temp project creates brutalist-inspired showroom for eroticwear brand anoeses in kyiv

a semi-subterranean space transforms in kyiv

Temp Project designs a new showroom for eroticwear brand Anoeses, its quiet presence discovered along one of Kyiv’s busiest fashion corridors. Rather than shouting for attention, the project draws the gaze inward, beneath the street level, into a semi-subterranean space that feels distinctly separate from the city above. Inside, the air cools, sounds soften, and the mood shifts. It is in this subtle transition that Temp Project’s design for the Anoeses showroom begins to unfold.

The building itself, dating back to 1911 and designed by architect Altarzhevsky, holds a calm gravity. Choosing to place a flagship showroom in its semi-basement gives the Anoeses brand a setting that already speaks in undertones. From here, Temp Project crafted a spatial language that balances restraint with provocation, using raw materiality and shaped light to reflect the nature of the brand without ever overstating it.

images © Yevhenii Avramenko

the anoeses showroom unfolds in three zones

Anastasiia Tempynska, founder of Temp Project, designs the Anoeses showroom to feel like a gentle enclosure, an emotionally safe place where visitors in Kyiv can explore. The designers approach the interior as an atmosphere before anything else, working with concrete, metal, and soft lighting to develop a sense of privacy and slow movement. Mirrors catch the eye and redirect it. Walls curve, lighting narrows, and the space unfolds in a sequence of impressions.

From the entrance, the layout moves across three zones. Each area is tied to a particular aspect of the Anoeses collection — fabric and corsets first, followed by latex and leather, and then a sculptural fitting room. The progression ends in a winter garden, a greenhouse room that feels strangely detached from the outside world. Here, a leather swing hangs in the light, surrounded by plants that grow upward through the stillness. It feels like an afterimage from a dream.

the Anoeses showroom occupies a semi-basement space in a historic Kyiv building designed in 1911

brutalist-inspired interiors reflect in mirrored surfaces

Throughout the Anoeses showroom in Kyiv, mirrored surfaces shift the spatial experience. A ceiling mirror above the reception desk doubles the height of the room while subtly bouncing light across the polished concrete floor. Another, spherical and inset into the wall, distorts the room in a way that recalls security mirrors and voyeuristic film stills. The interior design is playful, but it also brings in the idea of being watched, of watching yourself — of control, performance, and power.

Furniture pieces are treated as sculptural objects. The central table in the leather and latex room was built from charred wood and enclosed in glass, more like an artifact than a counter. Inside it lies a copy of Sex by Madonna, photographed by Steven Meisel. The book is displayed page by page, each turned monthly. Its presence anchors the room, serving as both relic and reference point.

‘While working on the showroom, I was traveling in Switzerland,’ Tempynska recalls. ‘I think that’s why there’s a quiet brutality to the space. I was very moved by Peter Zumthor’s work — his ability to use texture, shadow, and silence. That influence found its way into how I approached this project.’ Though the Anoeses brand is provocative, its new showroom leans into understatement. The architecture carries its intensity through restraint.

raw materials and sculptural forms create a mood-driven and emotionally private retail space

Materials throughout the showroom are deliberately elemental. There’s a dryness to the concrete, a cold sheen to the metal fixtures, and a calculated sharpness in the contrast between soft forms and spiked accents. Clothing racks blend into architectural gestures. The fitting rooms draw on the corset as a formal reference, their curved walls embracing the body in a spatial parallel to the garments they’re made to hold.

Lighting is used not to highlight, but to conceal. A series of dim scenarios let the materiality lead: recessed fixtures along the ceiling, backlit arches, narrow spotlights over the shelves. The cumulative effect is immersive. Without overstating its function, the space creates a mood that aligns more with a meditative gallery than a traditional retail setting. In place of overt display, there is suggestion.

the showroom unfolds across three connected rooms, culminating in a greenhouse with a leather swing

fitting rooms reference corset forms, echoing the structure and intimacy of the garments themselves

lighting is soft and indirect, creating a subdued atmosphere more akin to a gallery than a store

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project info:

name: Anoeses Showroom
architect: Temp Project | @tempproject

location: Kyiv, Ukraine

client: Anoeses | @anoeses.brand

lead designer: Anastasiia Tempynska | @anastasiiatempynska

area: 116 square meters (1,249 square feet)

completion: 2024

photography: © Yevhenii Avramenko | @egnavrmnk

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: kat barandy | designboom