Summer Residence in Varkiza

Boundary as passage

“…Could it be that what conceals the forms is a kind of blurriness? And that it conceals them because it erases the contrast between light and shadow.”Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarks on Colour, trans. P. Christodoulidis, Athens: G.A. Pneumatikou, 1987, p. 41.

Design Philosophy

The solidity of a boundary -a wall- and the passage from one space to another through a door is intentionally challenged. The boundary becomes simultaneously a threshold. It is lived time -the inhabitant’s experience- that activates and gives meaning to space. The distinction between spatial qualities dissolves. The curtain’s shifting positions introduce a nuanced complexity, forming a space of interaction, where relationships between adjoining areas unfold through the presence and movement of the inhabitants.

Functional Organization

The unexpected placement of the shower at the apartment’s entrance is offset by the use of semi-transparent glass blocks, a colored door, and a fluid, curved geometry. This boundary not only defines but also guides bodily movement through the space, as light diffuses into and out of adjacent rooms, subtly shaping spatial perception and flow.

Materiality & Geometry

The interplay of materiality and geometry generates a field that does not seek flexibility or multifunctional use but rather cultivates the qualities through which human relationships emerge. Natural wood, sandy textures, ochre hues, and glass are not aesthetic choices per se, but vehicles for a sensory engagement with space -one that unfolds through the materials themselves.

“I believe every idea ‘carries’ its own materials.”

Nikos Ktenas, Topographies of Living: I Believe, I Research, I Consider, from the lecture “Six Lectures on Dwelling”, Athens: School of Architecture, NTUA, 2014, p. 245.