Monoliths
In the Pelion peninsula, nearing the village of Afissos, one can locate a new hotel unit that is being designed, whose construction came to a halt in mid-2001. The new hotel unit aims to bridge the modern and traditional architecture that can be observed in the area. The residual traces of the buildings, 23 years later, have now been encompassed in the wild vegetation of the natural landscape. This setting, along with Pelion’s traditional architecture, constitutes the basic axis of the design praxeology.
Location: Afissos, Greece
Year: 2023
Area: 9.670m²
Category: Architecture, Landscape
Project Team:
Dimitris Stefanakis – Studio 99
Konstantinos P. Trichias – LAASTIK Architectural Studio
Giannis Retsios – Architect, Student
Kornilia Christodoulou – Architect, Student
Collaborators:
Dimitris Skordas – Civil Engineer
Konstantinos Skordas – Civil Engineer
Vasilis Mastrogiannis – Mechanical Enginner [PowerServ]
Giannis Filtris – Environmentalist
Structural engineers: Nikolaos Chatzinikolaou, Civil Engineer, Georgia Chatzinikolaou, Architect Engineer
Consultants:
4Hoteliers – Hotel & Travel Industry
Monoliths I.
Monoliths II.
Landscape Design II
Landscape Design I
The buildings are white monoliths that rise from the ground up – simple and abstract architectural silhouettes that harmoniously integrate with their surroundings. The materials of the land’s tradition come to permeate with texture and define the character. The area’s stone, the wooden elements, as if they gravitate towards the monoliths, shape their anaglyph, remaining hidden beneath the white plaster they lay beneath. The paths that carve the environment and connect the buildings are designed with inspiration from the traditional paved cobblestones of the surrounding villages, as well as from the modern materiality of concrete. In that spirit, traditional stone-cutting techniques are infused with concrete stripes that cover the intermediate joints.