Cypress house
The guiding principle here is the intersection of the house with the ground itself, how building and garden are connected. Instead of a simple, prominent building, this house ensures that the entire ground floor becomes a continuation of the tallest part of the plot. The ground floor of the U shaped dwelling may be perceived as a cantilever towards the road but it essentially constitutes a rectangular extension of an existing ground contour. In this way the idea of the garden is not limited to a perimeter plantation of the building but is reintroduced with its planted roofs and with a large inner courtyard that mediates with the elevated line of cypress trees which pre-existed towards the western limit of the site. This courtyard is revealed to the visitor after entering the residence and becomes the visual background image for the living room, dining room, kitchen and playroom. With this courtyard, the residence belongs to the ground and at the same time it acquires a free plan with plenty of light. In this way landscape design is not a mere addition, an afterthought but a central gesture for the home. Above this basic level of the ground floor we have placed a clean rectangle housing all bedrooms with perimeter wooden blinds: a box in dialogue with the neighboring cypress logs, as they already create a “natural barrier” towards West. The fencing with the slits between its metal elements maintains a common vocabulary with this raised box, thus composing a dialogue between foreground and background. The box of bedrooms with the clear geometric outline hosts small courtyards that mark interior circulation: behind the vertical filters that offer privacy and shading, small planted areas offer visual focus and depth for the interiors. The master bedroom with the other three children’s bedrooms is clearly separated by the intersection of the staircase and elevator shaft. Below the ground floor there are auxiliary uses and parking areas.
- Status Ongoing
- Year 2019 - 2022
- Location Athens
- Collaborators Marina Filippopoulou, Evangelia Derdemezi, Dora Datsopoulou, Iliana Gartsiou, Ireni Psarrou
- Landscape Designer Helli Pangalou
- Credits Contractor:
Bitsos Development SA
Lighting Design:
Eleftheria Deco