Every day, the project’s audience interacts with the products of Mama Ro:
through the platforms, website and the studios themselves. Including the interior design studio and
furniture workshop. However, few people imagine that behind all of this is the hard work and talent of many
people, including artists, engineers, designers, architects, cleaners, managers, poets, visionaries,
stonecutters, woodworkers, electronic engineers, enthusiasts with even lazy guys and many, many others. Read
about all these people in the new material by Mama Ro.
FOREWORD
We are Mama Ro!
This chronicle appeared by chance. At the beginning, we just wanted to
gather everyone in a common photo with an oak. But time passed, and the number of iconic people for the
project exceeded fifty. Plus, given the fact that all the people are dispersed throughout different cities
and countries, the idea of getting together on a clear summer day to be photographed on the branches of a
century-old oak turned out to be an impossible task.
Then we divided the idea into two parts. We decided to get the entire
actual staff in the photo and to talk about those without whom Mama Ro wouldn’t be Mama Ro in the
classical way: portraits and descriptions. This actually turned out to be incredibly boring...
So, began the laborious work on the chronicle: selection of photos,
interviews with participants, search and clarification of dates. The collection of material began to
create a valuable portrait of the era. And this chronicle was born.
Today we talk about the most interesting in our project: the synergy of
characters and talents, friendship and mutual assistance, coincidences and chance encounters, fooling
around and prophetic dreams. In one word, describing the people who create Mama Ro.
Sasha Marusheva
Artist.
Mama Ro
administrator
Mama Ro administration. Illustration. The author of the 21st studio titled
British.
This chronicle appeared by chance. At the beginning, we just wanted to gather everyone in a common photo
with an oak. But time passed, and the number of iconic people for the project exceeded fifty. Plus, given
the fact that all the people are dispersed throughout different cities and countries, the idea of getting
together on a clear summer day to be photographed on the branches of a century-old oak turned out to be an
impossible task.
Then we divided the idea into two parts. We decided to get the entire actual staff in the photo and to talk
about those without whom Mama Ro wouldn’t be Mama Ro in the classical way: portraits and descriptions. This
actually turned out to be incredibly boring...
So, began the laborious work on the chronicle: selection of photos, interviews with participants, search and
clarification of dates. The collection of material began to create a valuable portrait of the era. And this
chronicle was born.
Today we talk about the most interesting in our project: the synergy of characters and talents, friendship
and mutual assistance, coincidences and chance encounters, fooling around and prophetic dreams. In one word,
describing the people who create Mama Ro.
INDEX
Heroes
This index performs two tasks: Everyone who is interested in Mama Ro's project sees
its heroes and visualises the heroes of the chronicle where many of which have the same name. The latter
also makes it easier to navigate the text: look at a few tips on the left on how you can conveniently use
the index while reading.
Among the heroes of the index, there are also three founders of the project. Not that
they claimed a place in this pantheon, but are there for the same navigation convenience. At the same time,
there are three other important heroes (we could not add them into history because of the confidentiality of
their service). Let them be mentioned at least here anonymously.
And the last one. When we remembered everyone, who is dear to Mama Ro, we realized
that there are still a great number of people who, even though went through the project on a tangent, also
made their modest contribution to it. Some will be mentioned in the chronicles on occasion. And at the end,
we will try to remember and thank everyone by name.
Tips
Click on the index to read about the character you want who are in the chronicles.
Click on the verse to the left of the paragraph to see its characters and where else they are mentioned.
Click on the hero’s icon to read more about him or her in the Heroes section.
Click to return. Here you can find the history of your three previous clicks.
Click on the index to read about the character you want who are in the chronicles.
Click on the verse to the left of the paragraph to see its characters and where else they are mentioned.
Click on the hero’s icon to read more about him or her in the Heroes section.
Click to return. Here you can find the history of your three previous clicks.
Click on the table of contents to the right to move within sections of the material.
«So that human events may not be effaced by time, and the great and marvelous deeds».
Herodotus
INTRODUCTION
At Roxana’s Mother’s
pring 2011, Yulia finishes the construction work in a rented room on the Vodootvodny channel. Torn wallpaper,
newly plastered walls, a sculpted and dark varnished parquet. A dilapidated window patched by a plane tool.
Everything is done carefully, with her own hands. And a minimum of furniture: a bed, a table, a chair, a
working iMac, and around it all, a pencil box of clean, white, three-meter-long walls stretching to the
ceiling. With a window looking out into spring sky and old-brick Moscow. On the street and around the corner
the Moscow Kremlin is seen across the bridge.
