Interview with Viacheslav Deev

I am motivated by the possibility of improving everyday life through space. Architecture combines imagination with responsibility: it must answer human needs, belong to its place and become technically real.

I chose this profession. The decision grew from an interest in drawing, construction, nature and the way spaces influence people.

I design private houses, residential and commercial spaces, interiors, landscapes and furniture. I would like to do more integrated projects where architecture, interior, engineering and landscape are developed as one system.

Young designers should not try to become legends. They should learn to observe, understand construction, listen to people, test their ideas rigorously and complete real work with patience and integrity.

A good designer solves the stated problem well. A great designer discovers the deeper problem, connects many disciplines, anticipates consequences and creates a solution that remains clear and useful over time.

A really good design has a precise purpose, a coherent spatial and structural logic, respect for context, human comfort, durability and excellent execution. Every important element should be able to explain both its role and its relationship to the whole.

Good design reduces mistakes, waste and long-term operating costs while improving comfort, identity and trust. Investing in it is not decoration; it is an investment in performance, longevity and quality of life.

I would design places of retreat and community for people who value nature, craft and thoughtful daily rituals. I am especially interested in sites where landscape can become an active part of the architecture.

My dream project is a complete settlement or cultural retreat in a powerful landscape, designed from territorial planning down to furniture and light, with architecture, ecology and public life reinforcing one another.

The secret is persistent attention. I keep returning to the real task, the site and the way people will use the work, and I remove decisions that are not supported by a clear functional, spatial, structural or material reason.

I am inspired by masters such as Alvar Aalto, Louis Kahn, Carlo Scarpa, Tadao Ando and Peter Zumthor. Their work shows different ways of joining material, light, construction and human experience.

I often return to Aalto's Villa Mairea, Scarpa's Castelvecchio interventions and Zumthor's Therme Vals. I value them because their details are inseparable from movement, structure, material and atmosphere.

Onyx House is one of the projects that expresses my approach most clearly. The house grows from the forested site: the lower level opens to nature while the upper volume provides protection, and the palette of light, color and texture reinforces that relationship.

Improvement comes from combining study with practice. I drew, visited buildings, learned from construction sites, worked with engineers and craftspeople, reviewed the consequences of completed decisions and kept refining my process.

If I had not become an architect, I would probably have worked in a field that combines making, engineering and art. I am interested in any discipline where ideas must become precise physical results.

Design is the organization of relationships into a useful and meaningful whole. It connects people, purpose, place, structure, material, technology and time.

Teachers, colleagues, engineers, craftspeople and clients have all contributed to my development. The greatest support has come from people willing to trust a strong idea while also challenging it with real knowledge.

Long practice, curiosity and the willingness to follow projects into construction helped me most. Built work teaches humility because every unresolved decision eventually becomes visible.

The obstacles were rarely purely creative. They included changing economic conditions, complex approvals, technical constraints, limited budgets and the challenge of maintaining clarity while many participants influence a project.

Designers should present the problem, context and reasoning before presenting the final image. Plans, sections, details, material studies and evidence of use make the work understandable and credible.

My next projects continue the integration of architecture, interiors and landscape in residential work. Expect precise responses to site, restrained material palettes and more attention to environmental performance and adaptability.

My ultimate goal is to create places that remain useful, dignified and emotionally resonant long after the first impression has passed.

People should expect clarity, responsibility and a high level of coordination. Recognition increases the obligation to listen carefully, solve the real task and protect the quality of implementation.

Design helps society by making daily environments safer, healthier, more inclusive and more resource-efficient. It can also strengthen community and cultural continuity by giving people places that support shared life.

I am especially interested in current residential projects where the building, interior and landscape are developed together from the first decisions. That integration creates stronger spatial continuity and avoids decorative solutions added too late.

Projects such as Onyx House and Flügel Haus gave me particular satisfaction because they allowed spatial concept, material atmosphere and the relationship to the site to be developed consistently.

I would like the industry to value long-term performance, repairability and the quality of built experience more than rapid visual novelty. Better coordination between designers, engineers, contractors and users is also essential.

Design is moving toward integrated digital workflows, measurable environmental responsibility, adaptable buildings and closer collaboration across disciplines. Human judgment will remain crucial because tools cannot define meaning or responsibility on their own.

Time depends on the scale and approval path. A focused interior can take several months, while a private house from concept through approvals and construction often requires around two years or more.

I start with the site and the people: their routines, priorities, climate, views, access, regulations, budget and technical conditions. Only then do I test spatial structures and forms.

My motto is: make every decision earn its place.

