Rocksplit House @ The Greek Foundation

Link to the full article @ The Greek Foundation.

ABOUT THE GREEK FOUNDATION, Greece

The Greek Foundation is an organization for Greek culture in a global world. It acts as a platform for the exchange and diffusion of Greek culture worldwide. The foundation promotes cultural production through all forms of creative expression, connecting artists to the world and providing new visionary perspectives. Most of all, it aims to explore and redefine the Greekness of things and be a global destination for Greek culture.

Summary of the article in The Greek Foundation

Summer house on the island of Tzia, designed by Cometa Architects. The building follows a dialogue between contemporary architecture and the traditional Greek house typology; while the steep ground and the plot’s narrow dimensions determine the pronounced also gradient form of the building. The house rises from the mountain and over the valley of Poisses; and finally balance itself with the surrounding traditional dwellings and also the natural context. The secondary home of a family of four, spreads through 3 volumes. Consequently the seating and kitchen volume, the circulation tower and the sleeping and storing volume. But specially relevant is that the principal material chosen for the house is the local stone, carefully crafted against the horizontal micro-cement surfaces.

The experience of the Cycladic landscape is the design’s main concern. So the experience is expressed through the spatial evolution and relationship of the house with the dramatic land. This is achieved through the traditional method of construction called “kotounto”. As a result, a dry, humid-free space between the rock and the house. In such a way, the external spaces, a continuous perimetrical ‘kotoundo’ makes the building sometimes trying to break away from the rock and sometimes to reconcile with it. This traditional technique is principally used to drain the waters coming from the mountains, leaving walls and foundations dry.

The house also includes in its design an under-floor heating installation by solar devices installed in the roof. The house is cooling through cross ventilation; but in addition, an under-floor cooling system is also provided witin the same devices.  Finally, the house collects rainwater by 3 rooftops and stores it in an underground reservoir.

See also the Facebook publication of the article, below: