This is the latest instalment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper’s series spotlighting intriguing, innovative and industry-leading interior design.
Some people won’t even be able to locate Kyrgyzstan on a map, but, if this week’s Inside Story focus is anything to go by, this central Asian country, 90 per cent of which is covered in mountains, is sitting on some serious design talent.
Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, home to a seventh of the country’s population, is an intriguing mix of Soviet legacy (the country declared its independence from the USSR in 1991) and central Asian culture. But it is also a modern metropolis making a name for itself in the interiors space, as evidenced by the emergence of spots like Capito, a café imagined by Kyrgyz designer Jamal Ramisova of Jamal Ramis Design Bureau.
This cool, open-plan space is a microcosm of Bishkek itself, deploying exposed concrete walls and original concrete columns to tap into a post-Soviet brutalist aesthetic. Yet this feature also has ripples of the lofts of Manhattan, over 10,000km away.
Ramisova calls upon other global influences: the 3,765 sq ft space, which stretches over two levels, incorporates ancient Greek and old European design moments with motifs of classical architecture and ornaments and vintage Viennese chairs, as well as the use of William Morris fabrics. The clash of styles is eclectic, but harmonious.
Despite its pared-back aesthetic, Capito is also cosy (integral for a café), a feeling achieved through details like shelves displaying tableware and newspapers, a piano (which was left over from previous tenants), soft fabrics and curtains, and the dark wood furniture of the European cafés of yesteryear.
Colour also plays a major role in making the space as inviting as it is: cheerful red accents, yellow stripes, bursts of green in the form of planting… These considered pops energise the beige backdrop of textured plaster walls and painted floors.
Ramisova’s design plays with form, colour and texture in a way that elevates the space from a cafe to a concept; a space where you want to linger, and that makes you wonder what's in store for design dark horse Bishkek.
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