SYMPATHY WEEKEND APARTMENT

A small seventies apartment, located in a seaside suburb of Athens named Mati, has been completely renovated and modernized in order to meet the needs of the next generation.

The interior layout of the apartment has completely changed, as a new bedroom has been added to the floor plan. The existing bedroom is integrated with the living room, importing a sense of informality to the space. The design approach adopted, intends to reach the limits of a conventional seasonal apartment, to awaken senses and illusions and intensify the dialogue between the owner and the sea.

The view of the residence is been decomposed and multiplied through reflections, creating a lot of small scattered, imaginary windows to the sea. The furniture is unified, losing its original identity; by incorporating new dual uses, it becomes multi-functional as it addresses the needs of each room. The kitchen is been merged with the TV table, the sofa with the master bed, and the coffee table rises as it becomes the dining table. In the guest bedroom there seem to be no-clear boundaries between the space, the bed, the wardrobe and the desk, since all functions are concentrated in a very small space.

The white color of the walls and the floor is been chosen in order to eliminate the boundaries between vertical and horizontal surfaces and to generate the impression that the whole space embraces the owner, creating the illusion that the space is larger. On the other hand, the blue color of the ceiling attempts to stretch the space on its vertical axis and tries to generate a blue atmosphere through its diffusion on the white surfaces.

Finally the space seems to fulfill a hidden desire of the owner, being always there like a blank lustrous page, free of memories and prejudices. Seemingly like a hotel room, it erases all memories in autumn and welcomes him back in the summer, giving him the opportunity to gain an entire new experience every time, just like the day of Marmot. The fact that the space does not try to entrap memory might occur to be paradoxical, considering that we, architects, strive for the opposite. Nevertheless, in this case it is important to the owner to sympathize mentally and emotionally with the old owner of the apartment; his grandmother - who is suffering from memory loss during the last few years. 

FACTS & CREDITS

Principal Architect: Kirki Mariolopoulou

Design Team: Markela Mariolopoulou, Lila Simou

Construction: Blindu Ioan

Photographs: George Messaritakis

Location:  Mati, Attica, Greece

Area:  45 sqm

Project Year: 2014