"An overly tidy garden loses all its charm"
GARDEN -
THIS IS WHAT WILL REMAIN AFTER US
Landscape designer Maxim Shkirev with the “Shkirev gardens” team does not create perfect copy gardens. His gardens are living canvases, changeable and beautiful in their originality, like nature itself. Maxim's goal is to create a unique space in which every element reflects the spirit of its owner, his style and values. How does he manage to do this and why is the garden an excellent investment, he will tell you.
— When did you realize that landscape design was for you? What helped shape aesthetic taste?
— The question is why I fell in love with plants so much. Like in Jack Wallington's book "Charming Rebels": "Since childhood, I have felt a connection with weeds. The weeds were the first flowers I met" Every summer as a child, I spent in the countryside and loved fishing. But not in publicly accessible artificial ponds, but in wild reservoirs, streams and rivers. I got up at 2-3 a.m. and, with a fishing rod on my shoulder, spent hours making my way through swampy meadows with giant tussocks of cereals into the forest. Along the way, I observed and came into contact with the indomitable spirit of wild plants, gained emotional experience and cultivated a craving for contact with their world. That's what I've been doing for the last 8 years —
creating gardens astools of constant connection with nature.
The taste was formed gradually under the influence of books, music, art. From literature, this is Olivia Lang "The Garden against Time", Derek Jarman " Modern nature", Michel Houelbe. Film directors: A. Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Lanthimos, Kurosa, Jarmusch. Artists: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, J. Pollock. From the music: Aphex Twin, Sons of Kemet, Alfa Mist, Thelonious Monk. Landscape architects — Andy Sturgeon, Andrew van Egmond, Nigel Dunnett, Piet Oudolf, Dan Pearson, Sarah Price. Designers: Carol Christian Poell, Martin Margiela, Uma Wang, Jun Takahashi.
creating gardens astools of constant connection with nature.
The taste was formed gradually under the influence of books, music, art. From literature, this is Olivia Lang "The Garden against Time", Derek Jarman " Modern nature", Michel Houelbe. Film directors: A. Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Lanthimos, Kurosa, Jarmusch. Artists: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, J. Pollock. From the music: Aphex Twin, Sons of Kemet, Alfa Mist, Thelonious Monk. Landscape architects — Andy Sturgeon, Andrew van Egmond, Nigel Dunnett, Piet Oudolf, Dan Pearson, Sarah Price. Designers: Carol Christian Poell, Martin Margiela, Uma Wang, Jun Takahashi.
— What is it, an ideal garden?
— An ideal garden — with seasonal decorative accents, multi-level plantings, a thought-out lower tier and perennials with human growth in late summer. But it is important that with all this diversity, the garden feels like a single whole. We like to try something bold, non-standard, which will gradually open up, rather than hold back the emergence of new development options. At the same time, it is important to understand that there is no a designer fit does not live forever — its main purpose is not durability, but charm. An overly tidy garden loses all its charm.
— Absolutely. Within the same landscape, different people can have complex and often contradictory emotions. A path in a dark forest can cause a feeling of approaching danger for some, and an alluring feeling for others. In both of these types of reactions, we can see the moment of resonance, coming out of oneself for direct contact with the landscape. As designers, we can't control people's feelings. But we can build a place for such encounters. This layering of emotions makes some landscapes attractive, forcing us to visit them again and again. And if people feel connected to the landscape, they are more likely to invest in its creation and take care of it with their own or our forces.
— Is the garden an investment?
The garden is a time capsule and at
the same time a portal leading beyond it.
Olivia Lang "The Garden against Time"
the same time a portal leading beyond it.
Olivia Lang "The Garden against Time"
SITE: YANABALKONE.RU
— We worked with an artist from Nizhny Novgorod on a project and he quoted to me lines from the poem Unconnected Sentences on Gardening. There is a quote from Scottish poet and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay about this motto: "I need to tattoo this sentence on my forearm, as I tend to want the garden to be 'finished'. The garden is never complete and finished, it is never the same. The garden is never static, it is always in motion." Gardens are alive and constantly changing, and attempts to preserve them as a static set of elements contradict their natural essence.
— As a rule, when it comes to bright, interesting and complex projects, this is a story about "it is necessary yesterday" and about the prompt response
"day to day" to edits from the customer. At the same time, the work must be done with high quality and originality. At the invitation of the Vyksa Festival, a garden was developed for the Empty Pedestal project by one of the most famous architects in the world, the author of Moscow's Zaryadye Park, as well as Charles Renfro's New York High Line Park. A garden for the project of the artist Artyom Filatov "Garden of the name". This is a public memorial complex created by artists in the courtyard of a private crematorium in Nizhny Novgorod. Any of the projects of the Monochrome owners, whether it is a garden for opening a store in Yekaterinburg or the development of a project and the implementation in a short time of a garden at the Tears Of flagship on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow.
We also created a street landscaping project for outdoor balconies and terraces "I'm on the balcony". It is based on the idea of creating mini-gardens based on the author's cinematography. Each movie has its own story, color palette and mood. We call each of the ready-made landscaping concepts a "session". There are ready-made solutions, but we can also develop an individual "session" for the client.
"day to day" to edits from the customer. At the same time, the work must be done with high quality and originality. At the invitation of the Vyksa Festival, a garden was developed for the Empty Pedestal project by one of the most famous architects in the world, the author of Moscow's Zaryadye Park, as well as Charles Renfro's New York High Line Park. A garden for the project of the artist Artyom Filatov "Garden of the name". This is a public memorial complex created by artists in the courtyard of a private crematorium in Nizhny Novgorod. Any of the projects of the Monochrome owners, whether it is a garden for opening a store in Yekaterinburg or the development of a project and the implementation in a short time of a garden at the Tears Of flagship on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in Moscow.
