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PROJECT REPORT: LUXURY HOMES
© Louisa Nikolaidou
A ‘LITTLE VILLAGE’
Enabled by replacing corridors with external circulation, the architect created the house as a series of separate elements
interiors cool in hot sun, but also by the site’s existing landscape. The olive grove was planted in a grid formation, and therefore when deciding on the orientation, Seilern explains that it was a “natural step to align ourselves to this grid,” as well as following the sun. The building’s strongly linear volume and deliberate orientation is centred around an east-west “solar axis.” The home’s key components have all been designed to maximise enjoyment of the sunset, and frame views through glazing and open apertures. “A lot of the design was really about capturing the beauty of the sunset,” which included creating seating areas that would “maximise the long views of the sea.” Another key design imperative was to create a home that “felt like it barely touched the ground” – a structure that “lightly fl oats,” says Seilern. As a response to this, the villa is assembled of overlapping terrazzo slabs and platforms, with different areas and courtyards varying in level while overhanging from each other. These compositional elements “dematerialise things, and make the building appear weightless,” says Seilern. While the freestanding, asymmetrical exterior walls appear somewhat randomly
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK © Louisa Nikolaidou
placed (although aligned with the ‘solar axis,’ they have a vital purpose. The exposed, fl at location at the edge of the island is vulnerable to the strong prevailing winds of the Meltemi – the name the Greeks and Turks use for the dry Etesian wind blowing from north to northwest across the Aegean Sea. Therefore the geometry of the walls but also the courtyards have been carefully planned to break up the wind, resulting in sheltered outside areas.
Pool & pergola The project’s centrepiece is the striking ’negative-edge’ pool, extending over the olive grove, and being the most eye-catching example of the ‘fl oating’ theme. Seilern explains how the home’s “long, linear architecture” was designed around the pool, and with it presenting “six different edge conditions,” she says, “it was probably the most diffi cult thing to design in the house.” Despite being a massive structure, it appears light, sitting above the landscape. Mirror-clad to refl ect the Mediterranean sky, the pool blends into its surroundings, giving the effect of a further, ‘fl oating’ slab. “This allows the landscape to take precedence and occupy the whole site visually,” says Seilern.
ADF NOVEMBER 2022
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