Touchstone* Vacation House in Andros
Our starting point is a partially renovated site. The aim was to restore, rather than correcting and demolishing the given framework, comparable to a monument restoration process. We introduced a few tweaks to the interior and exterior programme, to enhance functionality.
The site, a so called ‘Milena’, comprises a kitchen, a built-in oven and a semi-sunken stone shelter for animals. Vistas are orientated towards the sea and yards are covered with impressive cypress trees, a landscape unchanged over the past 200 years.
Some of the furniture interventions sit in direct contrast to the existing stone shell, as spatial parasitical events, activating and transforming the space around them, be it with carefully chosen colour tonalities or seemingly stark metal features. Other elements are a continuation of the natural rock, extruding the shell, commenting on the tactility of the rich materials found on site. Rocks, stone, marble form a cave, this design is a restless exploration on touching stone.
*Touchstone is a fictional character in Shakespeare’s play ‘As You Like It’. Throughout the play he comments on other characters, contributing to a better understanding of the play.
Project Data
Year 2020
Location Greece
Type Residential
Architect Elina Loukou
Civil engineer Yiannis Petrakis
Project manager Melia Tataki
Contractor Psarros AE
Light designer Eszter Hanzseros
Photos Vassilis Makris
Greek Architecture Awards 2022
Doma Publication Index Doma Issue 156