Time will pass, the guys will recall Yulia’s work frequently while working on the project. The small forty
cubes of space snatched from the Zamoskvorechye used to be the walls of the warehouse of the Supplier of His
Imperial Majesty P. Smirnov. In the 20th century it would be used as communal apartments and just like the
creation of the world, the project’s history will start to grow from here. In the eyes of the founding fathers
of the project, Yulia's work is a proto-construction and it opens up a whole series of events leading to the
birth of Mama Ro.
Yulia is in her room after the renovation. Over time, the word “renovation” in this project will give way
to “construction”, which is more suitable for the intensity of the process. Yulia’s renovation that was at
the origins of Mama Ro, would be called “proto-construction”.
Wine drinking ceremony at Kitay-Gorod. Dima and Yulia already know each other. With the idea to shoot a
cartoon, Dima triggers a chain reaction of meetings leading to the birth of the project. In the above
photo: the roofs of Zamoskvorechye from Yulia’s window would become part of the Mama Ro logo.
April 12, 2011, Dolgoprudny. Dima while listening to the songs of Milana is completing the development of an
identity for Coltmedia, a company invented by Tolya and Denis. Tolya and Denis rent a workshop on Armenian
Lane from the artist Sasha Povzner and work all day in Kitay-Gorod. They conduct focus groups on how to sell
the online conference to Heineken. On the same day, the day of cosmonautics is celebrated in Russia, and Yulia
invites her former classmate Anton, who helped her, among others, with the construction, to see the exposition
in the Polytechnic Museum in Kitay-Gorod.
Dima finishes the layout and comes to Tolya and Denis to present the business cards and a logo. He recommends
the guys to do a short promotional cartoon for Heineken instead of a “boring presentation”, following the
example of Red Bull or Reach Access Plus toothbrush. Tolya recalls that his classmate Anton made a cartoon
with his friend when they were at school. He sends him a short message on a social network platform and,
together with Denis, leaves the Armenian Lane to have lunch in cheburechnaya on Pokrovka. In the same moment,
after leaving the Polytechnic Museum, Julia and Anton come to the cheburechnaya on Pokrovka for lunch.
Six months later, on the night of October 3, 2011, a fire devastates a local bathhouse in Anton’s village, It
burns in front of his eyes and four hours later it burns down completely. It turned out that it was an issue
of an overheated stove. The bathhouse belonged to a friend of his father, and upon returning to Moscow, Anton
writes a post about the intention to temporarily rent his workshop in Kitay-Gorod. It was imperative to get
the rental money in order to collect and pay 250,000 rubles to the owner of the bathhouse.
The workshop on Kitay-Gorod, announced by Anton as a sublease, is located in Maliy Ivanovsky Lane in a
pre-revolutionary building near Khitrovskaya Square. Half a year ago, when by some chance the cheburechnaya on
Pokrovka united the guys together, the basement floor was empty in this building. During the work on the
promotional cartoon for Coltmedia, Anton, Tolya, Masha, Yulya, and Zlata begin to be friends and, inspired by
Yulia’s work, they rent and equip their own creative space. During the fire at the bathhouse these, friends
have already rented the entire floor.
Yulia's renovation and guys’ favorite Kitay-Gorod inspired Tolya, Anton, Masha and Zlata to set up
their own workshops here. Tolya and Anton as a striking force. Volodya is missing for the moment as
the guys haven’t met yet.
The arrangement of the first workshop begins with exposing the walls to the "historical" understeer:
nineteenth century bricks and plaster shingles. Yulia (on the left) teaches the guys how to putty
the walls.
Tolya and Anton while cleaning brick walls in Zlata's workshop. Headscarves instead of expensive
respirators.
Masha and Tolya. After cleaning the ceilings from whitewash.
Yulia and Zlata. During painting the walls and ceilings.
After a month of renovation works, the building 11/6 in Maly Ivanovsky Lane (on the left) becomes
the first "anchor" thrown by the guys on Kitay-Gorod. Friends are finishing the arrangement of
workshops. From left to right: Zlata, Masha, Tolya, Anton.
A few months later, Anton's workshop would be sublet as Anton would burn a neighbor's bathhouse in
the village. Volodya becomes the new tenant.
Familiar from school, but losing touch for several years, Tolya and Anton become friends. The reason was
Dima's work on the identity and promotional materials for Tolya's startup, the Coltmedia company.
The bathhouse burned by Anton. Thanks to the fire, the guys meet Volodya.
