Antiparos, Cyclades, Greece
Greek architect Argyro Pouliovali, founder of ARP – Architecture Research Practice in collaboration with DOXIADIS+ landscape architects, has designed the Avlakia House, a minimal yet sophisticated residential development that rests in between two gorges (avlákia in Greek) on the Cycladic island of Antiparos, enjoying views towards the Aegean archipelagos and the islands of Sifnos and Serifos.
The Avlakia House has recently been awarded a Europe 40 Under 40® Award by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
As per the client’s request, the house comprises the main house and a guest house of seven bedrooms in total, two pools, generous exterior areas, proportionate to the scale of the house, and areas of support.
The architect intended to preserve the house’s immediate topography and the physical, cultural, as well as ecological landscape of the broader region of the Cycladic archipelagos.
Avlakia House appears deceivingly small from afar due to the fact that most of its parts are hidden underground and built with local stone.
The house’s form and deciding what to reveal and whatnot is a balancing act between the human experience, environmental, and cultural sustainability.
Avlakia House anticipates a comfortable experience for its tenants through the careful consideration of the spaces’ internal proportions and the manipulation of the wind and the light.
At the same time, it sustains a precise and empathetic relationship between architecture and territory.
The development is a hybrid between a building and an earthwork emerging from the landscape in the form of a stone retaining wall.
A white volume rests on it with a monumental presence.
This monumentality is achieved by a series of formal operations that consider the site’s relation to the sun and wind and transform a white box into a sculptured building, a Cycladic temple.
The white monolith and an organically-shaped stone wall host the public interior and exterior areas. Meanwhile, subterranean stone volumes comprise the bedrooms and wrap around a courtyard in a village-like arrangement.
The amphitheater acts as a viewing platform, with its only purpose being to take in the site.
The subterranean guest house takes up the form of a stone retaining wall.
The project draws on the vernacular building tradition while it elevates spaces into new contemporary forms.
Sourcing local materials (stone and marble), working with local crews, and reenacting craftsmanship traditions (terrazzo floors) contribute to the site’s social, cultural, and environmental sustainability.
Natural shading, avoiding thermal bridges, and maximizing solar energy, reduce overall energy consumption.
Planted roofs, courtyards, and cross-ventilation strategies relieve the spaces from the need for powerful cooling systems.
Project: Avlakia House
Architects: ARP – Architecture Research Practice
Lead Architect: Argyro Pouliovali
Design Team: Eva Alberini, Marilena Stavrakaki, and Nora Delidimou
Landscape Architects: DOXIADIS+
General Contractor: Oliaros SA
Client: Private
Photographers: Erieta Attali