Designers can set meaningful directions, but trends also reveal changes in technology, economics and behavior. The important task is to distinguish lasting needs from short-lived visual fashion.

Technology helps us analyze performance, coordinate complex systems, test geometry and communicate clearly. It should strengthen the design's logic and constructability, not replace judgment.

I use hand sketches, CAD and BIM, three-dimensional modeling, visualization, spreadsheets, digital collaboration tools, material libraries, cameras and physical samples. On-site observation remains indispensable.

Color, material and ambience give physical and emotional character to space. I use them in relation to daylight, scale, acoustics, touch and the surrounding landscape so they support the spatial concept rather than compete with it.

I would like people to ask how the design changes everyday life: how it feels to move through it, how it responds to climate and landscape, and how its details contribute to the larger idea.

When I see a great design, I first look for the decision that made everything else inevitable. I am interested in how a simple underlying logic can produce richness without unnecessary complication.

My ideal partners are people with deep specialist knowledge, curiosity and respect for the common goal. I strongly believe in co-design when responsibilities are clear and every contribution strengthens one coherent project.

Clients, craftspeople, engineers, contractors and fellow architects have influenced me most because they test ideas from different realities. Their questions often reveal opportunities that drawings alone cannot show.

I return to books such as Steen Eiler Rasmussen's Experiencing Architecture, Juhani Pallasmaa's The Eyes of the Skin and Peter Zumthor's Thinking Architecture. They keep attention on perception, material and lived experience.

I developed my skills through continuous practice, critical review and direct involvement in construction. Repeating the cycle of observing, drawing, coordinating, building and learning is more valuable than any single technique.

I would like to speak with Alvar Aalto and Carlo Scarpa about how they connected modern life with craft, history, landscape and the human scale.

I appreciate recognition because it helps good work reach a wider audience and acknowledges the efforts of the whole team. Fame itself is not a goal; it is more important that the work remains useful and credible.

I do not reduce these to fixed favorites. I am drawn to natural muted colors, places where architecture meets landscape, seasonal local food, autumn light, well-made everyday objects and brands that value durability over spectacle.

I do not have one anecdote I would turn into a legend. Architecture offers regular lessons in humility: a tiny site condition or an experienced craftsperson can solve a problem that seemed complex in the studio.

A great day includes one clear design breakthrough, an honest team discussion or seeing a difficult detail executed well on site. Progress and shared concentration are stronger motivation than constant novelty.

It was not obvious that I would receive professional recognition, but an interest in drawing, making and understanding spaces appeared early. The profession gave that curiosity a disciplined direction.

In a thousand years, technology and climate may transform how and where people live, but fundamental needs will remain: shelter, belonging, orientation, light, nature and community. The best future design will reinterpret these needs responsibly.

I would like people to know that my work begins with attention rather than style. I try to understand the person, place and task deeply enough that the architecture feels both specific and inevitable.

I lead an architecture and design practice working across residential and commercial architecture, interiors, landscape and furniture. Our work is developed from the first analysis of the site and the client's needs through detailing and implementation, with close coordination between architecture, engineering and construction.

Design is the disciplined transformation of real needs and constraints into a coherent, useful and meaningful whole. A successful form is not an isolated gesture; it grows from its relationship to people, place, structure, light and material.

I most enjoy designing private houses and interiors because they allow architecture to respond closely to a person's way of living while forming a precise relationship with the site and landscape.

Onyx House remains one of my favorite projects. Its ground floor opens strongly to the forest while the upper level becomes more protective, so openness and shelter are balanced through the building's relationship with the existing landscape.

My early professional work after graduation involved architectural projects in Yekaterinburg. Those first commissions taught me that a design idea only has value when it can be coordinated, built and used well.

I value natural stone, wood, glass, concrete and metal because each has a clear structural, tactile and atmospheric character. Technology is useful when it helps us understand geometry, performance and construction rather than becoming an end in itself.

I feel most creative after the essential facts of a project are clear: the site, program, client priorities, technical limits and budget. Clarity creates the freedom to make precise decisions.

I focus first on spatial organization, circulation, proportion, structure, daylight and the relationship between interior and exterior. Materials and details are then developed to reinforce that logic.

Designing brings concentration, curiosity and a productive tension between intuition and responsibility. The best moments are when many separate constraints begin to resolve into one clear idea.

When a project is realized well, I feel gratitude and quiet satisfaction. The strongest reward is seeing people use the space naturally and discovering that the design supports their lives without demanding attention.

A design succeeds when it solves the real task, belongs to its context, can be built responsibly and remains valuable over time. Beauty should be inseparable from use, structure and atmosphere.