October 12, 2011, right here, in Maly Ivanovsky Lane, Anton, Yulia, Roxana, Tolya and Masha drink tea in
Zlata’s workshop and talk about the movie “Rain Man” in relation to the idea of starting their own business
and selling “at least cars”, as did the Tom Cruise’s character. “Aram opened a hostel in Seoul today!” - Anton
suddenly recalls the morning post of a common friend from South Korea. “Exactly, let's open the hostel too!”
says a voice that the group picks up. “Yeah, and let's call him ‘At Mother Roxanne’. The participants of the
conversation don’t remember who exactly said this but the highest probability indicates it was most likely
Zlata. Everybody laughs.
Ro appeared at the origins of the project as imperceptibly as one day she appeared living in New York. With
the organic nature of Roxanne, this was no surprise to anyone. As the rain doesn’t ask when to start and stop,
and the sun to look out or hide, Ro just appeared on the threshold of the boiling construction site of Anton
and Tolya who were covered with a thick layer of construction dust. She was laughing, chirping stories and
disappeared again in the summer day.
On one of these days, when Anton, Yulia and Tolya were just finishing up equipping a workshop, Ro brings to
the Maly Ivanovsky her mother. Her mother was a practicing psychologist in finding new space for her work, and
Anton and Tolya helped her rent the last remaining room on the floor. Roxana's mom and the guys become
neighbors.
Meanwhile, in between these dates when Anton watches the bathhouse burn down and returns to Moscow, and Zlata
who for the first time, pronounces the name of the future project over a cup of tea, a week passes. Anton’s
post about the sublet of the workshop space was in great demand, was selected as one of the recommended posts
of the VK (VKontakte – a Russian social network) and pops up in the Volodya’s iPhone somewhere in the
Nikolskaya street. Volodya is not yet familiar with these guys. They have no common friends in the social
network platform.
Emigrant Ro before the departure of the Odessa-New York steamer. Odessa, 1919.
Workshop after sublet. Volodya rearranges and brings his own taste to the space. Step by step, the guys
become friends.
The presentation of the "Mama Ro" start-up wouldn’t help to attract an investor, but it would provide a
service: In order to do it seriously, the guys quit their jobs, not leaving a way back.
At the same time, Tolya, inspired by the very high conversion of the post about renting a workshop, says to
the guys right away, “jokes aside, right on the knee…” and he takes out a calculator and using the time span
of a summer construction, estimates the possible costs and profits of a “At Roxana’s Mother’s” hostel. Anton
and Zlata develop the idea of the name and are already coming up with a place where to hand a doorbell at
“Roxana’s Mother’s”. Everyone laughs because the nominal name of Roxana's mom who rarely appears on Maly
Ivanovsky. She has imperceptibly settled in everyone’s mind and turned into a muse of the place. The friends
discover a workable economic solution on Tolya’s calculator.
Four months later after drinking tea at Zlata’s three giant icebergs broke off from a glacier somewhere in
Antarctica and melted down. One was the size of Greenland, the second – of New York, and the largest – Chistye
Prudy. It’s February in Moscow and the streets are nasty. Anton, Volodya and Tolya are already good friends.
It was Volodya who became the tenant later. They come to the studio to warm up and for the first time they
discuss the presentation of the project “At Roxana’s Mother”. The idea the came as a joke while drinking tea
in the fall, then matured and took a firm place in the minds of the three friends. The project gets its first
breath. In the same evening, its name becomes a laconic "Mama Ro".
Young group of friends in full force. Along with Ro. From left to right: Volodya Nizovtsev, Anton Kozlov, Roxana
Kadyrova, Masha and Tolya Smirnov.
March 23, 2012, Vodootvodny channel. In Yulia’s room, the guys prepare the first illustrations drawn by Uncle
Pasha, Anton's father. He helps son to find an artistic solution for the future presentation of Mama Ro. At
the same time, Uncle Pasha is in the last stages of his life due to his cancer. As always, he manages to
continue jogging and do sports, to joke and to laugh, furthermore, he helps his son and wishes the guys
success. Later, during the exhausting construction works, the great strength of spirit of Uncle Pasha will be
remembered more than once and will serve as an example to these friends.
pring 2011, Yulia finishes the construction work in a rented room on the Vodootvodny channel. Torn wallpaper,
newly plastered walls, a sculpted and dark varnished parquet. A dilapidated window patched by a plane tool.
Everything is done carefully, with her own hands. And a minimum of furniture: a bed, a table, a chair, a
working iMac, and around it all, a pencil box of clean, white, three-meter-long walls stretching to the
ceiling. With a window looking out into spring sky and old-brick Moscow. On the street and around the corner
the Moscow Kremlin is seen across the bridge.
Time will pass, the guys will recall Yulia’s work frequently while working on the project. The small forty
cubes of space snatched from the Zamoskvorechye used to be the walls of the warehouse of the Supplier of His
Imperial Majesty P. Smirnov. In the 20th century it would be used as communal apartments and just like the
creation of the world, the project’s history will start to grow from here. In the eyes of the founding fathers
of the project, Yulia's work is a proto-construction and it opens up a whole series of events leading to the
birth of Mama Ro.
