The Laurel Leaf Garland

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In contrast to our recent renovation of the three-story monument by Ziller (Monument Hotel), this project, across the same square in Psiri neighborhood, has a different agenda: The two houses on Agiou Dimitriou Street feature a listed façade and can be extended upwards. Apart from the expected stepped section of the addition (result of the sky exposure plane), the main question was what will be the character of the new facade, visible from the adjacent square of Agios Dimitrios church. How it will stand out as new and at the same time maintain some connection with the lower part. Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch allude to this search for the “unique yet familiar.” In terms of similarity, the role of proportions remained for us important: that the new openings would be oblong, vertical, like the neoclassical ones immediately bellow. In their rhythmic repetition, there was no point in aligning new and old openings -the windows in the two adjoined neoclassical buildings of the base had their own rhythms and due to the setbacks of the extension, any alignment would never be perceived.

 

For the inspiration from the listed façade, we focused on its details. Indeed, something unique has initially escaped our attention: a garland of laurel leaves was repeated three times above its windows. Initially when we singled out this decorative element as a starting point to form a new facade texture, we did not realize the quiet coexistence of this small detail within architecture. But then, gradually, we began to recognize it in other places as well: carved on a marble lintel on Prassa Street or in a plaster version of it, on the axis of a façade on Patision Street, opposite the Polytechnic University. These had become simplified, flat versions of the laurel band which used to decorative primarily semicircular mouldings: the torus at the base of a column as applied to Trajan’s column or the extensive golden mouldings on the frames of the vaults designed by the architect E. M. Barry in National Gallery in London.

 

 

In our renovation, the bay leaf garland is enlarged and expanded to emulate a surface with a fish-scale structure: the new facades are to be formed of semicircular ceramic tiles, similar to those used by architect Eli Modiano on the excellent roof (a Mansart type with minimal deviation from the vertical, interrupted only by circular skylights) of the old customs offices in the port of Thessaloniki. The decorative detail of the listed building and the scaly “armor” of the new facade partake into a new dialogue, the latter in the tones of the light-colored terracotta, forming a kind of new vertical “roof” where the only actual slope is to be witnessed in the lintels themselves: they meet the parapet at an angle, emphasizing the vertical proportions of the openings and bring the thickness of the wall to a sharp edge.

 

 

In the internal layout of the hotel, we kept the impressive wooden staircase that connects the ground floor to the first floor. And we even created an identical one in the same place for the descent to the basement. A new vertical staircase and elevator core is placed at the rear of the building to serve all levels. We also maintained a skylight in the separating wall so that the hall to the rooms retains natural light on each level.

In front of the past, overlooking the future

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The monumental lineup here is impressive: the National Technical University (1862-1878) by Lysandros Kaftantzoglou directly across the street and the Archeological Museum (1866-1889) by Ludwig Lange / Ernst Ziller on the left. As if this frontal staging of neoclassical architecture was not enough, the Lycabettus hill’s curved outline looms at the background, the ultimate Athenian landmark, reminiscent of the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. Both the Museum and the University partake in a similar architectural agenda: a layering of marble colonnades in front of terracotta walls, a dialogue enriched by the greenery in the open spaces at the foreground. The apartment on the seventh floor overlooks these historical landmarks and its renovation reassembles deep colors with white walls. Responding to the large terrace, we chose to enlarge all windows, selecting a warm grey for the exterior facades, walls painted white in the interior.

 

Early on we noticed the clients’ deep understanding of Italian and Scandinavian design. This was not only impressive, it also led to a certain reversal of the typical design development: at the very outset the collection of furniture was almost complete and we were meant to design the house around them. Thus, the color of the interior walls became a subject of discussion: were we to emulate a white gallery setting or could we introduce colors to match different textures? The renovation eventually combines both approaches -the very articulation of spaces seemed to favor it: the formation of two boxes, one for the kitchen and one for the dressing closet are underlined by the bold use of color. The first box is the kitchen, lined with Rimadesio sliding glass doors it is finished with Karnazeiko marble (from Argolida, Peloponnese) and frames a view towards the sprawling apartment buildings towards Acropolis. This box is replicated by the lacquered volume housing a small library. It is concealed behind a sliding panel that replicates as a door leading to the bedrooms.

 

After this door follows the corridor lined with black and white prints and painted terracotta. This color looks as if it relates to the monumental neoclassical buildings across the street -in reality it was selected as the perfect match to the terrazzo floor of the entry hall. Marble does reappear in the master bath -here Oasis Green (from Tinos), so as to match the wooden finish at part of the interior. We think this renovation achieved a quite unique balance between vintage furniture (escaping easy attribution from contemporary production brands), along with Greek marble surfaces (their inclusion to such a large percent within the interior finishes, started to remind us of Milanese interiors, a familiar environment for the clients themselves).

Present and Future tense

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It is relatively rare that a project is planned from the beginning to be done in two phases. Usually, the proposals deal with a building in its entirety, considering that this overall composition will be the one to be built all at once. In our case, for a plot of land in Kifissia, the request was to build initially a single-storey house and, in the future, with a delay of a few years, to make it possible to expand in height. With this logic, one had to plan the whole project and the first, smaller phase of the private residence should be equally studied.

The particularity of this gradual construction made us pursue two different routes. Will the before and after be different or homogeneous? That is, will the double construction phase be showcased in the end or not? The first solution considered that the first phase would be a single-storey villa and the future phase would be visible higher up as a series of enclosed “towers”. The reasoning was not only to preserve a privacy of the ground floor residence of the client from the apartments of the superstructure. It was also desired to achieve a contrast between an architecture of large openings and horizontality with a volume of vertical masses that channel light through interior voids. There has been an ambivalence for the inspiration -whether our scheme was referring to SANAA’s 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (Kanazawa, 2004, a huge circle featuring tower-like structures on top) or to the familiar, rooftop structures at Athenian apartment buildings (usually visible only from higher floors, a surreal lineage of an “invisible” small-scale architecture that escapes all categorization and contrasts with the disciplined, repetitive configuration of all lower floors). Our second proposal preserves a homogeneity between all the floors but instead of the usual parallel offset of their contours, it attempts to articulate different overlapping shapes: The three floors may thus proceed from the largest to the smallest but their very contours do not obey any legible rule. Equally they choose every time -as in a collage – to withdraw in other directions and in other outlines, so that the building seems to be created by joining points in space. However, the basic principle of this solution was to maintain a series of trees on the western side of the plot and highlight them through the mediation of the largest swimming pool that would fit within the plot.

Brick House

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The two brothers that commissioned this project, during our first meeting, mentioned in passing Frank Lloyd Wright. The project they had in mind was a house in Nevada completed last year by Studio G, bearing a faint resemblance to the Prairie houses by Wright. In the days that followed, we singled out Wright’s Robie House in Chicago, built in 1910, when the architect was 43 years old and Frederick Robie, the client, was only a 24 years old businessman. This constitutes an iconic project because it clearly articulated the vocabulary of horizontal cantilevers that proved decisive both for the work of the great American architect (as in his famous Fallingwater House completed in 1935) as well as for a whole lineage of creators from Richard Neutra (in the ‘50s and ’60s), to contemporary works by Brazilians Marcio Kogan, Bernardes Arquitetura and Jacobsen Arquitetura. Robie House was structurally innovative in its use of metal beams to bridge large spans and it used predominantly brick, a material that reappears in two important proposals by Mies van der Rohe: in the monolithic sculptural Monument to Rosa Luxemburg (1926) and in the unrealized Brick House (1923). While both of these last projects survive through their black and white representations (photographs or drawings), we wanted for our clients to reestablish the warmth and horizontality of brick. Our proposal for this duplex has eschewed repetitive balconies at the perimeter (the trademarks of the Polykatoikia, the omnipresent Athenian apartment building). The narrow façade of our building, due to its monolithic massing, achieves an ambiguity of scale as well as visual privacy from the two adjacent apartment buildings -the owners requested this early on, since those are the only tall buildings in the neighborhood, while the rest remain one and two-story houses. At the terrace of the new penthouse, we placed a jacuzzi, so as to mirror the living room’s fireplace, one featuring a glass back.

Canaves Villa

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We reach this villa by climbing steps from the side. They lead to the edge of the trapezoidal pool. The surface of the water itself becomes the main space of the rooms, the area of gathering, living, contemplating the view of the sunset above the planted roofs. A sunken seating area, a platform at water level, a pergola and a semi-outdoor space organize different functional zones in this area. From this submerged in the steep slope dwelling, the swimming pool stands out as the only prominent element, free on all three sides. The rooms are characterized by their vaulted interiors and, externally, the exclusive use of local volcanic stone. They remain bright and airy as, apart from their facade, they are also organized around a backyard. The interior design by MEMNEO architecture upgrades the spaces with beautiful selections of material and furniture, “weaving a narrative between the rugged beauty of its location and the practicalities of sculpting an innovative home, creating a space that embraces a profound sense of coexistence within the landscape” as they mention.

The garden stripe ending at the sea

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The main purposes of the design are, on the one hand, the utilization of the buildings that already exist and, on the other hand, the adoption of an architectural language that restores the proportions and textures of a Cycladic architecture.
Regarding the first objective, the renovation and upgrading of the existing unit was preferred (instead of demolishing it and erecting new buildings), in the context of an ecological concept of preserving older shells and mitigating the energy footprint of construction works. Regarding the second objective we kept the scale of single-story buildings and restored the familiar scale of two-story buildings. To achieve this, wherever buildings had been constructed with facades that exceeded two-story facades of 7.5 meters high, we restored the proportion of the two-story building volume, framing with perimeter embankments and courtyards that act as bases for the rooms and ensure visual privacy for the users. This landscaping restores the familiar scale of the Cycladic facade with a maximum height of two floors and introduces a variety of materials that articulate the scale: stone in the bases and courtyards of the buildings juxtaposed with the plastered surfaces of the superstructure, achieve a variety of materials, a hierarchy and a richly textured surface, along the pedestrian path.
The two objectives we mentioned above have as their main concern the formation of a landscape in which the planting throughout the entire plot takes center stage. The proposal undertakes the preservation of all the trees that the plot already has (and, as the case may be, their transplanting) and the extension of plants near all the courtyards so that the visitors’ path is accompanied by Mediterranean plants, climbers, shrubs and trees that offer shade. Ending towards the sea and the basis of the view from the hotel unit, is the new swimming pool which acquires elongated proportions and has as its starting point the boundary line of the beach. Dotted platforms with reed umbrellas enter its perimeter, breaking down the scale with various arrangements of their shapes.

So far so near

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For us, it is almost shocking: that there is absolute silence at the site. Although the nearest village, Finikas, is discernible at the horizon and a 7-minutes’ drive, nothing actually interrupts the vast silence among the fragrant thymes, drimia maritima and the omnipresent cacti of the land. Centrally perched in this rocky terrain that unfolds towards the coastline, a white villa stretches its outline, as if to offer all possible views to the surrounding landscape. We were asked to retain the facades, increase the number of bedrooms and redesign all interior public areas in which the flooring (French bourgogne limestone) was preserved. The design evokes Cycladic principles by embracing curvilinear partitions: we have opted round shapes that engulf the body in all baths, creating vase-like spaces and smoothly unfolding corridors. We renovated the pool by changing its prior blue tiles, so that it merges with the rocks and the color palette of the sea. A larger kitchen area was opted so it doubled in size, occupying the area of the former dining table as well. Thus in the final layout the living room placed it in a direct, open dialogue with the new kitchen island, the counter next to it and the extra kitchen area located in the near vicinity, three steps up. This dialogue was further underlined by the sitting arrangement of the built in sofas: petal shaped, the sofas occupy the perimeter of the space, leaving the center free of furniture. In this holiday home, one contemplates the impressive view uninterrupted from the various shaded outdoor areas –while protected inside, guests can enjoy the view while involved in a more social setting: preparing a lunch at the kitchen island, discussing about the day’s excursion on the perimeter stools, or while relaxing in the two sofas on the sides of the space.

