Anavyssos, Greece
2023

“…The topos is the beginning.

The ground, as a limit, creates the conditions for a human floor.
A below, that is intrinsically defined
by contradiction to an above; a canopy.

In between there now exists the human,
who can now dwell; experiencing the topos
as he had never before…”

The project concerns the design of a holiday residence on the coast of the Saronic Gulf. The primary aim of the architectural study is not the construction of a vacation house per se, but the creation of a shelter that redefines the inhabitant’s relationship with place.

Beginning with a detailed recording of the site’s topography, and of its prevailing relationship with the sea and the horizon line, the fundamental design principles are identified. Access is made from above, through the given natural landscape, and movement descends toward the sea. Along this path, the building is positioned as a natural continuation of the terrain.

Three monolithic walls emerge from the ground, generating the conditions for the formation of an artificial plane — a ground capable of accommodating human habitation. The composition is completed with the placement of a lightweight metal canopy, covering the enclosed spaces of the house and providing essential shade.

Every constructional decision negotiates the threshold between interior and exterior, proposing a dwelling inseparably connected to the elements of its natural context. Thus arises the need for this delicate canopy — one that appears not as the roof of the house, but as a suspended piece of fabric shading an open space.

Its structural logic unfolds into a light vertical screen, defining an introverted refuge: a new place for contemplation and spatial serenity.