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Alexander Tischler redesigned an 84-square-meter apartment for a couple and their two daughters, combining warm retro colors and glass bricks with contemporary storage, soundproofing and climate control. The project, named “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” was shaped by a client request to avoid gray and by structural limits in the existing layout.
Alexander Tischler has redesigned an 84-square-meter apartment for a couple and their two daughters, combining glass-brick details and a warm, retro palette with concealed storage, soundproofing and climate control. The project, reported by Livingetc under the name “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, had to work around low ceilings, a central load-bearing pillar and a dim, awkwardly shaped hallway.
Architect Karen Karapetian said the clients arrived with a detailed idea of the interior they wanted, even though they had not found a similar look in the studio’s portfolio. The apartment was in a new development, but its three-room arrangement presented constraints that made the work more than a cosmetic refresh. Karapetian said the design team made limited but consequential changes to the plan while preserving the apartment’s structural conditions and ceiling height.
The family’s requested layout included a larger 18-square-meter bedroom for the daughters, a primary bedroom with a workspace and en-suite bathroom, and a separate office for the father, a poet. The girls’ room has symmetrical work areas, while its center is left open for play. Built-in furniture and storage were used throughout to support those uses without making the compact rooms feel visually crowded.
The clients’ firm color preference was “no gray,” Karapetian told Livingetc. The scheme instead uses pistachio kitchen cabinetry, amber tiles, an olive-green sofa, a turquoise entryway and a terracotta guest bathroom. Two refrigerators are concealed in the kitchen cabinetry, while upper cabinets stop below the ceiling so the kitchen reads more like a freestanding sideboard than a continuous wall of storage.
Retro Details Meet Modern Needs
The project offers a specific example of how a home can reference family memories without simply recreating an earlier period. Its glass bricks, small tiles and herringbone parquet evoke familiar older interiors, while the layout and concealed systems serve the needs of a contemporary family. The balance is particularly relevant in a compact home, where storage, privacy and daylight have to be handled alongside appearance.
Light was one of the design problems the team addressed. In the primary en-suite, glass blocks run near the ceiling and turn down a corner to the floor, allowing light into the bathroom while adding patterned reflections. A fluted-glass partition nearby contributes another textured surface. The design uses these materials as part of the interior’s visual character, not only as nostalgic references.
Practical systems are also part of the story. Livingetc reports that the apartment includes soundproofing, climate control with air purification and integrated storage. Those features are less visible than the terracotta ceiling or colored cabinetry, but they help explain how the design pairs a retro appearance with present-day household functions. The source does not provide performance data for those systems or quantify their effects.
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A Brief Built on Memories
According to Livingetc, the clients wanted a home inspired by warm memories of their Soviet childhood, rather than the cool monochrome palette they associated with many modern interiors. Their request for glass bricks drew on a building material associated with older Soviet architecture. Karapetian said some people are reluctant to bring the material back, but the clients specifically wanted it incorporated into the apartment.
The project’s title, “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” is described by Karapetian as an ironic reference to the Beatles’ 1968 song of the same name. The title signals a personal and playful connection to the owners’ memories, not a claim that the apartment is a historical reconstruction. Rounded furniture, tactile fabrics and brass-finished bathroom fixtures appear alongside clean lines and contemporary technology.
The studio’s challenge was to translate the clients’ detailed aesthetic preferences into a workable plan without major structural changes. Karapetian described the brief as involving engineering, preservation of ceiling height and custom zoning. The central pillar and low ceilings remained important constraints, and the dark hallway’s geometry linked the rooms in the original layout.
““Absolutely”.”
— Karen Karapetian, architect at Alexander Tischler, as quoted by Livingetc
Project Details Still Unreported
Livingetc’s report describes the design and its intended functions, but does not identify the apartment’s city, completion date, construction budget or project timeline. It also does not specify which interventions required permits or provide technical details about the soundproofing, air purification or climate-control systems.
The source presents the design through the architect’s account and project photography credited to Olga Shangina. It does not include independent measurements of daylight, noise reduction or energy performance, nor does it separately quote the owners about how the finished apartment works in daily use. The reported intentions and features should not be mistaken for verified performance results.
No Further Milestone Listed
The source material presents the apartment as a completed design project and does not announce a coming construction phase, opening or follow-up development. No next project milestone is identified in the Livingetc report.
Further reporting could clarify the project’s location, completion date and costs, as well as how the family uses the redesigned rooms and whether the integrated systems meet their needs. Until those details are available, the confirmed account is limited to the reported layout, materials, design brief and features described by Karapetian.
Key Questions
Who redesigned the apartment?
Alexander Tischler led the redesign, with architect Karen Karapetian describing the project to Livingetc.
How large is the apartment?
The apartment measures 84 square meters and is home to a couple and their two daughters, according to the report.
Why does the project use glass bricks?
The clients specifically requested glass bricks as a reference to older Soviet buildings. In the primary en-suite, the blocks also let light into the bathroom and create patterned reflections, Karapetian said.
What does “Back in the U.S.S.R.” refer to?
Karapetian said the project name makes an ironic reference to the Beatles’ 1968 song. The report links the design to the owners’ childhood memories; it does not describe the apartment as a historical reconstruction.
What remains unknown about the project?
The report does not state the apartment’s location, completion date, budget or construction timeline. It also gives no independent performance data for the soundproofing or climate-control systems.
Source: livingetc.com
