Villas in Olive Grove | Navarino Residences, Costa Navarino

Narrating habits

Aris Konstantinidis once wrote: “…To build spaces for people to live in is no easy task… The architect’s intention must be aligned with the truth of the landscape. I speak of an architecture that grows out of specific soil, absorbing the unique sunlight of each climate in order to evolve. The architect is a poet, whose vocabulary is stone, wood, and metal—a poet of the materials of the Place in which they build…”.

Design Philosophy

At the heart of the design lies an ethos rooted in habitus -the habits and rituals of daily life. Rather than focusing solely on the building as an object, the design emphasizes the lived experience it creates. The spatial narrative is not simply a picturesque or romantic interpretation of the setting, but a continuous dialogue -an interplay that invites the resident to attune to the conversation between Place (in this case, the ever-present Messinian sea) and contemporary dwelling. This dialogue is expressed through physical qualities: materiality, density, weight, temperature, and acoustics. These are not abstract notions, but tangible, immersive experiences grounded in space and time.

Landscape Integration

The design is guided by a triadic relationship between nature, memory, and form. At its core is the olive tree, placed within an enclosed courtyard -a visual and experiential focal point. Around it, stone volumes unfold like an earthy stage, with solids and voids framing the tree differently from every angle, intensifying the sense of presence. The architectural composition negotiates the interaction between building and landscape, organizing both interior and exterior spaces into a spectrum of uses -public and private, outward-looking and inward-facing, familiar and unexpected. The resulting form is an assemblage of interconnected yet hierarchically distinct spatial units, each aligned with different levels of view, privacy, and engagement.

Materiality & Spatial Organization

The design language relies on layered, graduated transitions. As one moves from the public realm into the private interiors, the experience unfolds as a sequence of subtle revelations. The building acts as a mediator between the user and the surrounding landscape -an evolving narrative in which multiple paths and stories intersect. This carefully constructed microcosm enables a dynamic relationship between the natural and the built, between foreground and background, between everyday rituals and singular moments. It activates the senses and emotions, aligning spatial atmosphere with the passing of time. In Villas in Olive Grove, materials such as stone, clay, plaster, and wood are interwoven with narrative clarity and geometric precision -balancing the expressive possibilities of design with the honest, enduring logic of traditional craftsmanship.