French Boulangerie Jules Zang in Moscow

Architects Alexandra Taranova and Julia Schmidt from EE buro set themselves the task of creating a cafe with a colonial atmosphere in a modern residential complex

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

The customers with whom EE buro has been working for several times have asked Alexandra Taranova and Julia Schmidt to create an exquisite space for a French bakery-confectionery — this is how the French word "boulangerie" is translated into Russian.

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

During the discussions, not exactly the image of the institution emerged, but its atmosphere: it was supposed to remind of French Indochina — respectability, unhurried life, unhurried conversations over a cup of coffee, fresh croissants and cucumber sandwiches, something like that.

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

In accordance with this idea, two halls of the boulangerie were decorated. The main hall is an imaginary courtyard of a colonial mansion, it is formed by a central square of double twisted columns, a mosaic floor and mirrored stained glass trellises on the walls. In the second hall, smaller in area, the walls and ceiling were painted in a dark shade of the color of the sea wave, reminiscent of the waters of the South China Sea.

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

The hall is decorated with custom-made portraits of famous French chefs, as well as the writer Jules Verne and the Austrian engineer August Zang. The Austrian is here for a reason: it was he who invented the hearth furnace a century and a half ago, without which there would be no French boulangerie.

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

Boulangerie, in fact, was originally Austrian: August Zang opened the Boulangerie Viennoise bakery in 1838 or 1839. The bakery was quickly copied by the French, and the Austrian kipfel became a croissant. Some baking historians claim that the Austrian had a hand in the appearance of the baguette, but other experts disagree with this.

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Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

With the invention of Zang, the hearth furnace, an incident happened at Jules Zang: as the architects say, at the moment when the finishing was already finished, it turned out that the furnace did not fit into the space left for it. The drama grew, the furnace had to be disassembled and reassembled, after which it stood up as if poured in.

Photo

Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

Photo

Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

Photo

Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

Photo

Mikhail Loskutov. Style: Yes we may

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