 

Reflected courtyard

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This family already had a residence. Although with several advantages -on a hill with a western view towards the Thermaikos gulf and a secure neighborhood- it presented significant limitations to any renovation. Their next step, to a much larger plot, 10 minutes away, with a view of surrounding trees and small slopes, was not self-evident. A new vision would be required: A residence of modern design that would extend into the landscape as if on a single story, with planted patios and a swimming pool.

 

First impression upon entry

Our proposal includes some short of discovery: We, as visitors, park inside, behind the fence and we face two small hills. We bypass them, to follow a long water feature at their edge –a feature that was initially audible but remained invisible. Behind the hills, as we advance, the cantilevered roof of the ground floor begins to be discerned.The owners welcome us at the front door which is kept completely invisible, perpendicular to our gaze. To our left, the first atrium, filters the view behind large fixed glass.

 

This crystalline surface extends opaquely, as the back lining of the living room –overimposed, we discern the reflection of the second central atrium of the residence. Located at the lower portion of this reflection, the flickering frame of the glass enclosed fireplace gives ample clues of the living room on the other side. We will circle around this wall to find ourselves in the living-dining room with views of the garden and pool, or we will continue to the other end of the patio to the kitchen, for another drink around its island. The privacy of the family remains unnoticed, upstairs: as the upper floor recedes from the wide perimeter of the ground floor ceiling, it enjoys the views of the planted plot and the two patios.

Framing Ymittos

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We have just parked on the ground level –vivid images of single-family houses of the neighborhood come to our mind. We enter a bright hall where reflections of metal linings maintain affinities with automobile design. Faced with the spacious two-story atrium with plants we are still led to believe that we remain at “ground floor.” This courtyard actually is the everyday central focus for the three bedrooms located around its perimeter. It take some more time to realize that behind the atrium, we are hovering above the garden with the cypress trees and the wide upward street of the neighborhood. We hear the music from downstairs and, if the kitchen door is left open, the aromas of cooking. Indeed, going down the bright staircase, we reach the living areas –on the ground floor in front of us is the historic garden with cypresses, jacarandas and angelicas. Opposite the fireplace, from the living room and the dining room, the view spreads horizontally, panoramically, to plants that extend as multiple filters. Another more comprehensive view of the garden is gained from higher up, from the second floor with a smaller footprint. With slender columns, with a marble facade towards the street, this penthouse rewards us with its unobstructed view towards Ymittos.

Building the Sky

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When designing this new visitor center, we wanted to keep as a starting point both the raw materials used by the company and the journey itself until the visitor’s arrival. Coming from the airport of Thessaloniki, the route through this particular open landscape -in a way part of the visit itself- has a special value: it offers a distant view of mountains whose foothills seem not to “rest’ on the intervening fertile green plains. The mountains seem to hover midair — an illusion caused by the dew at the horizon line, a gradation of tones worthy of the Japanese woodblock tradition Ukiyo-e.

 

As interesting as the landscape is, so is the dominant material that is transformed in the company’s facilities: flat and bent metal sheets are the raw materials of the whole manufacturing process, making us select the same material in the new building. The way in which landscape and metals inspire this architectural design is largely determined by the material processes employed in the company: organizing, painting, bracing, cutting, drilling, checking, securing. The new roof by analogy is formed by bent metal surfaces able to refract light, covered by a glass roof –their metal texture allows a gradation of light towards the perimeter. Having been oriented on the East-West axis, the bent sheets filter the glare of the setting sun, letting its low rays warm the edges of the roof with color.

 

Corresponding to the landscape that we traversed prior to arrival, the new visitor center seems to float: this is helped by the formation of its perimeter with cantilevers that visually separate the visitor center on the first floor from the work area on the ground floor. Having entered through the axial access to the first floor, the distant view to the mountains is framed by an expanse of shallow water. This water reflects ripples of light to the ceiling, marking the movement of the sun. To our right, the space is organized into three zones: The first consists of a lounge with two islands of furniture. A second zone is formed by a linear counter with the possibility of serving coffee and light refreshments -next to it planters create protected areas. The third zone is formed by the meeting and video area -a wall covered with woven metal forms n outer limit, offering the possibility of isolation with sliding walls. The above functions constitute areas within the otherwise uniform space of the upper floor, where the omnipresent roof of bent sheets flows uninterrupted overhead. In the same logic, the smaller closed spaces have a ceiling lower than the total free height – there is a kitchen for preparing light meals, toilets and an office space. On the left, departing from the first floor, a second ladder suspended by cables connects us to the ground floor. To its opposite, climbing plants descend, accentuating the open two-story space –glimpses to the ground floor workspace are possible through a skylight to our right. At the footprint of the staircase, a water pond accentuates the hovering staircase. The ground floor is a sheltered workspace, with offices strategically placed on the perimeter near the entrance and surrounded by metal panels interspersed with perforated elements to filter natural light.

 

The new visitor building a “new sky” is constructed. Graded colors, metallic textures and the experience of the upper floor as a green “floating” platform, makes the new building preserve memories of the landscape we crossed by road as visitors –the reading of the landscape and the company itself provide here the elements of the architectural inspiration.

Trencadis

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Landscape

In Milos Bay, the island folds inwards, seemingly forming a lake -from there the view of Adamas and the surrounding villages is unique.

Achivadolimni, the largest beach on the island with white sand and shallow waters, is located at the southernmost point of this gulf. It took its name from the lake next to the beach which is full of hard clams.

The plot of the Trencadís Hotel, with an area of 80 acres, is located two kilometers away from the island’s airport and culminates at the beach of Achivadolimni. The area was being operated by S&B company from 1954 to 1982 as a perlite mine, thus acquiring an amphitheater form. Today with its stepped section planted, fully integrated into the landscape, it has become an exemplar of restoration in the history of mines.

Simulation

 ‘‘Landscapes and places store memories, they save traces of lives long gone. What fascinates

me about those traces is that they are real, they are unique, they are always authentic. To me, landscapes are historical documents.’’

 (A Feeling of History, Peter Zumthor, Mari Lending, Scheidegger & Spiess, 2018)

A design reconstruction is attempted here, which withdraws elements from the Cycladic landscape and uses objects such as rocks, trees, sea and semantic tools such as outdoor life, the small-scale approach and what constitutes the image we have of the Mediterranean rural landscape. The densely organized area of Milos, full of berms, vegetation and manmade interventions used for agriculture and husbandry, is used as a ground rule for the organization of the proposal. While the way of organizing a residential proposal has traditionally been the grid, here the principle is the messy and natural landscape of the Cyclades.

The ground rule is rewritten in order to receive uses such as hotel rooms, public areas and outdoor areas. The proposal starts from the architecture of the landscape, instead of integrating it as usual, much later, in the design process. The basic principle is the construction of randomness and the incorporation of the overall proposal to the Cycladic landscape.

The contours and geometries of the landscape of Milos, but also the way in which human activity is organized on the island, are shifted and adapted to the scale of the area, composing an outdoor carpet, consisted of private and public uses.

The expansion of the standard program of a hotel is attempted here, including functions such as the public square, the threshing floor, the vineyard, the quarry, in order to compose a multi-layered landscape that is part of the organization of the surrounding area and attempts to bring back memories and build new ones.

The intervention forms an architecture of landscape: Rooms with planted roofs are assembled on the slope, creating a discreet layering of terraces that seemingly pre-existed. Although the stepped section of the restored perlite mine could be considered as a starting point for the proposal, the new rooms deliberately do not form a recognizable geometry of repetitive curves. They draw inspiration from the neighboring landscape of Milos itself: instead of the legible “organization” and order of a tourist resort, Trencadís’ layout refers to plots and plantings with polygonal or curved outlines that fit together like fabrics on a rug. Thus the hotel is not simply lost within a slope with parallel terraces -it camouflages its own architecture in a planted landscape of irregular geometry. With planted terraces interjected and orientating rooms to different sections of the panoramic view, one is actually inhabiting the very landscape of Milos.

If landscape design on sloped terrains typically idealizes the harmonious, ordered curves of a vineyard or a rice paddy, Trencadís refers to the Cycladic landscape of variety and chance. From afar, the lines and colors are unified like the fluid stone walls carved by Antonio Gaudi -with few straight lines, his facades are decorated with Trencadís, the colorful mosaics, made of fragments of ceramic tiles. In the new hotel at Achivadolimni, ceramic tiles, lava, mosaic, perlite, quarry, obsidian, become the new references.

The memory of the mine -not only that of the particular site but also that of the rich mining history of the island- is preserved. Trencadís Hotel refers to the mine indirectly, not to its pre-existing amphitheater shape but to its energy: its public areas are carved in the slope and feature two large excavations, two deep quarries in the landscape, filled with water at their lowest level. Walking through the reception, the spa, the restaurants, one watches the light descend on such a narrow courtyard, an excavated with precision orthogonal quarry, flooded at its deepest point. A second cut, the linear pool overlooking the sea, repeats this geometrical rigor and contrasts it with the earth-anchored public buildings of buried footprints. In a fitting analogy, the road connecting the highest slope with the lowest, coastal part of the plot, crosses under the community road.

A home of your own

Trencadís’ rooms simulate a promenade at a mountain village. Their paths unfold on the terrain, constantly changing the vistas, enriching our perception with different atmospheres: the first glimpse is not enough -one has to discover where the rooms end, how the road will unfold, what is hidden behind a corner. The narrative of the traditional village is maintained not by its iconography -its picturesque facades- but by the movement of the body within the landscape. The proposal pursues the particular, the local, that which is not readily recognized and consumed because it doesn’t fit a recognizable structure. It encourages discovery.

Rooms are grouped in three types with different footprints: types A and B become the predominant types and only at the beach front one is to encounter the Sand Dune Villas. The first two types are grouped in four or five units, under a common planted roof with a polygonal outline -each with a plunge pool and access from the back that ensures privacy, separated with berms and vegetation. The basic principle of both typologies is transparency and natural lighting.

Type A is a rectangular typology with access both from the front view and the backyard. The bed is placed in the center of the room overlooking the private jacuzzi and the sea. The shower is designed on the front side of the room, overlooking the sea and the vegetation.

Type B, is a larger, L shaped room with a bedroom and a bathroom, with access from the backyard. It has an unobstructed view of the sea, while the window that separates the inside and the outside at this facade, slides towards the wall, unifying the inside and the outside and practically doubling the living space of the unit. Residents bathe in a partially covered jacuzzi, in complete privacy, as if they were in a cave. The shower is designed on the back of the room, overlooking the planted garden.

The backyard is a central element of both typologies and plays the role of a hidden garden with prickly pears, aloes and agaves, where the resident can be protected from the north wind, while having maximum privacy.