We also created a street landscaping project for outdoor balconies and terraces "I'm on the balcony". It is based on the idea of creating mini-gardens based on the author's cinematography. Each movie has its own story, color palette and mood. We call each of the ready-made landscaping concepts a "session". There are ready-made solutions, but we can also develop an individual "session" for the client.
— We want to open an office in Sochi. We often design there and calculate estimates. It's time to assemble a team there too.
— We have forced nature out of our cities, and now it's time to think about how we can return it back. Now plants no longer need to be solemn and formal. They can "relax" and become more careless. This will free landscape planting from the typical taming factors: the real estate industry, "good taste", designer ego and the gardening industry. In private gardens, it is necessary to reduce water consumption by using rainwater for irrigation. It is also important to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers in the garden and increase the percentage of organic ones, and use compost to enrich the soil. We can integrate our engineering system into the smart home system, provide automatic watering and lighting. Depending on the style of landscape design, we try our best to design "wild" gardens in which plants do not need it. It can be used for irrigation rainwater. We use natural materials and local plants to the maximum in such gardens. The principle of "where I was born, I came in handy there."
— You should look for your own style, constantly improve and believe in yourself. Then everything will definitely work out.
— We work only according to recommendations, we do not have an advertising, we rarely fit into the trend. We are looking for people close to us
in spirit - these can be musicians, actors, DJs, in one word those who share our attitude to life. They are always easy-to-go people, real, without pathos and perfectionism. They allow themselves to be alive, sometimes careless, able to see the beauty in the weeds on the lawn or a rusty metal curb, to live outside the main stream. We collect and analyze information about everyone to see exactly what they need and how to reflect his inner world outside. By the first meeting, we are creating a unique composition in the planters, which will become a vivid example of how in general, he may have landscaping built on his site. We give this pot with gratitude for allowing us to show how beautiful it is his soul can manifest itself in the format of a garden. We are not looking for easy ways and are ready to go around dozens of nurseries for the sake of plants that are suitable for his site. He will not have to spend time coming up with a garden concept, searching for plants or organizing care for them, we will do everything ourselves. We propose a variant of the garden, which will become the embodiment of himself, will change and grow with him, and therefore will always be truly alive and "his own".
in spirit - these can be musicians, actors, DJs, in one word those who share our attitude to life. They are always easy-to-go people, real, without pathos and perfectionism. They allow themselves to be alive, sometimes careless, able to see the beauty in the weeds on the lawn or a rusty metal curb, to live outside the main stream. We collect and analyze information about everyone to see exactly what they need and how to reflect his inner world outside. By the first meeting, we are creating a unique composition in the planters, which will become a vivid example of how in general, he may have landscaping built on his site. We give this pot with gratitude for allowing us to show how beautiful it is his soul can manifest itself in the format of a garden. We are not looking for easy ways and are ready to go around dozens of nurseries for the sake of plants that are suitable for his site. He will not have to spend time coming up with a garden concept, searching for plants or organizing care for them, we will do everything ourselves. We propose a variant of the garden, which will become the embodiment of himself, will change and grow with him, and therefore will always be truly alive and "his own".
— Personal communication and a brief on landscape design with references on the stylistic appearance of the future garden helps to understand the customer. Increasingly, people are turning to their gardens as a form of habitat restoration. For example, a garden for the creators of the Monochrome brand near Zelenograd. Before the construction, a beautiful meadow grew on the site. The client was worried that it would be trampled all over. We tried to keep it intact, despite the global landscape construction and planting. Where it did not work out, we picked up special herbal
mixtures for restoration due to the "wild" picture. Another example is for a customer from Tarusa, I made a garden in a planter. The assortment of plants absolutely copied what grows in the meadows behind the garden fence. There is a businessman who lives in the city and dreams
of walking through fields and forests, but does not have such an opportunity. We will offer such a client to create a "wild" garden on his site, with a little neglect. Here, nature acts as a landscape designer, who has plants planted at every step, which at first glance are considered to be weeds.
mixtures for restoration due to the "wild" picture. Another example is for a customer from Tarusa, I made a garden in a planter. The assortment of plants absolutely copied what grows in the meadows behind the garden fence. There is a businessman who lives in the city and dreams
of walking through fields and forests, but does not have such an opportunity. We will offer such a client to create a "wild" garden on his site, with a little neglect. Here, nature acts as a landscape designer, who has plants planted at every step, which at first glance are considered to be weeds.
— Tell me, what unites the people in your team?
— We are young, daring, creative and wild at heart. We literally live by what we do. And we are united by an endless love for plants and gardening,
with their selflessness and immersion in a kind of trance. We select the most appropriate uniform style for each landscaping project, we do photo and video report for the story. Plants are found their place on the plot to jazz music. And after the implementation of the conceived project, the client enjoys the result with a glass of Pinot Noir or Burgundy in his hand under his favorite vinyl. These pleasant gifts to customers are an integral part of our work.
with their selflessness and immersion in a kind of trance. We select the most appropriate uniform style for each landscaping project, we do photo and video report for the story. Plants are found their place on the plot to jazz music. And after the implementation of the conceived project, the client enjoys the result with a glass of Pinot Noir or Burgundy in his hand under his favorite vinyl. These pleasant gifts to customers are an integral part of our work.
We have forced nature out of our cities, and now it's time to think about how we can return it back.
— Your bureau has its own style, different from others. What is the peculiarity of your approach to landscape design?
— On what principle do you choose plants for customers?
— How did the company's motto appear on your T-shirts "A GARDEN IS NOT AN OBJECT BUT A PROCESS»?
— Tell us about the most unusual projects implemented.
— What are your plans for the future?
— What are the challenges facing landscape designers today?
— Give advice to those who are just starting their way in landscape design?