Not long ago the Sin City Club opened on Vazrazhdane square in Sofia. The ambition of the owners is to turn it into a place where fans of different musical styles will have fun together. At the moment there is a lobby bar, Club Help, Cafeteria Mistral in Sin City. In September the second floor will opened too. Here's what the famous designer, and also author of the project, shared exclusively for the readers of the Home magazine.
There's probably no one who could take a look at Sin City and remain indifferent to its interior. What was the underlying concept of the interior project?
The club is a place where people come to enjoy themselves. They expect the atmosphere to be special here, to be festive, to make them feel free and maybe even richer. I don't think minimalism is appropriate to achieve this aim. I believe to achieve this I need to use more pompousness and intensity of details. Only then does the place look more luxurious... Naturally,if you want the clients to be in a good mood, you need to make sure that there is also good service. Speaking of Sin City, here design and management are combined in the best possible way. This is proved by its growing popularity.
In some interiors we find many references to the past?
My ideas are inspired by the classics indeed, I've been dealing with classical art for more than ten years. My projects are based on its laws, but for their completion I modern materials. I aim to create living, dynamic, even aggressive interiors, which are meant to be exceptionally comfortable. It's important that there is nothing that blocks your sight; it should easily penetrate the space. And this is maybe the hardest stylistic thing I'm trying to follow.
Which is most specific in the project?
We had to take into consideration the fact that when you are in a club full of people, you set eyes mainly on the walls and the ceiling without managing to look at the whole space. That's why I differentiated several zones characteristically close to each other and in the meantime independent form each other. Wherever you look you will see something different – stripes in black and red, silver, mirrors, reproductions on the walls and the ceiling... This was my goal – to create an interior in which you'll always find something new and it would be boring no matter how many times you set eyes on it. I rely a lot on even the minutest details. I even used black meanders on a graphic background, which can be noticed only if you take a closer look.
You didn't use latex and this is easy to notice...
It's true. For the completion of the project I used dense materials whose texture adds specific depth. I combined eco-leather, gloss surfaces from MDF, frosted glass, aluminium, mirrors... This helped me achieve the different, luxurious look of the club. As a whole the composition is quite risky but I'm not afraid of improvising. It's important to always take a step forward. I like working with materials which seem incompatible at first glance. I enjoy this the most. In terms of the second floor, its purpose is different in itself. There the music will be different too. In my new project I tried to create a virtual world touching the future. I'll use a lot of mirrors. They will help the spatial boundaries vanish...
I cannot help asking you about the resemblance of your company's logo with Versace's trademark...
I found the image in an old apocryphal book. As far as I know it's a variety of Medusa Gorgon. She is portrayed differently in different ages. There's nothing unusual in the fact that my logo and the sign of Versace are inspired by the same myth. A friend of mine who is an artist and I decided that the image matches the style and so we developed it. I chose a male's head because it's tense and charged with power and dynamics. In all the other interpretations of Medusa Gorgon there is much more tranquillity. It's because the female face suggests certain softness. And regarding the two snakes, I've made such compositions before in my work as a sculptor. I used to always combine two materials which interact the way objects do in the space. This is exactly what my logo stands for including more dynamics...
In conclusion, how would you describe your style?
Modern, pompous, charged with movement... A style that makes the space firm and intense.
CLUB Help
Here the red and black dominate over everything. Several corners are differentiated, each one with its independent look. In this way you won't be bored no matter how many times you visit the club. A shining platform with meanders attracts your attention. The cupola above it is decorated with fragments from “Judgement Day” by Michelangelo. Julian Tahov's logo lies in its centre.