Avlakia House is located between two natural gorges (avlákia in Greek) on the island of Antiparos, Greece. The site enjoys expansive views toward the western Cycladic archipelago while being directly exposed to strong northern winds. The brief called for an extensive residential program comprising a main house and a guest house with seven bedrooms in total, alongside multiple outdoor spaces, pools, and substantial supporting areas.
In response, the project was conceived as a hybrid between building and landscape. A significant portion of the program is embedded into the ground and constructed using local stone, allowing the house to remain visually restrained within the terrain. Decisions regarding what is revealed above ground and what is concealed below were driven by environmental conditions, spatial experience, and the preservation of the site’s topography and broader cultural landscape.
Emerging from the terrain as a continuous stone retaining wall, the architecture negotiates between monumentality and discretion. Above ground, a white, monolithic volume accommodates the public areas and is articulated through precise formal operations — proportion, repetition, and subtle inward inclinations — that respond to solar orientation and scale. Below ground, stone volumes containing the private spaces are organised around a protected courtyard, forming a village-like configuration embedded within the landscape. An amphitheatre carved into the terrain functions as a viewing platform, framing the surrounding site and horizon.
The project draws from vernacular construction traditions while translating them into contemporary architectural form. Local stone and marble, collaboration with regional craftsmen, and techniques such as terrazzo flooring reinforce a material continuity with place. Environmental strategies — including planted roofs, deep shading, thermal insulation without bridges, cross-ventilation, and passive cooling through courtyards — reduce energy demand and support a stable interior climate without reliance on intensive mechanical systems.
Avlakia House brings together landscape, structure, and environmental strategy through a measured architectural response, allowing form, material, and inhabitation to emerge directly from the conditions of the site.