Οn the beach front, the Sand Dune Villas claim a special place in the landscape. They depart from the discreet, “earthy” architecture of the rest of the rooms and stand out more like cabanas upon the beach. Given large autonomous courtyards, you cross your personal garden to reach your door. Their architecture is set to create memorable experiences: Eating in the sunken courtyard with a pool engulfing you, like being on a yacht. Having a shaded yard with aromatic plants that you touch with your fingertips when immersed in the bathtub. Facing the fire on cool days as you ascend the last steps before entering the living room. To be covered with a protruding roof, sharp at its perimeter like obsidian, the glass-like volcanic rock from which the perlite derives from. Smelling the wood on all the walls and having the curtain move from the wind –sensing the summer itself on the beach…

Platform house

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Our main gesture for this sloped site was to establish a single “platform” containing a large expanse of water (the “beach”) and to place across it the living areas of the house. The sleeping areas are located above, on the first floor, while auxiliary uses at the underground level, with access from the lowest street of the plot. From the higher street side, because of the fence, the plot appears empty -only trees and scrubs are discernible: the visitor’s sight can’t perceive the first floor of the bedrooms that is placed rather low, emulating a ground-floor residence from the street side –while the living areas and the pool (the platform) are actually placed one level down. After the fence, the only perceptible part of the house (apart from the sheltered bedrooms, filtered with blinds) is a glass lobby that receives visitors and is reflected in a lake of water lilies. The project layers three elements: the lake, the glass lobby and the patio. In the patio -with its ground level one level below, a plum tree emerges and, filtering the distant view of Athens, it is also reflected in the water lily pond. On the entry side, on the glass façade of the lobby three images overlap: the reflection of the pond upon the visitor’s image at the lobby, upon the plum tree behind the lobby. If we “removed” the lobby and the plum tree, the distant view of the city would be fully visible (no sleeping rooms would interfere) but the succession of all these images layered upon the glass, filters the view of Athens to a high percentage. A linear internal staircase leads the visitor down a level: from the lobby to the back of the atrium and from there to the living areas that open towards the “beach.” From the living areas, the view to the beach and Athens is now unhindered -it is even framed by a pergola that shades a linear deck on the left hand side. In the form of a promontory, this shady area takes up all the activities around the “beach” – it goes up to the edge of the water at the virtual end of the plot, where the mild slope of the ground turns into a steep slope towards the road. The finishes employ wooden elements and achieve a sense of lightness for walls and ceilings.

Curating the view

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Usually the view is something unique and singular -it is not plural. It defines a frame, containing the sea or a landmark -in rare cases both. By framing a single image, it crops all surrounding evidence, establishing clear priorities in the context. The peculiarity of this two-storey apartment for renovation is that it offers a multiplied view: one that stitches together the close view of Lycabettus hill / the distant Acropolis with the sea in the background / the rest of Athens with the Hymettus in the background. The resulting montage from near to far, from green to distant residential, uniquely combines uninterrupted, unified, the emblematic images that are perceived everywhere else as individually framed.

This house, which consists of a penthouse on top of an apartment, is treated as a glass box to monitor the view and the weather. The art collection of the owners is largely withdrawn from the perimeter and exhibited on the interior partitions of the space. The alternating exterior views become another element to be “exhibited” at the perimeter, along which all movements are deliberately aligned: by removing the preexisting interior dark corridor, we chose a light-filled circulation at the perimeter. A wall of warm wooden finish is the only element interrupting this flow, mediating between public and private areas.

The renovation of the house edits a dialogue of near and far: the view to Lycabettus being diagonally upwards is framed horizontally by a travertino baluster –this limit becomes a base whose texture and color relate to the rocks of the hill at the near background. Turning the balcony corner and facing the Acropolis view, diagonally downwards, the travertino baluster alternates to a glass one. At the entrance to the apartment, all preexisting walls are torn down so as to release the view to the foot of Lycabettus. By framing just pine trees and rocks, the hill is not disclosed in its entirety, but the goal is to give with no further delay the experience of place, the identity of the apartment. The travertino selected at one side of the perimeter balconies, becomes thematic in the interior: it forms a buffet at the dining room and an extensive fireplace at the living room. The penthouse on top is redesigned with a thin metal roof that seemingly hovers above the view, restoring and expanding the existing artisanal marble paving of the terrace. For the renovation of the facades of the apartment building we chose a reshuffling of preexisting materials: the travertino lining the double story base of the building is removed –a new layer of the same Italian marble is to be featured only at the balusters facing Lycabettus. This time the thin slabs of marble are detached and hover lower than the bottom of the balcony slabs- creating an illusion of lightness. Thin elements are introduced elsewhere as well: hovering dark metal panels at the balconies’ ceilings and at the entry of the apartment building, offer contrast as well as recesses for artificial lighting.

Hideaway Pool Suites, Canaves Oia Epitome

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In Santorini there is one famous sunset location surpassing all other and that is Oia. More specifically, at the western side of this traditional village, crowds gather every evening to witness this event. They have moved away from the Caldera that focuses on the volcano and they are facing the Aegean, Riva (the ending of Thirasia island at the background) and in the distance (if the atmosphere is clear) island Ios. It is this sunset that is indeed perfectly framed by the Canaves Oia Epitome as it is positioned lower than the main settlement of Oia, on our downhill route to Amoudi beach.

 

The infinity pool with the pergola overlooks the sunset

Although built in two consecutive phases, Epitome represented from early on a shift in relation to all the other accommodations of the Canaves company that were located at the Caldera: instead of the white plastered aesthetic, it had chosen stone walls and natural materials. After all, the conditions of this plot were different -it had a large surface area, a vehicular road on one side and almost no neighboring buildings. So instead of the cramped plots in Caldera, with its irregular properties on vertiginous slopes, in Epitome extreme privacy is offered by extending parallel stone walls on the East-West axis. This organizing principle was set into place even from the first, western, phase of the hotel, one that was completed by K-Studio in 2018. We decided to retain this repetition of linear elements as the connecting element between the second phase we designed to the east, behind and higher than the first phase that was already completed further west.

 

The rooms we designed, the Hideaway Pool Suites, retain elements in common with the first phase of the hotel, in the extensive use of local stone and in the color palette of fabrics, woods and marbles. As one arrives at Epitome and starts walking in the zone that joins the two phases of the hotel, he is walking in an oasis with lush vegetation and sounds of birds. From there the Hideaway Pool Suites remain almost invisible –their retreat into a stepped section justifies their name. In addition, the rooms of the new wing, adapted to the relief of the ground, are mostly subterranean with their planted roofs forming gardens. We didn’t apply the familiar external vault, the architectural icon of Santorini -and we had the same inclination in other hotels we designed in the island such as Santorinini Grace (2010) and Nous (2022). For us the connection with the local architecture is made with the materials, with arches in the free standing stone walls that precede the rooms and with vaults that shape them internally. With its planted roofs, the Epitome extension remains “invisible” both when the visitor enters and from above. The variety in the planting of the roofs underlines the landscape design of the hotel -the rich selection of plants sets Epitome apart in the arid landscape of the island. Segments of this new planted landscape have also been highlighted in the rooms: planted gardens form the backdrop of several rooms and large glazed surfaces unify them with the bathrooms. It is in this zone that double circular mirrors infront of glass, upgrade the deeper end of a room, reflecting the greatest asset of the plot: the sunset and the view towards Thirasia.

We designed the common areas around an elevated pool with trees and platforms in the water. Centrally placed, the building that will house the wellness areas is covered by a large swimming pool paved with tiles in dark shades matching the stone walls. The resulting shade of the water resembles that of the sea and the dark tonality of the tile blurs the boundaries between deep and shallow areas of the pool. Marble stepping stones start from the back area of ​​the sunbeds and end on three platforms towards West. Moving these platforms to the center of the pool (instead of its edge), also frees up a zone on the axis of which a more distant temple-like platform is framed, one marked by a wooden canopy. This is a almost ephemeral structure conveys a festive use –opposite it diagonally and in recess, we designed a much larger pergola that houses the restaurant space. Instead of the typology of a roof on stone columns, we have chosen the logic of a light construction that is realized with a metal structural frame its covered in wood. Its chestnut finish not only matches the furniture and the neighboring deck at the pool bar, but also maintains color affinities with the beige stone surfaces that occasionally appear (in a kind of mosaic) in the perimeter stonework. In the interior layout of the restaurant we organized “neighborhoods” of tables, interspersed with planting areas: the metal planters we designed include a floor air conditioner or form seating corners.

The restaurant’s pergola is cantilevered on its three visible sides –its eaves form a strong horizontal line of wood, a modern gesture in contrast to the timeless stone walls around it. And we wanted to combine the familiar typology of pool platforms with what we believe distinguishes Epitome, the planting: that is, to give the character of a garden which is made up of the scattered new trees, metal planters and perimeter planting. Overall, in the Epitome we designed, the landscape takes center stage against the background of local stone masonry walls -it dominates as a wild grass lawn on the roofs of the rooms and, as an acupuncture, with trees at the pool garden.

Blurred Similarities

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A key question in this apartment building was how to create two equal homes within a single envelop. In other words, from the beginning the concept was how not to form two autonomous, repetitive dwellings within the plot -so the proposal adopted large horizontal slabs that underline the length of the plot facing the neighboring park. While formal integration is sought, at the same time, functional autonomy is preserved –entry to each house is separate, avoiding a common staircase: One is placed on the narrow side of the plot and the other on the front side -the latter is the one that aligns with a void between the houses, a planted entrance yard that discloses the whole depth of the plot. As a consequence of the different access paths, floor plans do differ, both in the layout and the staircases -maintaining each time large, south facing openings towards the park. On the first floor, bedrooms are differentiated from the ground floor’s glass openings with vertical blinds along the entire length of the facade.

Bridge house

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We had to design a house for a hill that was facing two roads, on its eastern and western side. These two features of the landscape became critical for the design proposal: we decided to keep intact the highest northern part of the hill –to retain it as a base from which the house extends horizontally. This becomes the first floor that extends to the south and acquires the character of a bridge: under it transverse walls undertake its support. These walls underline the character of the plot: in their parallel arrangement, they maintain the visual communication of east and west views. To be precise, they form interior zones of different character that the visitor traverses: initially an entrance zone with no furniture, an empty zone destined to solely frame the view. This zone borders on a thick wall, the “wall of fire” since on its back side it houses both the fireplace and the outdoor barbecue. The next main zone is that of the living areas –flanked by courtyards that extend beyond the outline of the first floor bridge. From there one enjoys the western view to Athens and the sea or the eastern view -through a planted courtyard- to the pedestrian access and the view of Rafina to the background. The third zone is a linear pool that apparently traverses the living space and the fourth is an earthy zone where the building clings to the excavated ground of the hill. These zones are covered by the bridge with the bedrooms of the house -protected by a retractable filter, these bedrooms have direct access to the planted hill.

Garden house

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Our main goal was that this residence acquires the character of a single floor building. To remain discreet, almost invisible from the street side partakes to the house a specific aura of luxury: it is rather scarce that we have the chance to expand daily life chores along the view, to move effortlessly from all main living quarters to the bedrooms. This is underlined by covering all spaces with a single slab, a unifying element, directly perceived by all sides, as it protrudes in most of the facades. Below this slab, enclosed spaces remain in recess –only in two areas rooms extend outwards, sliding underneath the overhead slab.

