House in Filothei, Athens
“Architecture begins when you place two bricks carefully together” (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).
In a rather narrow rectangular plot, where the building’s footprint had to be limited to a width of 8 meters, two equally sized cube-shaped structures were arranged one behind the other, to create an open courtyard in between them with an olive tree to serve as the focal point of the house. Interior layout is equally simple and ordered.
The rather simple cubical synthesis results in the visual downscaling of the total volume of the house, while also ensuring maximum daylight to all rooms, as well as privacy from the adjacent buildings on both sides.
A further downscaling of volumes is achieved via aesthetic differentiation between upper and lower facade zones of the cubes. Whilst the simple cubical geometry is being presented on upper floor, it is fluidity of space that prevails on ground level, where large floor-to-ceiling windows allow for transparency throughout the whole length of the plot, merging the living rooms to the garden.
Lighting design by Athanassios Danilof, www.thanosdanilof.com