Yulia is in her room after the renovation. Over time, the word “renovation” in this project will give way
to “construction”, which is more suitable for the intensity of the process. Yulia’s renovation that was at
the origins of Mama Ro, would be called “proto-construction”.
April 12, 2011, Dolgoprudny. Dima while listening to the songs of Milana is completing the development of an
identity for Coltmedia, a company invented by Tolya and Denis. Tolya and Denis rent a workshop on Armenian
Lane from the artist Sasha Povzner and work all day in Kitay-Gorod. They conduct focus groups on how to sell
the online conference to Heineken. On the same day, the day of cosmonautics is celebrated in Russia, and Yulia
invites her former classmate Anton, who helped her, among others, with the construction, to see the exposition
in the Polytechnic Museum in Kitay-Gorod.
Wine drinking ceremony at Kitay-Gorod. Dima and Yulia already know each other. With the idea to shoot a
cartoon, Dima triggers a chain reaction of meetings leading to the birth of the project. In the above
photo: the roofs of Zamoskvorechye from Yulia’s window would become part of the Mama Ro logo.
Dima finishes the layout and comes to Tolya and Denis to present the business cards and a logo. He recommends
the guys to do a short promotional cartoon for Heineken instead of a “boring presentation”, following the
example of Red Bull or Reach Access Plus toothbrush. Tolya recalls that his classmate Anton made a cartoon
with his friend when they were at school. He sends him a short message on a social network platform and,
together with Denis, leaves the Armenian Lane to have lunch in cheburechnaya on Pokrovka. In the same moment,
after leaving the Polytechnic Museum, Julia and Anton come to the cheburechnaya on Pokrovka for lunch.
Familiar from school, but losing touch for several years, Tolya and Anton become friends. The reason was
Dima's work on the identity and promotional materials for Tolya's startup, the Coltmedia company.
Six months later, on the night of October 3, 2011, a fire devastates a local bathhouse in Anton’s village, It
burns in front of his eyes and four hours later it burns down completely. It turned out that it was an issue
of an overheated stove. The bathhouse belonged to a friend of his father, and upon returning to Moscow, Anton
writes a post about the intention to temporarily rent his workshop in Kitay-Gorod. It was imperative to get
the rental money in order to collect and pay 250,000 rubles to the owner of the bathhouse.
Yulia's renovation and guys’ favorite Kitay-Gorod inspired Tolya, Anton, Masha and Zlata to set up
their own workshops here. Tolya and Anton as a striking force. Volodya is missing for the moment as
the guys haven’t met yet.
The arrangement of the first workshop begins with exposing the walls to the "historical" understeer:
nineteenth century bricks and plaster shingles. Yulia (on the left) teaches the guys how to putty
the walls.
Tolya and Anton while cleaning brick walls in Zlata's workshop. Headscarves instead of expensive
respirators.
Masha and Tolya. After cleaning the ceilings from whitewash.
Yulia and Zlata. During painting the walls and ceilings.
After a month of renovation works, the building 11/6 in Maly Ivanovsky Lane (on the left) becomes
the first "anchor" thrown by the guys on Kitay-Gorod. Friends are finishing the arrangement of
workshops. From left to right: Zlata, Masha, Tolya, Anton.
A few months later, Anton's workshop would be sublet as Anton would burn a neighbor's bathhouse in
the village. Volodya becomes the new tenant.
The workshop on Kitay-Gorod, announced by Anton as a sublease, is located in Maliy Ivanovsky Lane in a
pre-revolutionary building near Khitrovskaya Square. Half a year ago, when by some chance the cheburechnaya on
Pokrovka united the guys together, the basement floor was empty in this building. During the work on the
promotional cartoon for Coltmedia, Anton, Tolya, Masha, Yulya, and Zlata begin to be friends and, inspired by
Yulia’s work, they rent and equip their own creative space. During the fire at the bathhouse these, friends
have already rented the entire floor.
The bathhouse burned by Anton. Thanks to the fire, the guys meet Volodya.
October 12, 2011, right here, in Maly Ivanovsky Lane, Anton, Yulia, Roxana, Tolya and Masha drink tea in
Zlata’s workshop and talk about the movie “Rain Man” in relation to the idea of starting their own business
and selling “at least cars”, as did the Tom Cruise’s character. “Aram opened a hostel in Seoul today!” - Anton
suddenly recalls the morning post of a common friend from South Korea. “Exactly, let's open the hostel too!”
says a voice that the group picks up. “Yeah, and let's call him ‘At Mother Roxanne’. The participants of the
conversation don’t remember who exactly said this but the highest probability indicates it was most likely
Zlata. Everybody laughs.