The back and forth outline of the ground floor, is only hinting at another enriching gesture at place: the formation of voids within the slab: A central patio mediates between living and sleeping areas, allowing not only the separation of private spaces from public but also enabling the living room to be surrounded by planted areas. This envelopment of the living room highlights the perception of the house as a single floor structure blurring the limits of planted terrace and garden. Instead of an infinity exterior pool, one perceives an infinity garden since the terrace is richly planted on all sides, avoiding any kind of typical railing and merging its plants with a richly planted garden that is actually on a lower level. The introduction of this centrally located atrium is repeated on a smaller scale two more times at the same level, giving small protected patios across the main bathrooms. This meandering interior façade that allows space for atriums and patios, gives center stage to the garden as the protagonist in one of the most richly vegetated suburbs of Athens, creating a “garden architecture.”

Cypress house

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The guiding principle here is the intersection of the house with the ground itself, how building and garden are connected. Instead of a simple, prominent building, this house ensures that the entire ground floor becomes a continuation of the tallest part of the plot. The ground floor of the U shaped dwelling may be perceived as a cantilever towards the road but it essentially constitutes a rectangular extension of an existing ground contour. In this way the idea of ​​the garden is not limited to a perimeter plantation of the building but is reintroduced with its planted roofs and with a large inner courtyard that mediates with the elevated line of cypress trees which pre-existed towards the western limit of the site. This courtyard is revealed to the visitor after entering the residence and becomes the visual background image for the living room, dining room, kitchen and playroom. With this courtyard, the residence belongs to the ground and at the same time it acquires a free plan with plenty of light. In this way landscape design is not a mere addition, an afterthought but a central gesture for the home. Above this basic level of the ground floor we have placed a clean rectangle housing all bedrooms with perimeter wooden blinds: a box in dialogue with the neighboring cypress logs, as they already create a “natural barrier” towards West. The fencing with the slits between its metal elements maintains a common vocabulary with this raised box, thus composing a dialogue between foreground and background. The box of bedrooms with the clear geometric outline hosts small courtyards that mark interior circulation: behind the vertical filters that offer privacy and shading, small planted areas offer visual focus and depth for the interiors. The master bedroom with the other three children’s bedrooms is clearly separated by the intersection of the staircase and elevator shaft. Below the ground floor there are auxiliary uses and parking areas.

Marble Simplicity

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Our project is the renovation of the reception area of ​a hotel, in Oia, Santorini.

The design process starts by framing the Caldera view, while treating the interior with gentle and subtle interventions that intend to highlight the bright colors of the view and bring the sun and the light into the space.

A palette of off-white and pastel shades is selected, consisting of different textures and materials. The rich fabrics coexist with Dionysus marbles, while handmade alabaster and bronze lamps, are placed in front of Italian Carrara marbles.

Color enters the space from the sky and the sea, through a large and clear opening located at the facade.

Monument Hotel: The renovation of a listed E. Ziller building

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Ernst Ziller (1837-1923) was a German born architect who was established as a major designer of royal and municipal buildings in Athens, Patras and other Greek cities. We were asked to transform one of his most impressive neoclassical buildings in central Athens, featuring unique painted ceilings, into a new eight room hotel.

 

One could focus on a single detail of this renovation and consider it emblematic of the entire scheme. I am referring to the conservation of specific area on the second floor, at the perimeter of the ceiling decoration. There, our conservator, as part of the renovation, locally removed the white paint so as to disclose a deeper, rectangular section of the original, richly colored ceiling. Within this limited area, in the so-called “witness,” the conservator preserved the original colorful mural as well as the later white coating, thus recording how the aesthetic preferences of users had changed throughout history. Through this new, ordered and controlled “peeling” which was not the result of weathering, we are offered a fleeting glimpse into the past, in a palimpsest that retains historical layers in distinct form.

 

Likewise, for us, the renovation of this project, its transformation into the hotel Monument, became an occasion for a dialogue of new and old, this time at an architectural level. That is, from the beginning we raised the question of how the new addition to the interior can be distinguished with similar clarity in relation to the pre-existing structure, and, at the same time, highlight the old. In this regard, there were two elements that we wanted to emphasize, the axial articulation and the ceilings: In the existing layout of the floors, the rooms featured an axial organization marked with tall double doors. This arrangement was faithfully preserved in our renovation, as was the basic structure of rooms –the new spaces for the bathrooms are placed sideways, secondary to the axial movement. They become boxes that do not touch the painted ceiling -lined with mirrors they disappear and reflect the ceiling. In this way the new and the old acquire a clear differentiation.

 

Because apart from the “witness,” the majority of the rooms in this neoclassical building by E. Ziller had impressive colored ceiling paintings. Before our renovation, signs of damage were evident: dents, cable passages, cracks, areas where the wooden thin substrate, the “bagthati,” was discernible. The conservator restored the ceilings by extending the older sections intact, deliberately retaining a light patina that they had acquired over the years. It was important that a complete, seemingly “perfect” restoration was not attempted, so as to emulate a painted ceiling without deterioration, a fresco that could have been completed “yesterday,” as is typically found in the murals of Greek Churches.

 

We attempted a corresponding reference to the facade of this neoclassical building on the ground floor, in the common areas of the hotel. Its facade, quite rare in that it faces three streets (Kalamida, Agiou Dimitriou and Melanthiou streets) has a characteristic archway. Inspired by this, we designed an arched opening and similar alchoves in the high ceiling interiors at ground floor. The original palette of the neoclassical ceilings influenced our selections for the colors in each individual room -matching the tones of each ceiling, we chose the colors of the textured walls and we completed the interiors with contemporary furniture that, without ever alluding to a prior condition, set a dialogue with the neoclassical past.

Mirroring and tiling

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In this renovation of an existing restaurant in Kos, we are looking for ways to connect many different spaces within a restaurant that serves more than 1000 people every day. The basic aim of the design is to make the tenant of a hotel -who visits the restaurant two times per day- obtain many different images, included in an overall proposal. Thus, individual restaurants, such as a garden restaurant or a floating restaurant, are created. The concept of tactility is being sought after in every space as it strengthens the intimacy and the idea of handmade, so much needed in the digital age. The necessity of surrounding ourselves with surfaces that have particular textures and colors is answered with the selection of glossy, complex textures and patterns, fabrics with strong references to the natural, such as leather, as well as the enhancement of the concept of collecting and exhibiting objects. The contact with nature is achieved here with references to vegetation and the augmentation of the contact with the aquatic element, either literally or pictorially. In this way, many individual stories are created, which make the user’s stay in the restaurant, each time, a special experience.

Inhabited Landscape

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A new typology for Greek architecture has recently been approved within the national building legislation: as long as it features only one façade, merged with the ground, this subterranean type harking back to Santorini’s caved traditional architecture, became more attractive as it doubled the allowed surface of a residence in comparison to the traditional free standing typology. And from a modernist viewpoint, this new typology seems to lead to a flat glass façade recessed in the slope, embedding the orthogonal regularity of a glass villa. We instead proposed a hybrid: a glass façade that folds and refracts the natural relief of a slope. If this merging of architecture and earth sounds conceptual, it becomes literal with the overpowering section of ground stabilized behind the pool, a remnant of rock that seems preserved intact. Equally untouched is a land zone between the two residences that are each placed at a different level in the downhill plot, securing privacy in their courtyards. A slit in the ground forms an outdoor staircase that connects these two houses. Small instances of light are scattered in the houses, voids demarcating the ceilings. The two linear slots in the corridors leading to bedroom areas signify the transition to the more private zones of the house and encased in glass become outdoor plantation zones. The references remain geological: the fragment of the intact slope marking the facade resembles the topography of a beach interrupted by large rocks and the permeating light descending from skylights gives the feeling of a cave.

NOŪS Santorini

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In the renovation of Santorini Image bungalows within the new Yes resort of the island, the room outlines were given. What we wanted to impart is a summer feeling: what you experience as you slowly descend down to Vlychada beach -the soft shades of beige volcanic ash on your right and left, along with the blue of the sea at the horizon, the final destination. How one transports blue from its conventional position -wooden frames- so as to occupy areas of the interior, whether these are walls or colored vertical zones for the wardrobes. Instead of the internal partitioning walls that the baths would otherwise entail, we chose woven filters. New terrazzo floors retain the references to the earthy Santorini palette (without using the predominant cement floors) and thin metal sections create a fabric low band on the walls -a soft base that absorbs inner sounds, seeking an alternative luxury of sensations, that of silence.

Unifying a Triplex

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The owners’ goal for this three-story building was a lightweight architecture of thin profiles, instead of a prevalent approach that interprets modernism as a set of monolithic gray volumes with smaller openings. At the same time we would like to retain for these triplex apartments the impression of a single residence, so the motif of repetitive balconies should be avoided. Our proposal is to use glass partitions so as to unify balconies of slim profiles and dynamic placement -a reference both to Takis Zenetos’ graceful apartment buildings and Richard Neutra’s Case Study Houses. The experience of a single residence is pursued by the incorporation of a double height planted patio on the ground floor (seeking to merge the garden with the building in Filothei, a suburb that is particularly distinguished by its gardens) but also with the formation of a double height living area, capable of maximizing the view of the trees of the garden.

The elephant

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Α decisive element in this apartment renovation was the choice of the owners for a range of light wood and white tones. A large part of the existing demarcating walls will be removed to form a single living space with the bedrooms on the perimeter of the apartment. By having the interior cleared in this way, the apartment’s facade towards the road is diagonally visible from the entrance, one side from which one has a view of the sea. Of the three columns that are distinguished after this opening up of the space, one is incorporated into a wooden island for the kitchen and another, slightly protruding on the wall of the living room, is hidden behind the elongated that incorporates the TV set. With sliding glass elements, this shelving system has a rhythm of vertical wooden partitions that feature linear light sources facing the wall. In the kitchen the elongated dining table is combined with the cooktop -a “hybrid” table without cabinets underneath. In the master bath, the alternation of textures around the washbasin creates a “sculptural landscape” that includes a chiseled marble finish: a rich texture that constitutes a bold departure from the predominant flatness and shininess of gloss in bath areas.

Arcades project

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The renovation of these six apartments selects as its central concept the arcade: By dividing a floor at an office building, these apartments acquire elongated proportions and receive light only at their further end. The resulting plans do offer convincing reasons to pursue the concept of an arcade –what however remained to be defined was how the arcade would be translated here. We selected as our main reference the way an arcade’s glass facades reflect the natural, diffuse light at its entrance and then transfer it to its deep interior, thus enlivening an otherwise artificially lit public space, a cavernous recess in the urban fabric. Within this merging of arcade and apartment, we chose to upgrade a number of domestic accessories by lending them reflective shells. Among them, the painted glass shower, the niche of indoor plants lined with mirrors, an open wardrobe whose back becomes transparent glass (a showcase in reverse). The rhythm of mullions at arcade’s shop windows are emulated here as metal frames outlining furniture and the kitchen counter now disengaged from cooking activities and fridge, acquires an ambiguous presence –lightweight like a sideboard as it hovers above the floor, with no upper cabinets, it is lit by a centrally placed frame that resembles a handlebar. In this renovation, the palette of deep colors, allows one to perceive primarily the reflections of light, the main “building elements” of the arcade.

