Veronika BARSEGhyAN
photographed by grisha petrosyan
When did you purchase the apartment?
We bought the apartment 3 years ago, when the construction process of the building had not even started, but because of covid and war the development was delayed, so we finally moved in last year in September. We chose this particular project with Hakob, my husband, because we knew that buildings were going to be four or five storeys and we both don’t like high-rise buildings, they put pressure on me particularly. I don’t like the idea of being a part of a huge mechanism, so I am more of a private small house fan. We live on the first floor and it’s easy to get out of the house so you don’t get lazy.
What can you say about the district?
Davtashen is quite green in comparison to other Yerevan districts and it’s easy to go out of town from here in directions to Dilijan or Sevan. That makes me really happy.
Who helped you to design the interior?
My friend Alya helped us, she is now working together with two other girls, but she was working on our apartment interior by herself. Alya understood exactly what we wanted very quickly and it was quite easy to work with her on the overall apartment’s design. We joked with her about how similar furniture she designs is to my ceramic works and how everything looks good together.
Can you tell us about all the custom furniture pieces you’ve made because there are quite a lot of them? Who designed them and was the production process difficult?
Design was made by Alya. We came up with the idea of custom furniture because of the lack of good pieces in Armenia you might like. But it’s also difficult to find good materials here so we were trying to combine materials from Italy and Russia. The production process was very long and difficult here, because the apartment renovation was done by one person, while another person made the furniture and they all complain about each other. For example, the furniture man complains on curved walls, that the pieces will not fit well.
Which one do you like the most?
I am personally proud and like a lot this blue arch with the closet. It was quite tricky to make it work as the walls were curved, but I like all of them. When we moved in, there was only a mattress, we were eating food on the refrigerator box and sitting on two ottomans. And each time when I saw a piece of furniture being installed, I was the happiest. Hakob was very attentive, he followed the whole process and tried to do his best so the final result would be ideal. It was like playing a rubik's cube, in two months the apartment was full.
Most of the objects in your house are your ceramic works, what was the last thing you bought from another artist or brand?
I guess the recent one is this glass jug from HAY design. But I also really like one artist from Cyprus, Efthymios Symeou, he makes Mediterranean style ceramics. I met him in Cyprus, we had a nice chat together. He gave me a huge discount, I bought a bowl from him in which we ate salad today. His works are presented nearly in every museum there.
Tell us about your ceramics and the tiles, how did you integrate them in the apartment design?
The ceramic tiles were bought in advance. I like the size of 10x10cm because it reminds me of our old house entrance, it was all in the same size soviet tiles. I wanted to write some nice words on them in order for the apartment to be cozy, sweet and ours. The font was also designed by me because I couldn’t find such a font to fit well in 10x10cm parameters. I like that it is quite bold and monumental. In the bathroom we used tiles with sketches of Hakob’s and mine hands and feet. I was very interested in drawing these particular human body parts in that period of time. Firstly, I drew sketches by hand and then carved them on tiles.
The way you work with ceramics is very poetic. Tell us about your studio.
Thank you, Sea Veroniques studio has been working for a few years. I got my first studio 3 years ago, made several collections there and also had students there. Now the studio is near our house in an adjacent building but is currently in the process of construction.
We liked your apartment a lot, have you ever been interested in interior design? Have you been inspired by other designers?
I don’t remember the names, but for me home is a very important place to stay and it is important to want to go back home. So, I did research and looked through a lot of journals, watched films. And while working with ceramics I always imagined the pieces in the interior. Like they have to work together very well.
