Theatricality of space

In the Rentis suburb of Piraeus, a third floor 125m² apartment was designed to accommodate a new couple. The open plan space rephrases the typical urban residential compartmentation, with all functions (sitting, kitchen, dining, bedroom and bathroom) defined without partitioning. This structure adapts to the owners’ contemporary demands for a spatiality of perception, visual possibility and movement flexibility. The extremely elongated plan (20x7m approx.) is intensifies with the insertion of a series of sliding doors incorporating a bookcase, storage space, kitchen and bedroom wardrobes) This construction comprises of 14 sliding aluminium sheets on a double unified rail, adjusted so as to allow for large sections of contained space to be open at a time – i.e. the kitchen area where free movement is necessary. By closing and opening, the metal sheets create an ever changing facade in each area, depending on the revealed or hidden sections, adding a theatrical element in the space. This theatricality characterises the entrance hall. Behind the transparent entrance door to the apartment, which allows for optical spatial exploration before physically entering it, the placement of the office, seemingly floating between interior and hall, dampens these limitations and brings the typically uninteresting hall to life. Lighting is mostly achieved by fluorescent ceiling vents whose tension and lighting scenarios are controlled by a touch screen. Two areas, the dining and office ostentatiously break the rule and are lit by hanging lamps in flexible, organic shape. Lack of decoration and austerity of colours allows for the structural materials’ characteristics and texture to stand out – black reflective cement flooring tiles, white lacquered furniture, white matt walls and ceiling, white and charcoal matt kitchen surfaces and reflective acrylic surfaces.