Ro appeared at the origins of the project as imperceptibly as one day she appeared living in New York. With
the organic nature of Roxanne, this was no surprise to anyone. As the rain doesn’t ask when to start and stop,
and the sun to look out or hide, Ro just appeared on the threshold of the boiling construction site of Anton
and Tolya who were covered with a thick layer of construction dust. She was laughing, chirping stories and
disappeared again in the summer day.
Emigrant Ro before the departure of the Odessa-New York steamer. Odessa, 1919.
On one of these days, when Anton, Yulia and Tolya were just finishing up equipping a workshop, Ro brings to
the Maly Ivanovsky her mother. Her mother was a practicing psychologist in finding new space for her work, and
Anton and Tolya helped her rent the last remaining room on the floor. Roxana's mom and the guys become
neighbors.
Meanwhile, in between these dates when Anton watches the bathhouse burn down and returns to Moscow, and Zlata
who for the first time, pronounces the name of the future project over a cup of tea, a week passes. Anton’s
post about the sublet of the workshop space was in great demand, was selected as one of the recommended posts
of the VK (VKontakte – a Russian social network) and pops up in the Volodya’s iPhone somewhere in the
Nikolskaya street. Volodya is not yet familiar with these guys. They have no common friends in the social
network platform.
Workshop after sublet. Volodya rearranges and brings his own taste to the space. Step by step, the guys become friends.
At the same time, Tolya, inspired by the very high conversion of the post about renting a workshop, says to
the guys right away, “jokes aside, right on the knee…” and he takes out a calculator and using the time span
of a summer construction, estimates the possible costs and profits of a “At Roxana’s Mother’s” hostel. Anton
and Zlata develop the idea of the name and are already coming up with a place where to hand a doorbell at
“Roxana’s Mother’s”. Everyone laughs because the nominal name of Roxana's mom who rarely appears on Maly
Ivanovsky. She has imperceptibly settled in everyone’s mind and turned into a muse of the place. The friends
discover a workable economic solution on Tolya’s calculator.
Презентация стартапа “Mother Ро” не поможет привлечь
инвестора, но
сослужит службу: чтобы заниматься ею всерьез, ребята увольняются с работ, не оставляя дороги назад.
Four months later after drinking tea at Zlata’s three giant icebergs broke off from a glacier somewhere in
Antarctica and melted down. One was the size of Greenland, the second – of New York, and the largest – Chistye
Prudy. It’s February in Moscow and the streets are nasty. Anton, Volodya and Tolya are already good friends.
It was Volodya who became the tenant later. They come to the studio to warm up and for the first time they
discuss the presentation of the project “At Roxana’s Mother”. The idea the came as a joke while drinking tea
in the fall, then matured and took a firm place in the minds of the three friends. The project gets its first
breath. In the same evening, its name becomes a laconic "Mama Ro".
Young group of friends in full force. Along with Ro. From left to right: Volodya Nizovtsev, Anton Kozlov, Roxana
Kadyrova, Masha and Tolya Smirnov.
March 23, 2012, Vodootvodny channel. In Yulia’s room, the guys prepare the first illustrations drawn by Uncle
Pasha, Anton's father. He helps son to find an artistic solution for the future presentation of Mama Ro. At
the same time, Uncle Pasha is in the last stages of his life due to his cancer. As always, he manages to
continue jogging and do sports, to joke and to laugh, furthermore, he helps his son and wishes the guys
success. Later, during the exhausting construction works, the great strength of spirit of Uncle Pasha will be
remembered more than once and will serve as an example to these friends.
n May 12, 2012, after several unsuccessful attempts to attract an investor, Tolya, Anton and Volodya, put
aside the completed presentation and start the Mama Ro project on their own. They rent a small space at
Spiridonovskaya, buy plaster, tools and start the very first construction in Mama Ro’s history. Just like
Yulia at the very beginning, and then in Maly Ivanovsky, with their own hands. The guys have almost no money,
they have to scrape and borrow. Dima Trusov, Aydar, Zlata, Yulia and Lena help out. The project only needs to
define a studio format which will be born in the construction process.
May 20, 2012, 2:09AM, immediately after the demolition of the walls. The next day, it would be decided
to leave everything as it is: two spacious studios instead of rooms. At that moment, all subsequent Mama
Ro studios were born.
