THE LAND
“Stone everywhere. Stone in the cobbled streets, the tower houses and the churches. An enormous stone is the entire Mani, which you need three lives to see. One for the mountains, one for the sea and one for the people”. Anonymous traveler in Mani.
TWO LONELY TOWERS IN THE LANDSCAPE
The main ‘idea’ of the project was to acknowledge and be inspired by a special feature of Mani’s residential forms – the ‘Ksemonia’ (meaning ‘the one who has been left alone’), which were lonely towers or small residential complexes standing alone in the rugged landscape of Mani, and operating as shelters or observation points. From afar, these stone-built towers appear as just one more element of the land, like monolithic outbursts from the soil, yet their very existence records the imprint of the turbulent life of the traditional Mani on this remarkable landscape.
The residential complex, consisting of two stone houses, is organized around two towers, placed in the plot so as to also allow a dynamic arrangement of the outdoor spaces and the entrances to the houses, and to define additional spaces such as the parking areas.
The modern tower-houses are designed to be in close connection with the natural landscape – just as is the case with the traditional Mani architecture, which became an integral part of the place that gave birth to it. Their stone mass shapes the outdoor and indoor spaces, both structurally and aesthetically, and forms the levels and the zones that will 'host' life.
Although the main composition is expressed in the form of the towers, their extensions which make up the rest of the complex do not exist independently within the plot, but rather are brought together into a whole – echoing the established architectural forms of the region, but in so doing also providing a modern interpretation of those same traditional typologies.
Architects: Ira Desypri, Aristeidis Misiaris
3D visualization: CAD monkeys
Credits:
- http://apostoliskassios.blogspot.com/ - Visualization Artist - Apostolis Kassios
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