remote". Our customers are no exception. But, unfortunately, few people bothered to organize work on that very "remote". Communication has become significantly more complicated, sometimes you have to wait several weeks for answers to simple questions. But, I hope, this is already in the past, people are returning to offices, work continues.
Int. And what about projects. Was there something new, interesting, unusual?
A. From our latest big projects, we can probably single out:
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Restoration of the KMDA building, Khreshchatyk 36
2. Restoration of the building "National Academic Drama Theater named after Ivan Franko"
3. P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine
I won't say that it was something completely unusual, but in my opinion, it was quite significant both for us and for the city.
The projects, unfortunately, are only on paper so far, the quarantine has hurt a bit here, but I hope that funding will resume and the projects will be implemented in the near future.
Int. You are now working only on projects financed by the state, or your clients include private investors.
A. Of course there is. It's just that if we talk about objects related to restoration, then private customers are not very willing to contact buildings that have the status of a monument. This is due to a significant difference from the new construction, both in terms of the legislative base, the process itself, and construction technology. Which, in turn, greatly increases the cost of implementing such a project. However, we are currently working on a restoration project for the so-called "House with Snakes and Chestnuts", which is being implemented with the money of private investors.
Int. Who is the customer of such a project?
A. According to the terms of the contract, I cannot disclose information related to the project to you as a third party. This is a standard condition. But in this project it is a little secret and a lot has already been written about this object. Anyone who is interested will find interesting information on the Internet.
Int. I understand that now you work only with monuments?
A. I won't lie, restoration projects are very interesting for me and our team, but we also work on new construction, and we also cooperate with companies that build large production facilities. Just now, several such projects are already at the final stage of implementation.
Int. You mentioned projects on paper. I can't help but ask, a painful topic for any author. Do you have many such projects that remain only "on paper"?
A. You are right when you say who is interested in working "for a basket". Implementation of the project is a rather complicated and lengthy process. Money is money, not without it, but you always want to see the result of your work - a completed project. Each project has many technical solutions and nuances, each of which requires special knowledge and skills. And of course, you always want to see how the idea is realized.
Int. Are there especially interesting, favorite ones?
A. Of course there is. One of them, I think you have heard about it, a lot has been said about this project. Kharkiv "Cascade" project. Our team has developed a wonderful concept, and this is not just my opinion as the author. The decision was published in the mass media and received a large number of positive reviews.
However the project Arche Vista so it remained on paper, a sincere pity. Another design decision was implemented, which later became the subject of discussions and scandals.
There were other projects that were not implemented for one reason or another.
Int. What do you think is the reason?
A. Most often there is only one reason. This is the economic situation in the country and the world. If we analyze the biography of such projects, the most interesting of them were "abandoned" in 2009 and 2015. It is still too early to say what is scheduled for 2020, I think this is just a pause and the projects will still be implemented.
For example, in 2015, work on an interesting project of a hotel complex in the Kyiv region was stopped.
In 2009, the construction was stopped, in fact, before one of my favorite projects, on which we worked together with the honored architect of Ukraine Yudyn Vitaly - the cultural and educational center "Chagary Castle" in the Ternopil region, was stopped. Moreover, this project is interesting not only in terms of its architecture and technical solutions - it is a great idea of an investor for the development of his native land, and it is a pity that it remained on paper.
Int. The risk of another lockdown is still very high. How do you plan to proceed further? Are you not afraid of harmful consequences?
A: We are now focused on doing everything planned. And we follow how the events develop further. We will act according to the situation.
In this case, we will have to transfer everyone as possible to the remote again. Often, we will help employees to equip workplaces at home. However, I am glad that my team adheres to the idea of working in the office in compliance with all quarantine measures. So all processes move faster and more efficiently.
Based on the experience of our partners' work with their clients, it is possible to derive a certain formula for successful business today - flexibility and creativity, multiplied by quick adaptation to work in new conditions.
In general, during the first few months of the quarantine, I was revising my business strategy. I hoped that this situation was temporary. But it turned out that it will not be like before, everything has changed radically.
We are glad that we are working and developing, despite all the conditions. And of course we start new projects, because sooner or later they will stop talking about quarantine, and architecture is eternal," says Artem Proshchenko.