May 27, 2012, there is a festive table set in the space of the future Studio 1: stacked bags of plaster laid
over each other. There is a navy-style pasta (Russian dish made of cooked pasta mixed with stuffing made of
stewed ground meat), a rice salad with onions, shrimp and eggs, bread and three different ice cream flavors on
the "table". Volodya’s mom, Nadejda Alekseevna, doesn’t allow the comrades to die of hunger. The guys go out
for Coke and forget to buy disposable cutlery, so they will have to improvise with a grinder’s key. It’s
Volodya's birthday.
Masha comes to the guys every day after work to help with the construction work and to feed them.
Volodya is twenty-four, but his parents are still setting the festive table. The birthday boy's mother
prepared and brought food to the construction site. Using the bags of plaster as a table. A tool instead
of cutlery.
The end of June. Sun rays creep along the newly laid, varnished floor of solid pine. Having climbed onto the
window sill, Ro jumps into the space of the future Studio 1. There is a pleasant coolness inside and a summer
afternoon outside. Ro finds a cut-off bottom of a plastic bottle, kneads a viscous white paste in it and
proceeds to do slow and crazy work: a careful chiseling out of the joints in a large wall of glass blocks.
After lunch, Alina comes in through the door and takes the baton from Ro. The day is drawing to a close. Masha
comes from work and sets a dinner for the guys right there on the floor. It’s the first meal of the day. Ro,
Alina, Anton, Volodya and Tolya take a break from work and gather at the “table”. Eating from a floor that is
laid with your own hands seems much tastier. Days are running by fast. Yulia, Masha, Roxana, Zlata, Alina,
sometimes together, or replace each other, appear, support, and help friends. The struggle for the result
acquires a special meaning.
Roxana, Masha, Tolya and Yulia at the festive table. It’s festive
because the girls know how to bring comfort to a construction site with a light hand.
Masha and Roxana. The participation of the girls in the process, from purchasing building materials to painting windows, inspiring guys to overcome the challenges that come with construction.
Alina describes her participation in the tedious, monotonous construction processes with “rest” after being fired from an advertising agency.
The support of Yulia, Masha, Zlata, Alina, Roxana holds a lot of meaning for the friends. As Anton recalls,
“They worked like hell from morning ‘till night, from bell to bell, non-stop and without days off... and all
the work is difficult, in the morning you have to work on your body, otherwise it’s not possible to turn the
arm or leg, it hurts everywhere…the second week, everyone felt it at the same time. I weighed 76 kg before the
construction work, after it - 67! And the guys lost 10 kg each. Well, this five-year plan fit into 60 days was
only possible because the girls saved the men. They would feed us, and since we had no money left at the end,
they would then come and help. And we don’t even ask them for help, somehow we do it all by ourselves. At that
time, I absolutely admired this sensitivity to our needs, and for the first time I realized what heroism is;
when a soul is able to lift and grind everything in its path in spite of any fatigue. With the support of the
girls, we felt like real heroes.”
July 17, 2012, Volodya, Yulia and Anton come to the studios before anyone else. Vartan, who responded to
Volodya’s request to help take photos of the studio, comes next. The interior shooting is scheduled for the
evening. The cleaning and preparation begin. It’s a warm July rain outside. Shooting is the final step in the
construction process, the moment of alienation of the work from the author. In a few hours, the very first two
studios of the project will begin an independent life. Two days later and 69 days from the start of
construction, on July 19, 2012, the Mama Ro project opens its doors for the first time for guests.
July 19, 2012. A little over two months into construction, the first two studios of "Mama Ro at
Patriarch's Ponds" are open. In addition to the invited friends, the guys themselves, as well as Alina (in
the chair), Masha (behind the bar on the right) and Vartan (next to Masha) take part in the photo session.
Picnic at the base of the Kremlin Nabatnaya Tower, immediately after the
opening. One of the achievements as a result of the construction site: the guys lost an average of nine
kilograms each in two months without any money in their pockets. In the photo: Yulia, Anton, Volodya.
On the night of July 24, 2012, Alikhan arrives at Kazansky Railway Station at the high-speed train
Vladikavkaz-Moscow. There are poems and songs in a green suitcase. House Keys, Zippo, Lucky Strike. Alikhan
spent about two years in his small homeland, walking to Massive Attack and Skreamin’ Jay Hawkins across the
foothills of Caucasus, tearing wild flowers and scratching a wind song with a pencil until one day he found
himself on the steps of the train leaving for the plains. The moon has risen. Night came on Earth. Alikhan
lowered the flap putting his face to the stars, lit a cigarette and scooped up a handful of new ideas from the
Universe. The train delivered all its rhythms, squeaked loudly and Alikhan found himself in a Moscow night.
