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Location: Agios Nicholas, Anavyssos, Municipality of Saronikos
Date of study: 2011-2012
Date of completion: 2014
It is not the part, neither the whole, that define the necessity of a design illustration. It is a matter of prime the love and respect for the LOCATION, and this is exactly what gives the discipline to the Architect to elicit from each MANDATE and then “the Architect starts to acrobatics till he find the balance through noble, beautiful, classical, lyrical , tectonic…..”
In this project the prominent point was the PLACE, the LOCATION……, the meeting point of a probably dispersed Life…That was the exact message…There should be a way to create the_meeting PοiNt_...
We are in Agios Nicholas, in Anavyssos, roughly in the 49th klm of Athinon –Souniou Avenue. The location is characterized by the archeological department, as a protected area .In the south view of the housing estate ,exists the chapel of Agios Nicholas ,which is build in a small hill. In this idyllic place with the green-blue sea and the few plants, the beauty of the nature debouch more than everything... In this unique place, the sea is almost always calm and protected from the usual north winds of Attiki.
The necessity of a...” a meeting point” of a family , defined the NECESSITY.
THE NECESSITY gave the MANDATE... and the MANDATE eavesdropped the LOCATION. For the rest ''the bridge'' was Architecture, so the game started with a play between light and volumes.
There was this necessity of the CENTER... which actually defines a MEETING...How could be defined a meeting, at the same moment that the LOCATION was so grandiosed... Also the need of 3 independent – but simultaneously unified properties, which will define the whole , but in the same time they will have privacy, led to the creation of 3 independent and separate units of properties ( horizontal properties) .And finally in a plot roughly 620sq.m were build finally 550sq.m of primary and secondary spaces.
Up till this point, the idea defined the horizontal division of the building ratio.
The Concept of the Form was not yet determined….What could specify the volume? What was the element of the LOCATION and the local MICROCLIMA?
To sum up , we were approaching the creation of a volume ( looking it with a first glance of bioclimatic design):
• With 3 separate areas in each level
• With emphasis to a relatively diaphanous facade to the South –therefore more diffusion of light-
• With more moderate facades ( east and west), through openings ,that give the potential of natural cooling- airing ( vertical and high openings)
• With a “more introvert” North facade
At the same period ,a book written from A. Tompazis came across me and it became “ a small reminder guide of all these “small” ,but very important treasure of Architecture.
I borrow a phrase ,from the book “ LETTER TO A NEW ARCHITECT “ page 89 (regarding semi open spaces):
“Remember that the beautiful interface of transitional spaces has also to do amongst other things , with time and has a lot to offer Architecture. One cannot always move directly from white to black, light to dark, from inside to outside .Intermediary shades, are very often of the utmost importance, from both the functinal and the bioclimatic point of view.”
And then the VOLUME started to be defined... plain, clear cut volumes, with gaps and full of concrete pergolas , metal / wooden blinds in West and East facade, horizontal and vertical openings, natural lighting from the South, natural cooling / airing from West and East. Spaces alternating with sections of semi open spaces.
An introvert space, with a communal yard , is located, in a protected and lower level of yard to the north, and with a larger yard in the south. The same elements ,of metal / wooden blinds, here change reason... they are placed horizontally, on the roof of a pergola and create extra space, transparency and relaxation. They “play” with the light and the wind... with the water ,and sometimes even with the shadows of the volumes or even the shadows of the users... The same concept is for the terrace.
Therefore it was laid emphasis in the base... What else could define better the inauguration in the PLACE…at the _meeting PoiNt_?
Heavy elements, concrete columns, coated with sanded plaster, in order to define better “the smooth feel “ of the image, ... a more ethereal “building figure” in a LOCATION with history , pure beauty and endless VIEW...!!!
The colors, which were finally chosen, essentially, create in the property itself ,a virtual image of sea, sky and horizon. A mirror (reflection/ mirroring) could someone say... The colors of the sky and the sea ,and the colors of the earth and the surroundings , seem to be the base.
A spot ,in the base of the building is the 1st _meeting PoiNt_ , it is where the meeting is defined through another common element of the LOCATION…….the WATER .
A communard yard , with a swimming pool in the center ,plays the role of the communication creator , the introversion in the INTERNAL SPACE ,of the small community , which is settled in the new building. Here, the planting, is set to be in concise and unaffected style.
A concrete column pergola with metal / wooden blinds on the top of it,is playing with light, shadows and reflections.
The 2nd _meeting Point_ , is created in the top terrace. Here the access to the top terrace, gives an uplift, and a mood for a lighter aesthetics. The only things that feels necessity here, is the protection from the strong sun. So, a space between a concrete column pergola , with metal / wooden blinds on the top of it , defines a space which changes shapes and forms, depending on the position of the sun, but always giving a sense of transparency and cooling.
Looking now from far away, in the size of LOCATION’S scale, becoming aware of the NECESSITY initially started to serve... I wonder if WE OWE AS ARCHITECTS TO SPOT ALWAYS THE REAL CONDITIONS OF OUR ACTIONS... Those that led as to do the particular...
THEN... MAYBE YES... OUR BUILDINGS MAYBE CAPABLE TO EXPRESS IT.
For us, as a group, this creation was the INTENTION !!! And Perhaps the most important part... the 3rd _meeting PoiNt... What unites people!
