After working as a couturier for an Haute Couture house Ralph&amp;Russo and dressing some of the world&rsquo;s most famous people, the talented couturier Maximilian Andreev was captivated by the architecture behind the seams and decided to found his company Maison du Savoir, which operates according to the principles of Haute Couture design house and offers timeless design created in harmonious creative collaboration with the client.

What did your creative path start with?
Every road leads somewhere, but much more important than the destination is the journey itself: encountering the world around us and the personal experience that we derive in the process.
The result of this process is understanding of context, which develops both our thinking and personality as a whole. When I was studying in London, my attention was primarily focused on context. As far as our university lecturers were concerned, what mattered was our ability to keep track of the course of the formation of ideas and the trajectory of their development, whereas the result was simply the conclusion of this process. I now understand that this was the decisive moment in the formation of my creative thinking.
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Today the role of informal education and self-education continues to grow. Despite this, I would like to ask you: how important is the correct choice of university for a future professional?
It is an equivocal choice. Although a university is an incubator of ideas and knowledge, the surrounding environment and atmosphere are also hugely important. I would even go so far as saying that their role is just as important as the studies themselves, particularly during a period in which a person is still taking shape as a personality. This is why I opted to study in a city that has both, and where I was inspired by the diversity of the city, its cultures and people. In a place like this, it is crystal clear that a metropolis allows you to be whatever you want to be. There is no social pressure in London, and you alone are responsible for yourself. Such freedom is liberating for somebody from a small country.
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You studied architecture followed by fashion. How did you make the decision to return to your origins?
In college, my main sources of inspiration were body sculptures and their silhouettes and lines. In the process of studying them, I was consumed by joy regarding fashion design and surprised by its ability to change the silhouette of a woman's body. Then I decided to change trajectory, mastered the speciality of a couturier, and after graduating from university started to work as pattern-cutter and toiliste for Haute Coture houses and privately.
However, in my work as a couturier I encountered certain restrictions. After a while, I realised that the only material for the interpretation of my ideas is fabric, but I longed to work with metal, wood, glass and more... For this very reason, I decided to set up an architecture and design company, which would be founded on the philosophy of a luxury fashion house, where everything would have its own meaning, every element would be made by genuine artisans, even the tiniest detail would be unique in its aesthetics, and everything would be created outside space and time, with deep appreciation of the essence of fine design and premium quality.

What does the concept of beauty mean to you in the context of design?
Design is just as multifaceted as other languages, and their forms of communication and perception. As is the case in any language, beauty contains vivid forms of expression, hyperboles, whose meaning is concealed not with individual elements, but within combinations thereof. This also applies to ways of perceiving &mdash; it is not always the case that what the author wanted to say matches how it was perceived. And the extent to which we are able to understand and interpret what we see depends on impressions, knowledge and experience gathered through-out our lives. It is similar to literature &ndash; in order to correctly perceive the diversity of words and their meaning, mechanical reading is not enough; one has to understand the author's train of thought. This is why our work at Maison du Savoir always starts with raw materials and masters. We introduce clients to the diversity of materials and their characteristics, as well as to how wonderful and labour-intensive the process of treating one material or another can be if it is performed by a genuine master. We allow our clients to appreciate the exquisiteness and mastery behind our designs.
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What does architecture mean to you? What associations does this concept evoke?
Architecture is spatial thinking and a multifaceted appreciation of its principles, which form the experience related to one's surrounding space. For me, this experience is divided into perception and feeling. Perception is based on one's understanding of the physical properties of a space, while feelings arise in accordance with the principles of the interaction between people and space. Light and sound are extremely important elements in enhancing the quality of this experience.
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Although you're a creative person, you still remember to systematise different elements. This approach is typical of people from the world of mathematics. Do you believe in the golden ratio and ideal proportions? 
I believe in the harmony of combinations. Colour tones, materials, textures and forms all have their natural combinations and palettes forming a perfection of a certain mood or aesthetics. <a href="https://www.lofficielbaltic.com/en/interior-design/maison-du-savoir-contemporary-understanding-of-timeless-luxury" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maison du Savoir</a> has an entire "library of combinations" created by the design team, allowing the dialogue with the client be more inspiring, effective, and straight forward, avoiding disagreements. This process is comparable to ordering an exotic car or item of Haute Couture clothing. We usually begin by choosing materials from our collections, than we add shape and texture, adapt to functionality, and finish with light and sound. I would like to emphasise that in individual projects absolutely everything is possible &mdash; one can install a secret door and sliding safes for watches or use a natural mother of pearl or an illuminated onyx to decorate a wall.

The more we see, the more multifaceted our perception of the world is. How can we enrich this experience of impressions and use it productively?
For this purpose, one requires the desire to look deeper behind the surface of all that surround us. To develop the ability to accumulate impressions, one needs to train one's attention, focus on details, and enrich oneself with the both - perception and sensations. Go to concerts, exhibitions, travel, stay at boutique hotels, meet friends in restaurants and attend different events. The broader our range of encounters are, the more critical and constructive our impressions will be
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What are your sources of inspiration?
Material and the master. I believe that every interior element must possess its own individuality regardless of whether it is an exotic South American veneer, leather weave made in Italy or a poured glass element crafted by our own local artisans. I think it's important that a client should be able to talk about the items surrounding him, growing fonder of them. This could be a story about ancient methods of treatment or how a rare material was travelling across the globe to be here, right in the middle of your living room.
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What sets timeless design apart from design that's merely good?
Merely good design is like merely good sex: not bad, but you soon tire of it. In order to admire design, one has to create harmony by perfectly homogenizing all details, using elements that complement and highlight one another, and choosing only quality materials and solutions. Timeless design is refinement, and a sense of proportion, correlation and contrasts.
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Can the feelings elicited by a room be changed by just a single element?
Definitely. Let's take, lighting or, in professional terminology, Light Architecture. It has to be easy on our eyes with no visible lighting sources. This is so-called atmospheric lighting, and we try to make its sources as discrete as possible. This approach enables us to visually expand the room and give it intimacy. With light pointed in a certain direction we highlight interior elements or architectonic solutions, whereas decorative lighting such as chandeliers and wall lamps, gives the room an aesthetic. Overall, lighting solutions are responsible for the interior scenario and thus the mood and quality of our feelings.
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Which part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
Working with my team. I'm not exaggerating when I say that they're like family to me. The biggest strength of Maison du Savoir and our associated businesses is understanding and the capacity to offer a full project development, execution, and management cycle. The infrastructure built around Maison du Savoir allows teams to work together: designers, architects, builders, network engineers, furniture manufacturers and materials' suppliers work at the same table and with one objective &mdash; to produce a result of flawless quality. This is the process that gives me the greatest pleasure.

Maison du Savoir Creative Director Maximilian Andreev. The Aesthetics of Senses

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