Sentimental topography: a Crematorium  

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The design of the crematorium is based on a procession path that gradually leads from light to shadow, offering a range of atmospheres relating to the functions one encounters. From the entry for the relatives on the northern side –across the pine forest- this path leads to the entry courtyard. The long walls lining the entry procession frame three planted trees in this enclosed garden. These trees not only refer to the forest one left behind but, most importantly, they become an element of life inextricably linked with the entry to the building. Filtered pivoted doors make the transition from the natural element to the high ceiling foyer. One has direct access to the grief hall and the corridor to the anteroom: this is an interior corridor much narrower and darker than the entry procession. As this darker corridor follows the first, light filled corridor (of the outdoor entry procession), a transition of sentiments is under way, as one approaches the anteroom. Relatives are initially facing the three small openings to the furnace hall. Upon their turn –the “other” side of reality, the view across the anteroom- they are faced with the hall of infinite reflections: Within shallow water, light sources are infinitely reflected within the perimeter mirrored glass surfaces. Thus, while the deceased is reduced to the smallest possible item –ashes- on the one side, on the other side an infinite reflection of light signals the relative’s remembrance that has no limit. At the hall of infinite reflections the running layer of shallow water is fully disclosed –it was only heard upon approach to the anteroom. The exit corridor on the side of the hall of infinite reflections leads to the garden of entry, to the emblem of life. Upon this moment another exterior meandering path is also offered, one through a grassland landscape, an “Arcadia” revisited. Passing on the side of an open air atrium, serving as a buffer zone, a refreshment area welcomes guests. A second garden serves as a backdrop here so that the refreshment area is surrounded by greenery while being completely blocked from the relatives’ entry procession. The earthy, warm tones of the concrete walls of the building refer not only to geological sections but also to the long history of brick walls in Roman and Byzantine churches in Greece. The parallel walls of the entry procession retain a distant link of the entry to the tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae, Greece.

Alti Sugar Suites

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The five rooms that we renovated overlook the volcano, not far away from the port of the island. A light palette of materials was chosen with terrazzo floors. The existing rooms retain their orthogonal shapes and emphasis is given to the design of furniture, especially beds and lamps. A new bed was designed with its headboard made of leather straps. Two custom lights with circular shapes were also designed: one for the vanity desk features an orange plexiglas, as well as a circular mirror directly in front of it, sliding at various positions, from the full disclosure of the Plexiglas, till its total concealment. A second light fixture is vertical, extends from floor to ceiling and features two concentric drums -the inside of them either closes the vertical gap on the perimeter drum, or, by rotating on one side, reveals the whole width of the gap so that refracted light is maximized.

Εchoes Luxury Suites, Oia, Santorini

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At the beginning of the village of Oia, the neighborhood of Perivola is the only part of the settlement visible from the passing cars: it is from this vantage point that one combines the volcano, the sea view and the local whitewashed traditional architecture. This direct visual relationship with the Caldera and the large courtyards (in comparison to the high density of houses in the center of Oia), attracted high quality hotel establishments in this neighborhood. Our project is the renovation of a property that stretches over three preexisting stepped terraces: only the highest of them had two cave dwellings formed before 1955, built within the ground, a mixture of volcanic ash, pumice stone and pieces of solidified lava and sand, which together make up the soil of Santorini, known as “aspa.” The proposal maintains the geometry of this stepped section and creates new dwellings within the retaining walls of each terrace. In this way the new hotel rooms do not acquire a new outline, they remain almost invisible, framing the Caldera view through their large openings: the vaults that internally characterize the traditional architecture of Santorini (a geometry that developed in order to span interior widths as wooden beams were unavailable), intersect with the new facades, forming new arched windows open to the view. The older traditional facades at the upper level are preserved so as to retain their sculptural, curved elements and their monolithic character. The water element is incorporated into the new rooms either as a new indoor Jacuzzi that frames the view or – at the lower level- as shallow pond with stepping stones that seamlessly connects to a swimming pool. This pool reflects and multiplies the façade and allows the light to penetrate deep into the new adjoining vaults of the rooms.

Psyri Contextual

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Descending Ermou Street in the area of Psyri, we have the impression that we are moving away from Athens’ center –the vibrant street facades give way to a less dense city fabric as we leave behind Athinas Street. Thus it comes somewhat as a surprise when reaching the third floor of an existing building we turn around and face both the Parthenon and the National Observatory. They do strike us for their vicinity (600 meters from the apartment are quite close), but it was the immediate context that actually became for us a much more direct inspiration for this renovation: I refer to the tiled roofs and the beige walls of the surrounding buildings, a collage of warm, earthy colors. We were lucky that the existing terrazzo floor of the apartment after being polished, revealed colours of similar tonalities. As soon as it was decided that only one bedroom would be placed, the renovation put strong emphasis on the bath itself, a space benefiting a double view, towards the Parthenon and the Observatory. Opposite the open kitchen, a linear bedside panel becomes the continuation of a wardrobe.

Fog house

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We are imagining a cold winter night. The exhaust of the car after ignition at the driveway, the dewiness of the surrounding forest, the glistening pool at the background and the flames of the glass fireplace, built in the street façade. This overlapping of fire and water creates a layered image where the limits of hot and cold are blurred: the heated outdoor pool’s evaporation replicates the effect of warmness at the background. In this residence that spans parallel to the coast in Chalkidiki, a pergola extends to all sides of the house, accommodating vehicle entry, parapet for guests, living room’s roof and outdoor shaded areas. The bedroom areas at the upper floor retain a completely blank façade towards the guest who upon entry, descends gradually within the sloped landscape.

Embroidered Syntagma

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This 50s apartment building is distinguished by its variety of uses: It is very close to the most central square in Athens, Syntagma Square and this explains its liveliness, particularly noticeable as you go up to the 4th floor, reaching the renovated apartment -the succession of open doors, workshops, commercial uses emulate a city that has entered the building. The block of flats is the acute end of a building block, which gives plenty of light on its three sides, but at the same time results in the trapezoid shape of the floor plan. In the zone that leads to the small alleyway in the back, the lighting gradually decreases significantly, so it was decided to remove all the internal walls and insert into that zone a freestanding bath. The differentiation of this “island” is also emphasized by the way it is made: with metallic frames and reinforced glass it forms both the shower and the back of the kitchen. In the same sense, the wash basin is placed in cantilevered orange bench that is a continuation of the wooden headboard of the bed. Similarly cantilevered are the bedside tables on either side of the bed –made of a circular section with reinforced glass, they are fixed at a short distance from the headboard itself.

Reflection House

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Quite expectantly, from this strongly sloped plot perched on the mountain side, this house would have impressive views towards the city. What was not foreseen was how this view would shape the house itself. How that is we would allow its design to be influenced by this view, instead of parachuting a well proportioned, autonomous building/object that benefited from a good view. It is with this in mind, that we proposed an “elevated platform” on the ground floor –upon it a large balcony, plants, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the pool are to be found. The platform forms the base of sight and only the two side walls insulating the neighbors, frame the view -however, the distance between them is such that they tend to hide in the limits of peripheral vision: In the sixteen meters span no column interrupts this view and only an unfolding of the glass facade shapes the interior space. This platform defines quite literally at its shadow the rest of the house, with the bedrooms below, offered access to the garden and one additional storey bellow, all ancillary functions.

Anagnostopoulou Loft

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The challenge here was to implement the logic of the loft to renovate an apartment of the 50s. This was interpreted not only as the dismantling of the intermediate walls and the creation of a single area for ​​living, dining and cooking. It also meant questioning the privacy of the bedroom which would most of the time remain visible, placed in the zone of the living areas, a front zone behind the facade. All ancillary uses -the baths and the dressing room- are recessed to a second zone, around the entrance of the apartment and towards the backyard. In the bedroom the wardrobe is treated as an island that separates from the bath. It corresponds to the basin which appears as a marble island in the bath and the open central kitchen counter. In the apartment space flows, with the insertion of individual solid islands.

 

Dolphin Spa, Santonini

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Entry to the Dolphin spa in Santorini is through a courtyard. Although facing towards the caldera on its narrow side, its door makes it a rather introverted area. Placing a pergola above this outdoor lounge area protects from the strong sun and ensures privacy for guests. Within the spa itself, the largest interior space is reserved for a Jacuzzi which extending to the walls, mirrors the vault of the room. All interior spaces are excavated in the ground and feature an organic geometry. Stepping stones allow access to the treatment room on the back. The architectural approach is barren and monolithic, a return to primordial sensations.

 

 

Total transformation

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This renovation was not only adressing the funcional but also the symbolic: it became a total tranformation of an existing post modern villa into a minimalistic house. One of the first priorities in this renovation was the rearrangement of interior spaces so as to obtain a more functional plan. Our proposal places the dining room and the kitchen across the pool and in between creates a large semi covered space that becomes the new hub of outdoor life for the family. This pergola extended to the west, forms the new living room of the house, what constitutes the additional area in relation to the previous footprint. The above mentioned rearrangements offer privacy to those descending and exiting from the first floor. The main bedroom on the first floor is also renovated so as to orient the bed area towards the north west views.

Bar Degrade, Santorini

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This bar is a destination by itself -the top bar in Santorini, centrally located in Fira, offering a privileged view of the caldera, bearing a historical name associated with its former owner, Franco Colombo. Our renovation concerns the redesign of pergolas, a new functional organization of the bar, upgrading the entry sequence (a fairly complex route with various landings and stairs) and creating a new signature overview, the image from above. This constitutes its predominant façade for the numerous visitors on the main path of Fira heading to the zigzag walkway to the harbor –657 steps that one may descent with mules. For this image from above we designed a colorful wooden “carpet” -a kind of “parquet” with a gradient to lighter tones towards the horizon.

Landscaped Carpet

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This project, a renovation of a hotel left in its concrete framework, is on the road connecting Oia and Fira, a journey with beautiful rocks of warm earthy tones. We created an almost natural landscape of buildings, like huge rocks that have rolled over from the street. The facades of these volumes are finished with warm brown colors. As one approaches the reception, he is passing next to a retaining wall and the planted roofs of the common areas. For the open areas around the rooms we propose a “carpet” quality by using various textures of pebble finishes and strips of plantation: this east facing side of Santorini is characterized by stepped plantations with a nice variety of textures and colors. The stone facades of some of the rooms continue this dialogue of the hotel with Santorini’s landscape. In their interior the color palette relates to the island and its traditional architecture: the beige tones of aspa and pumice, the wooden doors of the old tomato factories, the curved geometries of the cave like traditional interiors.

River Resort, Peloponnese

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The design of this resort is anchored on the stream that traverses the 170 acre plot. On its west side luxury villas generate a low density landscape scattering of free standing units. On the east side the hotel includes communal areas of a larger scale: reception, lobbies, conference center, rooms, restaurants, spa and common pools that become a second wet landscape echoing the stream itself. Within this variety of the densities, architecture retains a single organic vocabulary with curvilinear geometries reflected in the design of all of the landscape and the water elements. The facades of these convex and concave buildings often acquire wooden vertical blinds. These blinds beyond their shading function, they refer to the reeds that line the stream. A variety of alternating views between buildings, oblique and curved geometries, make the path with the resort like a promenade in a Mediterranean landscape.

