This residence is located in Psychiko, a hilly low density suburb of Athens, on a 1,000 square metre gently sloping site offering commanding views of the cityscape below.
The house is divided into three distinct zones. A chthonic core clad in grey stone, inspired by the quarries of the Attica landscape, houses the gallery for the owners’ collection of vintage cars and modern art. An amphitheatrical upper floor, conceived as a pair of binoculars kinking to frame city views, encompasses the private areas of the residence, while a transparent and fluid living area occupies the space between them.
These elements are strung together through a notional ribbon that circulates through the site and defines the spatial narrative, revealing views along its path. This ribbon introduces you to the house through a compressed curving view, which cuts through the stone wall that shelters the residence from the surrounding buildings to the south. It then directs the gaze to the intimate pool garden, which is shared with the neighbouring house. As the ribbon widens, it turns to form the fluid living spaces, which have expansive views of the Olympic Park. The effect is like standing on the edge of a diving board ready to plunge into the cityscape.
As the opaque, linear boundary wall to the south peels away to create the outdoor pool space, the sweep of the external wall is echoed by the swimming pool, a canal that connects the front and back of the house. Glazed partitions, skylights, and slatted blinds allow natural light to penetrate the living spaces and a series of slits in the sculptural facade bring the outside in. The house is conceived and experienced as a series of surprises playing with light and scale, while the design exploits the tension between conflicting elements-opaqueness and transparency, intimacy and openness, curves juxtaposed with angular geometry.