Alikhan calls his friends. He needs to find a place for the night. Anton is on duty at Mama Ro and is occupied
with postponed businesses. Studio 1 is empty tonight. The comrades meet at the Patriarch Pond and walk 84
squares
Here is not the figure of speech, but the figure of the pond itself: the Patriarch Pond in Moscow is
really square in shape.
around the shore, talking life about this and that. It will take another year before their
communication can continue again, but for now Anton leaves Alikhan in the studio and runs off on the last
train in the metro.
Night on Earth. Alikhan over Nazran on the eve of his return to Moscow.
August 5, 2013, Anton Voltman and Nastya Paskute come to Mama Ro at Spiridonovka. Volodya and Anton complete
the cleaning in Studio 2. The three of them alternate in pairs to do the cleaning themselves in the newly
opened studios and today it was their turn. After finishing with the cleaning, the friends gather together and
go from Spiridonovka to the Boulevard Ring, take Yulia with them and head off towards Arbat.
The starting point for Volodya’s friendship with Anton Voltman and Nastya Paskute, as well as with the guys,
was the workshop. Here, even before the start of construction of the first studios, the friends didn’t manage
to build a shower room for a long time. In addition, In the spring of 2012, Volodya rents a room in
Milyutinsky Lane to spend the nights here, unexpectedly, his neighbor, living in the communal apartments,
turns out to be Nastya Paskute. Volodya knows Nastya from school.
The guys become friends and Nastya introduces Volodya to Anton Voltman. One evening, Volodya recalls, when
entering the house on Milyutinsky, “there was an incredibly loud and very infectious laugh in the building...
after a moment I see a funny picture: Nastya looks apologetically at me and then at some curly red-haired and
very skinny guy holding a garbage bag. Considering its size, it was a little less by weight than the guy
himself... Nastya says: Volodya, this is Anton, Anton this is Volodya, my neighbour. The red-haired dude nods
in my direction and, having slightly stumbled, very ridiculously jumps down the stairs hugging a bag... being
already downstairs he fell down but jumped up cheerfully assuring us that he was ok and disappeared in the
doorway...”. It turned out that Anton had deliberately escaped from the party in order to come and help Nastya
take out the construction debris.
Anton Voltman lives in the neighboring Bobrov Lane that is perpendicular to Milyutinsky and the guys become
friends. It turns out that Anton and Volodya are united by a common passion in art: in his room in Bobrov
Lane, Anton creates large abstract panels on the walls in the spirit of the Russian avant-garde. Volodya’s
favorite since childhood El Lissitzky and also Tatlin, Malevich, Kandinsky, Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara
Stepanova, Konstantin Melnikov in Architecture and Dziga Vertov in Cinematography… In stormy discussions, the
friends even start thinking about creating the podcast “Evening Art Talks with Voltman and Nizovtsev ". And
after a while, Volodya learns that Anton is friends with a guy named Egor Egorychev who is writing a book
about the Melnikov’s house
The “The House of the Melnikovs: Konstantin and Victor” book, author Egorychev Egor. The publication is
supported by the “Moscow that doesn’t exist” project, 2012.
. Anton promises to introduce Volodya to Egor eventually.
The technique of perpendicular walls to create an optical illusion will subsequently be applied by Anton
Voltman in the "Suprematist" studio. Photo: Anton in his room in Bobrov Lane.
On August 13, 2012 Anton Voltman introduces the guys to Egor Egorychev.
The interest in meeting Egor Egorychev was thanks to his work. Egor finishes writing a book about
Melnikov's house and with the permission of Konstantin Melnikov's granddaughter, Ekaterina Karinskaya,
conducts tours around the house for friends
Friends come up to Arbat where they are met by a tall thin guy with short hair. He’s in a black t-shirt and
jeans, as everyone will note and remember, and looks kind of similar to the young Tsoi. He firmly shakes
everyone's hand, presents his companion Zhenya and, after lighting a cigarette, invites them into the
labyrinth of Arbat lanes. The guys finally get to know Egor.
The house of the architect Konstantin Melnikov on Krivoarbatsky Lane is a monument of avant-garde architecture
of the early 20th century. To get to this house, in August 2012, is not easy as there is a legal dispute
between the descendants of the architect and the state. In the eyes of his friends, Egor seems almost like
Stalker (a popular Russian character in Russian cinematography) in a world full of the avant-garde. He
approaches the dilapidated gate, opens it, and lets them into the courtyard. Ekaterina Viktorovna comes out of
the house towards them and greets everyone. She is the granddaughter of Konstantin Melnikov. Egor helps her
and supports her in conflict with the authorities. After a short introduction, Ekaterina Viktorovna invites
everyone to the house so that Egor can give them a tour and make some tea.