Stepping Stone Hotel

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In this renovation of an existing abandoned building in Mykonos we wanted to maintain references to the island itself: To the rounded rocks scattered, imposing, in the landscape. To the wooden rooms protruding in the iconic Little Venice neighborhood in Chora and the traditional boats free floating in the Aegean blue. To the reeks spotting the landscape, used in many pergolas in the island. To the whitewashed paths in Chora and to the organic geometries of Paraportiani Church in Mykonos. Entry to the hotel is through a new fluid landscape of successive steps that seem to hover above a shallow slice of water. They introduce to a cool garden in the heart of L shaped in plan hotel. From there it is possible to access the pool and the restaurant, the latter formed as small islets in shallow water, shaded by reeds. In the interior of the rooms, free standing wooden screens house individual uses: closets, bathrooms and furniture. All acquire a curvature like rocks and traditional local boats; they become wooden islands sailing within the white interior. Along them, the bed and coffee tables form a family of shorts –original designs that define a unique interior, one designed specifically for this property.

Cascade Hotel, Chalkidiki

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This new hotel is designed in an olive grove with views towards the sea. Its focus will be its restaurant, since its owners already own a highly successful restaurant in Thessaloniki. Therefore this new culinary destination in Elia Nikitis, in Chalkidiki, is differentiated from the hotels that happen to have a restaurant. The gourmet culture not only gives primacy to the new restaurant (first impression upon arrival), it also introduces the food culture within the room itself: local specialties are featured on the interior (a display of unique items that reverses the typical concealment of generic products in a mini bar) and eating areas claim particular importance in each room. The restaurant, open only for dinner to the general public, redefines luxury by introducing extensive shallow water surfaces. Between the restaurant and rooms, front of house areas (including an impressive pool) are to be found. Higher up on the slope, 15 rooms retain a low profile with their single floor arrangement, ensuring unobstructed views towards the sea. Landscape becomes here paramount, maintaining the natural ground between the buildings, introducing green roofs and by recessing the facades –with their slim profiles towards the view, the rooms look as if they are shadows in the olive grove.

Alti Suites, Santorini

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For this renovation of rented units in Megalochori Village we focused on the landscaping of the quite extensive outdoor areas, given the quite impressive views towards the volcano that are offered. Stepped arrangements and selected plantation areas ensure privacy for incoming guests as well as privacy for the usage of the Jacuzzis. Rooms are renovated so as to ensure more functional arrangements and to allow better views of the caldera.

Villa Bordeaux in Fira, Santorini

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Villa Bordeaux occupies a prominent location in the center of Fira with impressive views towards the caldera. The renovation of this historical building aimed in achieving a hotel of few rooms next to a new outpost of the established La Colline restaurant in Moscow. While designing we were inspired by Frangomachalas, the quite small historic part of Fira built by the Venetians, featuring a refined architecture of thick ochre walls and metal doors. A departure from the all white Cycladic aesthetic, the hotel also explores instilling a modern approach within the traditional vocabulary. In the reception hall, a lighting installation relates to the western view towards the caldera, the flickering reflection of the sun in the sea. From there, access is granted to the two ground floor rooms (to the left) as well as to La Colline Privé (to the right), the indoor restaurant that retains the existing double barrel vault, filtered by a metal screen. The western room on the ground floor features a central island unit that combines bed and bath -a floating arrangement that echoes the position of the volcano within this island. The two other rooms are located at the lower floor -built at an earlier stage- where cavernous vaults predominate, shaping a more complex and organic plan. On the exterior, one descends in order to arrive at La Colline, the outdoor restaurant, placed along the rim of the cliff. Adjacent to this, a bar is shielded by a curvilinear wooden pergola while some steps down, the redesign of the pool offers a more dynamic shape, a privileged area from which one may fully comprehend what made the caldera view so famous.

Residence in Italics

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Τhe site is in Kantza, an agricultural area in the northern suburbs of Athens, with olive groves marked occasionally with oblong sheds of a small scale. The new house acquires an elongated northern facade along the street, one with few openings. Openings are mainly placed on the other (southern) side which opens up to the view of the olive grove. Upon entrance, guests are faced with an interior courtyard, a segment of artificial nature, reintroduced from the neighboring landscape. A kitchen benefits from this walled open air atrium while opening its other side towards the southern view. Living and dining areas are placed across the house, while a staircase intervenes at a pivotal position within the house. On the first floor bedrooms are to found while parking spaces and ancillary rooms are placed in the basement.

Villa Anemolia, Santorini

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This renovation is in Megalochori, an introverted and quiet village in Santorini. Dealing with a preexisting house, we wanted the new hotel to reach a level of heightened simplicity. The three vaulted rooms were preserved with minimum alterations. All previous furniture was removed -we chose built-in beds, wardrobes that merge with the walls and wooden sofa beds that flank the living area. Traditional vaulted structures in Santorini are typically cavernous, embedded in the volcanic soil and this unit is no exception: windows open only to the side of the courtyard. Thus we opted for additional light sources: new skylights and small wall recesses with embedded lights offer a dispersal of luminosity from hidden light sources. New planted areas in the courtyard and roof terrace upgrade all outdoor areas and become the primary backdrop for a pleasant stay.

Linear exercise

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The renovation of this apartment entailed an extensive remodeling of the interior layout: on its first level, we attached a dining room to the former living room, establishing a continuous space with its main orientation towards an impressive view. Underlining the direction of this space, a tripartite wall spans front and back terraces, housing storage space, concealed lighting, a lift mechanism for a flat screen television and a fireplace. On the second floor of the apartment the master bedroom is rotated so as to face the view and acquires extra width by removing the adjacent bath. This bath is relocated to the further end of this floor, establishing visual links to the nearby planted terrace.

Faliro Waterfront

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Οne of the most crucial interventions in Athens, this park reestablishes the lost connection of the city to the sea. Lines trace this dynamic dialogue: linear water elements extend within the park while transparent buildings line along five axis that form piers on the seafront. These connect the city over the proposed coverage of the highway –from that point the gradual inclination of the ground towards the sea houses the rest of the buildings, which half buried, disclose their slender planted roofs. The grid of the free standing buildings on the axis defines the placement of trees within a Mediterranean waterfront.

Anchored to the Rock, Saronida

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In this steeply inclined site with sweeping views, a pool extends parallel to the contours of the ground. Immediately behind this pool and enclosed behind a glass façade, all living areas are deployed in an open arrangement. Their continuity is interrupted only by a covered courtyard, disclosed to the visitor upon his entry to the house. Having turned left and traversing the living room and dining room, one reaches a second, open-air terrace. The horizontal panoramic view from the ground floor corresponds to the linear pool while on the first floor the same view is framed independently by the three bridges that are placed perpendicular to the pool. These bridges contain bedrooms; they connect to the rock behind through planted private courtyards and hover above the entry to the house. One may also approach the southern terrace from the back, passing underneath the three bridges that allow slots of light in-between. As one reaches the bedrooms, the glass connecting corridors momentarily allow views of the sea and the mountain.

NOŪS Santorini

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Noūs, this new resort just outside Messaria, Santorini, member of Design HotelsTM, combines the new and the old. It is renovating the pre-existing hotel unit (Santorini Image) and expanding it adjacently with new buildings, reaching a total capacity of 121 rooms. The prior layout of functions was revised in favor of a new overall design that placed landscape as the primary element: with a stepped configuration at the entrance, with a linear gradation from flower beds to oleanders at the spa area, with introverted private gardens at the bungalows, landscape creates different atmospheres at each area.

 

Instead of the preexisting reception which was close to the community road, with direct access from the side road within the plot, we decided to move it to a more central position, to create an entry ceremonial promenade that constitutes a transition and decompression from the hustle of the island to the calmness of Noūs. We designed this promenade with shaded areas, plantation and decorative water: One crosses three successive pergolas designed as aerial, suspended gardens with climbing plants – shaded sitting areas are formed at their ends. The design of each such tension-wire pergola -a reinterpretation of Athenian overhead trolley cables- retracts its supports (and thus the plant’s trunks) beyond the limits of peripheral vision. Escorting the entrance path, on either side of the stepped ramp, a water course rolls over stepped lava slabs – a reference to the island’s volcanic history.

 

 

Arriving at the new reception, we are greeted behind the reception desk by a carved black wall. One could say in resemblance with the first image one has when approaching Santorini by boat: with the black rocks on the volcano and Nea Kameni. The reception opens up towards the central swimming pool, as the latter frames the view towards the sea and bends in the distance to the left -there, it forms a smooth, artificial beach towards the restaurant. Overhead, natural materials are selected: in the pool bar makuti covers the lower side of metal pergolas that take on organic shapes, while inside the restaurant the ceiling acquires illuminated wicker baskets. The presence of nature is also preserved in the bar on the upper floor in a large green wall as well as – on the terrace – in new metal pergolas that are frames for climbing frames. In the bar as well as in the central internal staircase leading to it, the extensive mosaic floors of the unit are combined with trapezoidal marbles, creating surfaces rich in color: the coexistence of these small and large-scale random materials simulate the fragmentation of materials in this volcanic island.

 

Lower on the property, the spa serves as a connecting element in the overall plot: placed centrally, it unfolds from the South part of the plot to the North part. Its inner sheltered courtyard of variegated planting is continued to the north by an expanse of oleanders below the central pool. In this way the carving of the landscape from the spa courtyard to the oleanders, unites new and old, the new suites with the renovation of the pre-existing Hotel, Santorini Image (1987-2010). The spa maintains a low profile so that escapes from neighboring suites remain unimpeded towards the East, towards the sea. The inner courtyard of the spa is suited to its function –instead of a large air-tight building, here you cross diagonally across the courtyard with its irregular planted areas: from the reception and changing rooms, across, to the gym, vitamin bar and treatment rooms. The west wing, due to the slope of the ground, is partially submerged in the ground. With this introverted typology, the spa simulates the natural ravines dug into the island’s volcanic pumice (called aspa), which characterize important settlements of the island such as Phoenikia and Vothonas (here the name itself means in Greek “large natural pit, ground subsidence”). It is this configuration of the natural terrain in the above settlements that leads to the construction of the characteristic cave dwellings on their sides. In the spa, white brick filters create porous boundaries and a play of light and shadow, a direct reference to one of the most successful architectural vocabularies of the modern reconstruction of Santorini after the 1956 earthquake, as it was then applied to the schools, banks and residences of the island.

 

 

In the existing linear buildings of Noūs that flank the pool on the North and West sides, the renovation boldly replaced the central corridor with a completely new open-air route that offers a play of light and shade: In this way the arrival to the first floor rooms is made by a bridge which successively crosses seven courtyards with brick filters framing spacious bath rooms. In the creation of these rooms, the integration of conical recesses becomes a central theme, both in their new facades and in the interiors where, framed by tinted mirrors, they form modern “caves.” The rooms on the ground level have courtyards –makuti under the metal pergolas frames the fields around the unit and relates to them in texture and color.

 

The basic “icon” of Santorini’s architecture, the vault, was dominant in the pre-existing resort, Santorini Image, completed in 1987. And in fact, multiplied, it covered all buildings, regardless of proportions: From bungalows to the largest linear buildings, whether they housed rooms in a row or common areas. Realizing that the vault had ended up being scenography, we removed all vaults in our renovation, seeking alternative ways to connect to the island. In other words, it was understood from the beginning that the vaults  “short-circuited” any attempt at architectural renovation. It was, after all, superfluous in terms of construction: Historically the vault had been extensively developed in Santorini in single-storey buildings due to the almost total lack of timber on the island –in combination with the strong mortars offered by aspa, it provided solutions that bridged openings without the use of wooden beams, also providing cooling (due to the height) in the hot climate of the island. Visible vaults were not used on the island for two-story buildings –all two-story buildings (as well as some single-story buildings) were built with vaults (or cross vaults) in the interior, hidden behind a flat roof. The reinstatement during the extensive reconstruction of the island of the two-story concrete visible vaults on the roofs no longer followed a constructional necessity but attempted a fictitious, falsified connection with traditional architecture.

