Houses PNG I + PNG II

Antiparos is a small island in the Aegean Sea, on the west side of Paros island, counting 500 inhabitants. Houses PNG I + PNG II are located in the east part of the island, facing the island of Paros, with an open view to the Archipelago. Built on a site of 18.000m², they cover a 600m² area in total and are designed to meet the summer needs of two families. The site is typical Cycladic. Doric, primal and familiar on a smooth slope that fades in the sea.

The houses have been inspired by Antiparos landscape, which has been shaped for ages, by 'pezoules' which are short stone walls structuring a continuous landscape. PNG I + PNG II have been conceived and designed as a whole, as a complex of rooms that naturally emerges from the archetypal topography. PNG I's concave main façade is continued by PNG II' s convex one. Stone walls, stimulate the 'pezoules', following the natural contours of the landscape. In between these stone walls, footpaths are configured. Open and closed rooms are scattered along these footpaths as a combination of platforms, known as 'platomata', where outdoor and indoor life of the summer house is organized.

The circulation is linear running parallel to each house and emphasized by skylights on the roof of the footpaths. This way, daylight is diffused inside the house transforming the footpaths - corridors into narrow streets, thus regenerating the paths of islands' traditional settlements. Walking along these footpaths, everyday summer life, is divided into all the expanses of island living; from public to private, from sun to shadow, from wind to silence, from rest to leisure, from water to sight. Local stone in its natural condition, is used throughout the buildings, thus creating a sense of solidity. At the same time the buildings are hardly distinguished from the natural landscape. The stone construction, the buildings' orientation, and the houses' spatial arrangement provide natural ventilation and protection from the sun and the strong wind. Concrete is used to configure the open spaces in a way that is complementing the design's clear lines.