Dimitris Kleanthis | ek magazine

Residence 205 M2 in Paros

Konstantinos — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 05:31:30 +0000

This article by Konstantinos was published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications.

Vanishing points

This architectural project involves the design of a single-story vacation home with a total area of 205 m², situated on a 5,000 m² plot in the Glyfa region of Paros.

Design Philosophy

The plot features minimal slopes and offers a southeast orientation with unobstructed views of the sea. The surrounding area remains lightly developed -by the island’s standards- allowing all visual perspectives from the house to be fully immersed in the island’s natural landscape. The residence consists of three separate built volumes, arranged to frame and protect corresponding outdoor spaces. This configuration allows the house to naturally extend outward during the summer months, enhancing the living experience.

Spatial Organization

The main volume, positioned at the forefront, houses the core functions of the residence: kitchen, dining area, living room, the master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, and a guest WC. Designed for year-round use, this volume serves as the heart of the home. The two additional volumes function as guest suites, each with bedrooms and private bathrooms, intended to host family members and guests primarily during the summer season.

A central conceptual axis runs longitudinally through the residence -from the western entrance façade to the existing cedar trees (fida) located on the eastern edge of the plot. Along this axis, a rhythmic alternation of solid (built) and void (open) elements shapes the user’s spatial experience. The deliberate placement of the volumes creates a sheltered central courtyard with sea views, into which all indoor areas open.

Landscape Design

Outdoor built-in seating areas, pergolas, and carefully selected planting define the main social gathering space of the residence. Two additional outdoor courtyards -sheltered from wind and strong sunlight- offer more private alternatives for relaxation and socialization. One is located adjacent to the master bedroom with its own pergola, while the other forms a garden and entry courtyard on the western side of the home. Freestanding exterior walls are strategically used to articulate the transitions between built and unbuilt spaces, intentionally blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors. This approach enhances the integration of the architectural volumes into the natural landscape.

The post Residence 205 M2 in Paros was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Summer Residence in Varkiza

Konstantinos — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 05:31:50 +0000

This article by Konstantinos was published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications.

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.

The post Summer Residence in Varkiza was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Clinic in Maroussi

Giannis — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 07:59:37 +0000

This article by Giannis was published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications.

The clinic is located in Athens’ northern suburb of Maroussi, on the second floor of a 150m² open plan building, following the irregular shape of the land parcel.

The design negotiated the programmatic spaces for serving the essential functional and customized needs of a contemporary clinic.

The reception and waiting areas are centrally located, and around them various functional areas are distributed in two zones. The doctor’s office and examination room are south facing, while the main examination room is connected both to the doctor’s office and to the reception. Service spaces are north facing; the secretary desk and a secondary office are consecutive; next is the kitchen, the staff bathroom and patients’ w.c., accessible from the waiting area.

Both zones communicate through an interior corridor, providing staff with independence from the main axis of movement, crossing through the waiting area. The corridor is bordered with the exterior wall of the building and a translucent limit, bringing diffuse light into both spaces.

The entire space is considered as background for developing alternative routes and multiple stations. Reception, waiting, examination, movement, stationing, avoidance, isolation, meeting; the generated spatial qualities result from the complexity implied by the treatment of the layout limits, and by the materiality of the space. This way, the clinic becomes an enclave of diverse, parallel activities.

v+k architects

Dimitris Kleanthis

The post Clinic in Maroussi was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.