 

We attempted a corresponding revision in the organization of the landscape in the bungalow section. This was resolved in 1987 as if in a campus, where radial paths connected the buildings, like autonomous wings of a university. Among them a planting of conifers, lavender and shrubs which, like the extensive lawns around the old pool, were not associated with Santorini. Our research around the formation of this gently sloping landscape resulted in the formation of clusters/neighborhoods protected by curved walls: The movement between the bungalows is characterized by these soft curved walls that ascend and descend gradually. These fluid, organic contours continue the spa design and create enclosed private gardens instead of the prior “open” landscape.

 

In the linear buildings that overlook the
common pool, brick filters flank the
open-air central corridor that
leads to the hotel rooms.

We were inspired for this organic design by driving to Vlychada beach in Santorini: the car gradually descends towards the sea in an arid landscape where sand dunes of aspa form a road with continuous, gentle curves. A barren landscape with dry grasses and vines unfolds before you, a desert aesthetic. Many other beaches on the back side of the island have the same materiality, such as Baxedes further north, while the well-known stone terraces on the planted eastern slopes of the island preserve curved outlines. This arid relief landscape can also be found in Spain, in Bardenas Reales, in Navarre. Another important reference is Andreas Gursky’s two photos, Bahrain I and Bahrain II which are digital edits from the (equally deserted) Bahrain Formula 1 circuit (the edit adds additional laps to the existing track design). And without a doubt there are influences in the curved lines, especially in the spa from Zaha Hadid or from Enric Miralles – architects we looked at carefully, since their work refreshingly attempts this osmosis of landscape and building.

 

Looking for novelty, having removed the vaults in the bungalows, we shaped their facades with free walls that end in slanted sections, defining balconies on the first floor and semi-open spaces on the ground floor. This shaping of the facades gives variety to the whole, attempts a built simulation of the shadows falling from volume to volume and abstractly transforms the land drops in the steep Caldera that faces the volcano. This vocabulary on the walls is also shared with the new suites located east and west of the spa: in these rooms their walls extend towards the view and unfold intricately demarcating courtyards and pools. From above one can see the terraced contours of their roofs aligned towards the sea and the linear gardens that mediate offering privacy. In the rooms, we chose new mosaic surfaces, wood paneling with surface burnishing, lights made from volcanic rock and dividers with fabric linings, materials that make up a rich palette with references to earthy hues as they unfold in a kind of geological section during the island tour.

 

Towards a Cycladic Modernism:
Noūs Santorini and the Mediterranean Wabi-Sabi

 
Τhe solid unwrapping facade of the spa in Noūs Santorini does not result from any rational procedure. It conveys the random and sculptural character of vernacular architecture in the Greek Islands, pointing towards a Cycladic Modernism. The lessons of traditional monolithic architecture with small windows are assimilated and reassembled here, after visiting Oia in Santorini systematically for 47 years. Our vernacular house there has a whitewashed double height facade split in two zones, both whitewashed: While the lower part is marked with two small windows and a (extra low) door, the upper part remains solid, a retaining wall for all the soil (aspa, the pumice of volcanic origin which constitutes all the upper soil layer in Santorini) that forms the roof. The two zones are almost aligned -the upper recedes only half a meter in relation to the lower zone. The resulting house was subterranean and the ground overhead, by virtue of being painted, had become architecture, a “silent” facade just as significant as the lower “conventional” facade. Primary facade and secondary retaining wall perform distinct roles: the primary, lower elevation seems calm and rectilinear although it hides the vault that forms exclusively the interior of the house. The upper wall may accommodate the chimney (in some kind of sculptural twist) and at the same time lowers gradually, with a graceful curve, following the steep downhill inclination of Kaldera. This dialogue of primary and secondary, wall and ground, dominant solid and fortress-like openings, had opened up for us new possibilities: One could juxtapose large expanses of inarticulate solid walls in contrast to porous parts that dealt with everyday life -entrance, movement, exit, ventilation and light. This house had proven that architecture could, even at this domestic scale, retain a sculptural part, one unobstructed by windows, thus without scale. The house built without architects1 in Oia had managed to reach architectural luxury, the beauty of being blank, to have nothing to do, to mask all necessity. 

 

Thus this critical bent in the facade of the spa at Noūs Santorini, becomes iconic: An architectural gesture unprovoked and unnecessary, it arrives with its superfluousness at something graceful, luxurious. It may remind us of the wandering promenades within Cycladic villages -this is even more pronounced by the landscaping within the spa ravine, a series of irregular planters that avoid straight lines. Further, one is tempted to say that this bent facade along with its gentle descent (the roof lowers towards the shallow water that connects indoors and outdoors) has something feminine. And the whole gesture to protect the first part of the spa with white, lace like, filters does not wander that far: On both sides of the spa ravine, brick filters offer privacy for the glass enclosed reception area, beauty salon and gym. The wall, decomposed and porous, reappears here, offering once again the contrast of extremes: floor to ceiling glass, veiled behind full height brick filters. Seek and hide becomes thematic not only in the facade treatment but also in the jagged corridor that leads from the reception area towards the -initially invisible– pool at the very end. In an unpredicted itinerary, one is to cross the beauty salon and the changing areas before reaching the sauna and hammam that are designed as mysterious ceramic vessels with no visible doors.2 Even later, the way water flows from the indoor pool to its outdoor part (a threshold moment so pivotal in Therme Vals by acclaimed Peter Zumthor), manages to crop all activity happening on the other side: We are witnessing clients walking in the ravine but we are only allowed to see their feet -their upper bodies, subjectivity itself, is invisible. The prioritization of blind surfaces that juxtapose one another is also retained in the numerous bungalows at Noūs: We managed to undermine all notions of columns and treat facades as solid cutouts slashed in diagonal shapes. In contrast to the spa building that was built from scratch, the bungalows were pre existing. In their renovation, in order to achieve facades that acquire a sense of independent movement –as walls stretched to various anchor points- we demolished many outer beams on the balconies of first floors and shifted them in recess, aligned with the rooms. The result is a complex dialogue where random diagonal walls seem to echo ephemeral cast shadows.  

 

Clearly we are amidst a modernist architecture, one that seeks connection with Santorini’s celebrated modernist rescue plan in the late ‘50s, spearheaded by young talented architect Konstantinos Decavallas.3 It was dispatched and executed at an urban scale in 11 villages so as to alleviate the extensive damages of the disastrous 1956 earthquake. Our inspiration does not limit itself only to a shared iconography of white purist volumes -we have been looking also to the porous built filters they applied in banks, schools and houses. This reappraisal of Cycladic Modernism, one that favors emptiness, the sculptural and the picturesque, does not happen in a void. Because in recent years, without doubt, architecture in Cyclades has chosen its own mantra, one that finds recluse in the virtues of Wabi-Sabi. Scattered hats, baskets and exposed natural woods have all been summoned to instill the melancholy of a lost originality, one in which materials were untreated, patina celebrated, imperfection showcased.4 Rugged marbles, dark and cozy embellished interiors, linen spreads and woven textures are all being deployed to fend off the smoothness, blankness, sterilization of white modernist surfaces.5 Although one could trace some useful affinities with the Japanese sensibilities of hermetic Dimitris Pikionis, the style was imported from Berliner interior designers Lambs and Lions and Annabell Kutucu, while reaching canonical status in all recent Casa Cook resorts.6 Departing from small scale Greek archaic modesty, this newly formed Mediterranean Wabi-Sabi has been immensely popular for large scale developments, proving to be the much sought-after antidote to barren minimalistic interiors.7 Although the whole importation process had its own limitations,8 this was not just a discourse about the surface, streamlined vs rugged. It also reflected different attitudes about time: immaculate white volumes which would require constant maintenance to retain their intrinsic aura of newness9 vs a slow architecture with weathered materials that register time and celebrate patina.10 Noūs Santorini goes against the grain in that respect: With its white pristine looks, it feels more comfortable within a graphic or illustration vocabulary where bold geometric shapes dominate.11 However, stepping out of this magic ravine at the Noūs Spa, one realizes that both Cycladic Modernism and Mediterranean Wabi-Sabi need the superfluous, an excess beyond the merely functional, so as to lead to the sculptural (in the first case) or to decorative details within a warm earthy paradise (in the second one).

 

Memos Filippidis, August 2022

 

 

 