I first look for the logic of the plan and whether each element has a clear reason to be where it is. I then consider proportion, human comfort, technical performance, durability, material honesty and the quality of execution.

Designers are responsible for people's safety, wellbeing and dignity, and for the resources their work consumes. We should reduce waste, use durable solutions, respect the site and create spaces capable of adapting over time.

The field is moving toward closer integration of architecture, interiors, landscape, engineering, digital tools and environmental performance. The future will depend less on stylistic novelty and more on intelligent, adaptable and resource-conscious systems.

My work has recently been presented mainly through professional publications and award platforms rather than a solo exhibition. I do not currently have a new exhibition date to announce.

Inspiration comes from observing landscapes, cities, construction methods and the way people actually inhabit space. Travel, art, engineering, material samples, site visits and conversations with clients and craftspeople continually renew my thinking.

I would describe my approach as contextual, contemporary and restrained. I prefer clear spatial hierarchies, strong relationships between inside and outside, natural materials and details that make the larger concept easier to understand.

I currently live and work in France, while my professional experience also includes Russia and Estonia. Moving between these contexts has made me attentive to climate, craft traditions, regulation and different ideas of domestic life; the challenge is to learn from each place without copying its surface.

I work with companies through a clear sequence of briefing, research, concept development, technical coordination, budgeting and implementation. Roles, decision points and responsibilities are defined early so creative and practical work support each other.

Companies should select designers by the quality and relevance of their built work, their ability to listen, and their capacity to coordinate technical and financial realities. A clear brief, access to decision makers and honest discussion of budget and schedule make collaboration much stronger.

I begin by studying the site, program, users, regulations, climate, budget and construction conditions. We map relationships and priorities, test alternatives through sketches and models, coordinate engineering, and refine materials and details until the project reads as one coherent system.

Rather than collecting objects for status, I value a well-proportioned chair, a good task light, a durable table, a precise kitchen knife and a handmade ceramic vessel. Each is useful, tactile and improved by daily use.

A typical day combines focused design work, team reviews, client conversations, consultant coordination and site or supplier meetings. I protect uninterrupted time for drawing and analysis because good decisions need concentration.

Learn to observe before trying to invent. Understand structure, construction, materials, climate and human behavior; draw constantly, visit buildings, listen carefully and accept that refinement usually comes through many iterations.

The positive side is the opportunity to improve daily life and turn complex conditions into something coherent. The difficult side is the long responsibility: architecture requires patience, coordination and the ability to protect quality under pressure.

My golden rule is that every element must have a clear relationship to its nearest support, use or spatial reference. If a decision cannot explain its purpose and connection, it should be reconsidered.

Observation, spatial thinking, proportion, technical literacy, communication and persistence are essential. Equally important are empathy, the ability to prioritize and the discipline to carry an idea through construction.

My toolbox includes hand sketches, physical and digital models, CAD and BIM, visualization, spreadsheets, codes and technical references, material samples and site photography. The most important tool remains critical observation.

I divide work into clear stages, define the decisions required at each stage and protect time for the issues with the greatest impact. Regular coordination prevents small uncertainties from becoming expensive delays.

The duration depends on scale, approvals and technical complexity. An interior may take months, while a house from first concept through approvals and construction can take around two years or more.

Clients most often ask how long the project will take and what it will cost. A responsible answer requires a defined scope, level of quality, approval path and construction strategy.

My most important experience has been following projects across the full cycle, from the first conversation and site analysis to construction and occupation. It teaches which early decisions truly determine the final quality.

I work with private clients and with companies in residential, commercial and development contexts. Many private commissions are confidential, so I prefer to discuss the work and its results rather than publish client names without permission.

I most enjoy houses and integrated residential projects because architecture, interior, light, furniture and landscape can be developed together around real patterns of life.

I plan to deepen the studio's integrated work across architecture, interiors, landscape and furniture, with greater attention to environmental performance, construction quality and long-term adaptability.

Design is developed collaboratively. I set the architectural direction, while architects, engineers, visualizers, contractors, suppliers and craftspeople contribute specialist knowledge; the project becomes stronger when those roles are coordinated around one clear concept.

We are working on residential projects in which architecture, interior and landscape are conceived together from the beginning. I prefer to discuss them publicly when the design and approvals are sufficiently resolved.

People can contact the studio through https://arch-d.com/ or by email at maison@arch-d.com.

I would emphasize that architecture does not end with an image. Its real quality is tested in construction, maintenance and everyday use, so concept, technical resolution and execution must remain connected.