Kseniia Gorchakova

My name is Ksenia Gorchakova. I am a Russian designer specialising in interior architecture and furnishing. I originally studied architecture at the State University of Architecture, Design and Art in Novosibirsk. After completing my bachelor’s degree I worked as a designer of interiors and original furniture. In my study for a master’s degree I decided to extend my knowledge of the discipline of design from a slightly different perspective and I opted for the Studio of Product Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology.

In my own designs I strive to emphasise both functionality and utility and the sense of feeling the pleasure and pleasant experience of the users. In my practice I enjoy most working with customers and the opportunity to design original projects adapted to the needs of the clients and reflecting their personality.

Modular Housing

medium: architecture, design

dimensions: architectural model (70x50 cm), poster (100x140 cm)

My design addresses the housing problem with the intention of reflecting current demands and requirements with the aid of using serial modular production. Does research into modular prefabricated systems enable us to go beyond the traditional framework of a family home and develop new atypical housing concepts? My design for growing housing offers a flexible system of modules for living capable of adapting to changes and to the needs of its inhabitants and the family configuration by adding additional cells. This system is a simple platform that with a limited number of elements enables maximum resulting variety and flexibility of shape. Based on this platform it would be easy to create designs with individual forms of expression and in this way combine the advantages of typified prefabricated modules and atypical solutions.

The starting point for choosing this subject was my own experience in interior design and furnishing, being the field that I work in, dissatisfaction with the current offer of layout solutions on the housing market and a desire to depart from conventionally organised programmes. My source of inspiration was both masterful modernist projects and contemporary progressive designs. Such as the utopian designs by the Archigram and the Metabolists groups, the Loblolly House by the Kieran Timberlake studio, the Freedomky houses from the Czech Republic, etc. The concept is defined by the intersection of five themes: modularity; current social aspects of housing, the relation of form and function in growing housing, flexible layout of houses; interconnection of living quarters with the surroundings and nature, providing an experience and a pleasant feeling. The quintessence of the work is a prototype of a modular house for 1-2 persons with an option of further extension. It is an example of the working of the modular housing system and specifies the basic elements and the principle of the organisation of the individual parts of the system.