1. Reference here is made to the seminal work by Bernard Rudofsky Architecture Without Architects (1964). Usage of the term Cycladic Modernism also resonates with the interest that modernist architects reserved for vernacular architecture at the Greek islands, in their voyage upon Patris II in 1933 (a trip organized by CIAM). Then, the flat roofs and purist white exteriors used in Cyclades were elevated to archetypes, executed by anonymous architects whose artistry was reassesed, as Le Corbusier claimed proof that they too had been using his Modulor (a metric system he codified, based on the proportions of the human body).
2. The Hammam and Sauna in Noūs Santorini testified our admiration for ceramics not only in their reddish warm color but also in their vessel-like shapes that, standing lower than the ceiling, form autonomous volumes.The same color is to be found in the Vitamin bar across the spa ravine.
3. Konstantinos Dekavallas led the team of architects Savvas Kontaratos, Vasilis Bogakos, Vasilis Grigoriadis, Nikos Sapountzis and Giorgos Zervas.
4. According to Leonard Koren, “Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty of things unconventional.” (Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, 1994). While Wabi-Sabi celebrated the unfinished and imperfect, the way those spaces are photographed started to undergo a parallel development: The till now immaculate photographs of interiors that featured unprecedented clarity (a superreal photogenic world), started to resemble softer architectural renderings. The distinction between computer generated architectural images and photographed reality is consciously being blurred, as if to lend an aura of unfinished and unreal to realised buildings. Straddling a nuanced nostalgic past and the aspiration of a novelty soon to come, photographs acquire an ambiguous status, even literally: some professionals chose dark, solemn brown tonalities, to lend either a semi religious aura or the qualities of nocturnal vision (as opposed to the necessary chores of wakefulness). Noūs Santorini’s representation in Instagram benefited from that vision, as documented in the posts @jackiethie.
5. This Wabi-Sabi aesthetic was to flourish after other catch phrases such as zen space were fully assimilated in popular Greek parlance. While stradling west and east, Greeks were systematicaly bypassing the neightborhing muslim culture, prone to embrace more distant cultures like wellness practices from India or japanese food culture. The distant, far away aura of souvenirs that could support this eastern experience were enthusiastically espoused after the total eradication of traces of personal life required by the minimalistic interior. Wabi-Sabi served equally well the need to showcase the artisanal and vintage in furniture and light fixtures, as well as the persistent need to design pergolas in the Mediterranean coastline, now conveniently solved by woven, crafted materials. By no coincidence, when Mies van der Rohe in his seminal modernist work Barcelona Pavilion (1929) introduced material richness, such as Tinos verde antico marble, golden onyx and travertine, the finished surfaces were kept flat, sleek, mirror like.
6. Talented Greek architectural offices swiftly took notice, with K-Studio, Block 722, Christina Voutou, Vana Pernari, Studiobonarchi and others designing significant works with a cohesive aesthetic. At the same time, one can not help but notice that although commercially successful and influential, there is little to no written testimonial that analyses further Mediterranean Wabi-Sabi in relation to its key architectural creators. This comes as a surprise, given that Wabi-Sabi has a long history in philosophy: it is to be determined if this oversight is merely caused by the novelty of this interior styling or if its fate is already predetermined as a fashion glitch.
7. As previously argued, Noūs Santorini may inscribe itself in Cycladic Modernism by virtue of its white, monolithic, curved and jagged elements. Those become anchor points to Santorini’s vernacular architecture, having eschewed all exterior vaults, the symbol par excellence of the island (in our renovation this required an extensive removal of vaults from the prior hotel, built in 1987). This relation to the island was also attempted at Santorini Grace (a hotel completed in 2010, in collaboration with Divercity), with local black volcanic stone used as porous filters lining several rooms. In the case of Mediterranean Wabi-Sabi although the celebrated aura of the crafted seems to derive from some local community, the very fact that all projects share the same woven embellishments starts to prove that they are by-products of an international branded operation, much more than tokens of local craftsmen.
8. Wabi-Sabi, being primarily an attitude about interiors, seemed at pains to offer a convincing solution for exteriors: the elevations of a hotel of 50 rooms would eventually acquire a modernist repetitive facade. At the same time, its deployment in hotels created unforseen juxtapositions: the Wabi-Sabi aura matched with the most sought after oriental wellness treatments addressing body and soul, would find itself clashing with the loud western lounge music favored at the centrally located pool bar.
9. This Slow Architecture movement was propagated by magazines like Kinfolk that introduced a tactile craft orientated approach, one to find expression not only in the paper used in the magazine but also in its subject matter: A series of books that were branded by Kinfolk explored this tendency, forming a valid alternative to the captivating, streamlined, sleek interiors of Wallpaper magazine -where immaculate models could be photographed in metropolitan, modernist spaces. As Leonard Koren acknowledges that “the closest English word to wabi-sabi is probably rustic” (Lions Roar, 2003) -another Greek favorite for the holiday house-, Wabi-Sabi did evolve as the fantasy escape to the rural, far away from the organised, sleek urban environment.
10. The very intolerance of modern architecture to weathering, addressed by Mohsen Mostafavi in his book On Weathering(1993), was meant to safeguard that Modernism, the ideal background for advertisements of cars, would retain the very status of shiny and new, the only acceptable condition for the vehicles depicted.
11. This also became apparent in some of the first photographs curated for the Instagram of Noūs such as the illustration posted @Irmasworld or numerous shots of the spa, especially those that cropped part of the building above the pool such as those posted @meltem.magazine, @moritzmaibaumphotography or @therealoeckerli.

The Rusted Wall and the Cantilever

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One of the main objectives of this project is the expression of three residences as one house. Two of these houses belong to relatives and share access to the pool on the back side. The pool seen through a double height space, becomes the main focus upon entering the second residence on the first floor. The third residence comprises two floors and maintains an independent entrance from the other two houses. The distant view towards the sea as well as the view towards the mountain that rises directly behind the site are offered by a spacious roof terrace on the second floor, which replaces any need for balconies on that floor.

Minimizing the footprint

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This house was designed following the client’s request to maintain separateness from the street. Towards the street, the “base” where living and dining areas are to be found, remains closed and hermetic, allowing entry only via an elevated walkway. The white base is completely open on its other side, towards the pool. First and second floors form a separate volume, differentiated by their narrowness and grey colour. At the point where the grey volume meets the base, the first floor with its wood cladding mediates the transition. The children’s bedrooms are located on the first floor and the master bedroom is located on the second floor with its own veranda, totally secluded from the street.

Water Lilies at Entry

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The placement of this house allows its perception as a free standing structure, although one of the neighbors is attached to the inclined site. The slight elevation of the ground floor from the street improves the view from the ground floor towards the sea. On the ground floor are located the living room, dining room and kitchen. Immediately after the entrance a pool with water lilies emphasizes the direction towards the view. The rectangular compact articulation of the house maximizes the area left for the garden where a pool is located. On the first floor the three bedrooms of the house are to found; recessed verandahs are directed towards the sea view while the master bedroom is separated from the street by a filter of a bamboo garden on the first floor.

The Clock House

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This house was designed to screen out the neighboring buildings on both sides. To enable that a centrally located element becomes the focus of attention: an elevated garden on the first floor becomes the vista upon entry through a double height reception hall. On the ground floor, seemingly supporting it, a vitrine is specially designed to showcase a private collection of clocks. This garden becomes a horizontal landscape reflected on the large mirror of the master bath. A small shift in plan of the first and second floors from the outline of the ground floor is accompanied by a slight chromatic differentiation.

Stacked and Shifted

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This house has been articulated as a stacking of its three floors –its ground floor expands lengthwise in the plot and flanks a linear pool: the dining room on its one side and the living room on its other retain an immediate, unburdened contact with water. On the same floor the privacy from incoming guests is secured by a long wall that demarcates the entry path and protects visually both the living room and its terrace on its other side. This terrace cantilevers towards the street side, above the garage ramp. On the ground floor the dining, living and kitchen areas retain an open arrangement while a staircase of very dark tones becomes a circulation core in stark contrast with the whitish tones predominant in the interior.

Layered Verticality

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In this new residence, an oblong site with a downward slope towards the road is divided lengthwise into two strips, emphasizing the oblong form. With this linear distribution of space a clear distinction is made between living and service zones. The entrance forms a transverse element in the narrower of the two zones– a three-storey space where the linear stairs are lit from above and narrow slits between metal louvers offer glimpses towards the swimming pool. Immediately adjacent to this is an open-plan zone with the living-dining and kitchen functions that is open at its ends towards the gardens. Above the dining area, a void mediates between the two children’s rooms on the first floor. The master bedroom is located on the second floor with an extensive terrace that spreads out to the front along its entire width. Its set-back in relation to the children’s room helps to distance it from the street, creating a retreat whose privacy is emphasized by the slender metal louvers rising from the floor below.

Santorini Grace Hotel

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How could one revive vernacular architecture in such an exceptional setting as Imerovigli, with its view of Caldera, opposite the Skaros rock? At Santorini Grace Hotel we have attempted a modern interpretation of vernacular traits: We have refrained from using vaults, the typical roof infinitely replicated in the island, choosing horizontal outlines instead that bend in plan in order to follow the land contours. The restaurant, located at the level of the pool, features an exterior thick wall with concave openings and a black interior of polygonic, rock like geometries. Some of the hotel rooms are built with the region’s dark volcanic rock with enlarged gaps from which rays of light are allowed to pass. All interior furniture is built in, using the wall thickness in the traditional settlements of the island. Floors in the new hotel are of cement –together with the black stones in the walls they form a dialogue with the island’s unique geological strata.

A House Wraped Around a Pool

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This house was designed for two related families that until then had been living in adjoining apartments. In their new house in Alimos, a pool reestablishes this proximity while acting also as a demarcating limit. Next to this pool on the first floor a cantilevered deck offers views towards the surrounding trees, simulating an experience one would normally have from a ground floor. Facing the pool and deck the living room of the second house is partly submerged under the water’s surface. The living areas of the first house are placed underneath, on the ground floor. The visitor opens a high orange door and a skylight offers glimpses of the roof slab that covers the pool. Then follows a hinged space under the inclined bottom of the pool, a space that becomes gradually higher before leading to the living area. Large openings connect the street with the backyard on the ground floor. The bedrooms of this residence are stacked on the other side of the pool while the bedrooms of the second house are placed above its living area, towards the street.

Double height and transparent

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This apartment occupies the ground and first floor of an apartment building that we designed in Nea Smyrni, Athens. The autonomous entry to this apartment is made through a ramp. Upon entry, one encounters the apartments’ double height space corresponding to the living room area. The marble floor of the living room area is almost equal with the deck of the inner courtyard, a wooden floor that protrudes in the apartment serving as an extended landing for the staircase that leads to its first floor. In the single height area of the ground floor, the dining room and kitchen area are to be found. The fireplace is formed by two parallel slabs of concrete –it is embedded in a gypsum board wall that includes slots for air-conditioning and lighting. The bed on the first floor is kept at a distance from the inner balcony so as to secure privacy for the owners upstairs. Apart from the bed, no other furniture is meant to occupy the first floor –wardrobes are meant to occupy the perimeter of the space, demarcating the bath area.

Swimming at the Top

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This apartment building occupies a corner site and has been designed so as to allow the apartments to connect equally to the two streets as well as to the back garden. The staircase has been placed on the side so as to allow on the ground floor a visual connection with the garden on the backyard. This corner arrangement allows the staircase to be clearly defined from the street, demarcated by a vertical zone of u-glass, a departure from the ill-lit circulation cores of conventional apartment buildings. The apartment building in Nea Smirni comprises of three typical apartments, a double height ground floor studio, as well as a three storied top apartment. This last apartment, defined by a series of horizontal blinds, has a pool adjacent to the master bedroom as well as a balcony that overlooks the double height living areas. The last floor with the pool and master bedroom frames an impressive view of the Acropolis.

The Terracotta Background

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This house is placed on the corner of an oblong site so as to maximize the garden area. This positioning resulted in having two of its sides blank and in placing the staircase and elevator on these adjoining walls. A generous linear skylight above the staircase accentuates movement and offers ample light in this interior zone that would otherwise be dark. On the ground floor extensive glazed surfaces define the living room, dining room and kitchen. These are arranged in an open, fluid scheme leaving only a travertine wall with recessed sliding doors to separate the kitchen. The three bedrooms are located on the first floor including an open air patio between the two children bedrooms. The façade is screened by a double height shading device by aluminium, one that protects from the western sun and prying eyes. Placed on a certain distance from the façade this screen deflects entry, wrapping it around it as a ramped path and prolongs expectation.

A Painter looking at the sea, Halkida

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The immediate proximity of this residence with the sea has resulted in a transparent, open façade treatment. Occupying a corner site, the project required designing its corner with a continuity between sea façade and side elevation while at the same time blocking side views towards the neighboring houses. The second floor recedes further back into the site so as to maximize the terraced area towards the view. The planted backyard at the interior corner of the inclined site becomes a more contemplative focus area for the bedrooms. This interior garden connects to the side street through a covered zone created by the hovering of the second floor above the first.

Skylight House, Palaio Faliro

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This residence attempts to reintroduce the uncanny feeling when the inside and the outside merge, when private is camouflaged as public, when the certainty of entry tends to be substituted with an ambiguity. Instead of the claustrophobia of small entry halls, entry here is through an open linear space, a zone transparent till the rear elevation of the house. As soon as we grasp this view towards the backyard, then we turn in order to face the main spaces of the residence. The ambiguous privacy of this residence is articulated on different levels: by its fence of perforated aluminium panels, by the blind walls of the first floor. The neighborhood is perplexed for the identity of the building (is it a residence, a company or something else?). The public identity of this house is retained with its semi-private spaces (the entry/courtyard underneath the skylight) as well as with the way it enables a surveillance of its owners. Their movement along the glass corridor on the first floor is open to public scrutiny from the level of the street.