To explain this project, we interviewed interior designer Viktoria Bankov.

Viktoria, you look very young. How long has your studio been open? Do you only deal with interior design?
I have been an interior designer for over 10 years. In my second year of university, I started working as a product designer to gain experience and learn how to communicate with clients. I have designed kitchen furniture and bathroom furniture. This experience gave me an understanding of how design processes work.

Where does your particular interest in interior design come from?
The interest comes from my childhood, although at the time I didn’t think about it in this context. When I was 10, I used to play with dolls and make furniture for their house out of paper… I would cut mats and blankets from my mother’s clothes and use them in my creations.

What is your approach to interior design?
I believe that beauty lies in simplicity. Luxury items cannot coexist in a single interior.

What are your strengths?
Whatever style the interior is, it should be comfortable to live in. Therefore, I always think very carefully about the layout.

Which artist do you feel closest to in terms of what you are currently trying to express?
It’s not easy to answer… something I like from one artist, something from another… but there isn’t anyone yet that I feel really close to.

What prospects do you see for yourself in the field of design?
I want to try my hand at designing objects. It will probably be a piece of furniture, a fabric or a lamp.

How do you see the future of your profession?
That’s a really complicated question. Due to the availability of information, everything develops very quickly, including design. Where this abundance of information will lead, no one knows. Some people say that the profession of interior designer will not exist in the future. It is said that consumers will try to create their own interiors based on images from Pinterest and Instagram… But it may never happen. What I say with pride is that, at this moment in history, professional interior designers are in high demand.

What is your project in Estonia?
It is a private 4-room apartment on the Baltic Sea with a wonderful view.

I would like to know what the building’s exterior is like so that I can understand how the interiors relate to the style of the building that houses them.
I was inspired by the architecture of the building itself and its proximity to the sea. The building was designed with a very soft and smooth shape. The style is similar to the works of Karim Rashid, far removed from Estonian architecture.

In this work, you chose to feature glass. What attracts you to this material?
Since the apartment is located near the sea, I wanted to use a water theme and combine the exterior with the interior. I like using glass in my interior design projects. It gives a feeling of lightness and airiness.

Did the view from that beautiful apartment take you back to Venice, where the Vistosi brand was born?
This is truly an amazing coincidence. Venice is a very romantic and maritime city, just like the interior of this apartment.

Why did you choose Vistosi?
Diadema by Vistosi is a very light and airy pendant lamp with flowing elements. It fits perfectly into our marine interior with its soft shapes, so Vistosi was the obvious choice. I had no doubts.