Melnikov's house consists of two cylinders cut into each other: the first one consists of two floors and the
second one of three. It takes some time to walk through it but the way Egor tells the story of the house, as
well as his excitement about it, stops time outside the house and launches them into a special, big world
where they freely embrace and travel between eras.
The waste-free production, invented by Melnikov, is the process where not a single construction waste truck
was taken out of the house and construction site. There are no additional supporting walls or columns inside
the cylinders. According to the architect's design, the floors, in nine-meter round spans, were assembled in
the form of a membrane from boards which are set on their ends. There are cozy warming details in the
architecture such as, an octagonal window on the west wall which was left by Melnikov due to a slanting beam
that penetrated inside the future living room. There is a huge folding window of two and a half meters in
height turns the living room into a covered terrace in summer. A heater that heats the house through a system
of air ducts hidden within the walls is installed in the foundation of the old building preserved by the
architect who lives in the basement. And from a bird’s eye view, the shape of the house forms an infinity sign
(or a solar eclipse). All these elements together give them a sense of the time, a relativeness, after
visiting the house built in 1929. Thus, begins their friendship with Egor and Zhenya.
By introducing Egor Egorychev, Anton Voltman opens the longest series of meetings and acquaintances to the
project. Thanks to the interior design agency it was subsequently created in Mama Ro.
Two years later, the history of the Konstantin Melnikov’s house in Krivoarbastkiy lane will form the
basis of the Melnikov studio in Mama Ro with the approval of the architect's granddaughter Ekaterina
Karinskaya.
The house of the architect Konstantin Melnikov impresses the guys' imagination through the elegance
of its design and innovative solutions that were unexpected for that time. In the photo: during
summer, the living room of the house turns into a terrace.
From left to right: Zhenya Stakhanova, Egor Egorychev, Anton Kozlov and Nastya Pashkute, on the open
terrace on the roof.
Ascent to the roof with the help of a ladder is the final part of the tour around Melnikov's house.
Anton Voltman and Volodya.
Anton KozlovMama Ro co-founderThe author of Pine & Stone studios. Design, layout, copywriting of the current Mama Ro website.In the chronicles::Act:1.5 1.6 1.7 1.11 1.12 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.18 2.23 2.26 2.27 2.29 2.43 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.57 2.59 2.71 2.72 2.73 2.75 2.76 Alikhan’s Dream 2.91 2.92 2.93 2.94 2.97 3.5 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.15 3.21 3.23 3.27 3.35 3.41 3.42 3.43 3.44 3.45 3.51 3.52 3.56 3.57 3.58 3.61 3.62 3.63 3.65 3.66 3.68 3.69Mention:
Volodya NizovtsevMama Ro co-founderThe author of Pine & Stone studios. Design, layout, copywriting of the current Mama Ro website.
Tolya SmirnovMama Ro co-founderThe author of Jazz & Sarai studios. Fundraising. Supervision of all Mama Ro construction projects. Engineering
Nastya NikolaevaMama Ro managing partner. Muse of the projectSupport, project management, staffing, author of the 24th studio titled Theatre.
pring 2011, Yulia finishes the construction work in a rented room on the Vodootvodny channel. Torn wallpaper,
newly plastered walls, a sculpted and dark varnished parquet. A dilapidated window patched by a plane tool.
Everything is done carefully, with her own hands. And a minimum of furniture: a bed, a table, a chair, a
working iMac, and around it all, a pencil box of clean, white, three-meter-long walls stretching to the
ceiling. With a window looking out into spring sky and old-brick Moscow. On the street and around the corner
the Moscow Kremlin is seen across the bridge.
pring 2011, Yulia finishes the construction work in a rented room on the Vodootvodny channel. Torn wallpaper,
newly plastered walls, a sculpted and dark varnished parquet. A dilapidated window patched by a plane tool.
Everything is done carefully, with her own hands. And a minimum of furniture: a bed, a table, a chair, a
working iMac, and around it all, a pencil box of clean, white, three-meter-long walls stretching to the
ceiling. With a window looking out into spring sky and old-brick Moscow. On the street and around the corner
the Moscow Kremlin is seen across the bridge.
n May 12, 2012, after several unsuccessful attempts to attract an investor, Tolya, Anton and Volodya, put
aside the completed presentation and start the Mama Ro project on their own. They rent a small space at
Spiridonovskaya, buy plaster, tools and start the very first construction in Mama Ro’s history. Just like
Yulia at the very beginning, and then in Maly Ivanovsky, with their own hands. The guys have almost no money,
they have to scrape and borrow. Dima Trusov, Aydar, Zlata, Yulia and Lena help out. The project only needs to
define a studio format which will be born in the construction process.
