Drozdov&partners

The architectural office “Drozdov & Partners” was founded in Kharkiv in 1997. The initial projects of the office emerged as a result of the first wave of private investment in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to a radical rupture of relations in the professional discourse, we had to draft a new agenda for ourselves. Our major focus was openness and a search for new relations between urban space and architecture, architecture and nature. Gradually our interests have shifted from visual-spatial communication towards events and processes and their integration into the urban environment. A balance between the public and the private, the commercial and the public has become our key topic. During the last decade, the office has expanded its agenda with programme-based design, adaptability and a search for new ways of interpreting tectonics in the age of “wraps”. It is crucial for us to develop sensitivity towards location, culture, climate, and time. Hence, the office endeavours to work on a broad international scale, including Switzerland, France, the USA, Spain, Korea, Kuwait, and other countries. Such international experience both broadens our scope and gives us a better understanding of ourselves and our own culture. Our credo is critical and artistic pragmatism. We are sure that contemporary architecture must be emotional, somewhat ironic and it should definitely encode its relation to human sentiments. Our key design method implies discussion and internal team criticism. It is essential that almost all the team members at once perform various roles: from urban design and vast area research to interior and even stage set design. Sometimes this approach may extend the design phase, but it definitely increases the quality of the solutions and gives an opportunity to address a challenge applying the broadest possible range of expertise.