Sivak + Partners Sweetens Up a Historic Building for an Odessa Ice Cream Shop

Kyiv-based firm Sivak + Partners had just finished a new project when the war began. “We barely had time to take a picture,” says founder Dmitry Sivak, “before the windows were boarded up.” But behind the boards sits a sweet destination: the Tayu Gelaterie.

Tayu, he says, “translates from Ukranian as I’m melting—the name, and the ice cream itself, gave us an idea.” Tucked into a historic building in Odessa, the 800-square-foot space had retained its original decorative ceilings, which Sivak did not want to disturb. The windows were ample but could not be opened. Sivak therefore decided to run vents along the walls, hidden behind great waves of metal cladding which also seem to cup the ceiling. “The ice cream melts, the architecture of classicism melts,” he says, “and its massive decorative ceiling flows down into the smooth curves of the metal walls.”

At this difficult moment in his country, he says, “the ceiling is the link between the interior, the house, and its history.” The boards will come down, and the future will be sweeter. “We hope that the war in our country will soon be over,” says Sivak, “and we will be able to create new projects.”