The composition seeks to vigorously merge the residence with its elongated site. An additional, fully underground level has been introduced to facilitate the increased needs that the intent agricultural life requires. A curvilinear car ramp enters the rhombus in transverse, therefore creating an opening towards the cultivable part of the field. Building shell is of reinforced concrete, exposed on roofs and walls. Iron frames, sun-protecting blinds, metallic shutters palliate the sense of transparency. The sculptural clarity of the ex-tended, concrete roof was attained by means of inversion of all beams but one, which abuts at the central column: the hearth.
Analysis of project
A tense, two-fold merge of the residence with its surrounding field is attempted: via a partial immersing into the ground and a simultaneous covering by the elongated, earthy roof. The sustainability of the project is mainly attained by passive means and is focused into this double gesture. The reception of the residence’s edges by the land of Attica and the subsequent birth of the green roof by the same land, create an acute shell, gently inserted in the olive groove. The passive energy conservation achieved by the immersion and the earthy covering is intensified by the protecting, cantilevered hovering of the roof. Its bearing support is born from within, complying with the forces that have been gradually creating the residence’s spaces. Its structural system is formed by reinforced concrete whereas each of the columns is of different cross section and some of composite construction. All the beams are inverted except one, that of the hearth: an iron round stair behind it leads through a hatch to the green roof and the small circular deck. The concrete roof’s sense of hovering is palliated by the metal and glass surfaces, either fixed or moving. At the southern point of the ridgeline a nine-meter high counterfort reveals the less gentle, less integrated side of the residence, together with an additional, southern open space. This triangular brace defines the main passage to the basement’s semi-open space as well. The synergy between architectural and structural design is absolute, the structural analysis did not follow. The latter was researched right from the start, chiseling the interiors, determining the form, which was in turn determined by the inclined field itself: the informally rhomboid shape of the residence was imposed by its inherent length as well as by its orientation towards the Euboean gulf sea.
The building’s shell is bichrome: concrete grey and transparent earthy brown, complemented by the extensive landscaping of the surroundings by rammed earth. The latter contributes to the attainment of a proper micro-climate, whereas its hydro-absorption capacity allows for the rainwater’s collection, which along with that of the roof is partially used for the plants’ irrigation. The roof greening is adjusted to the Greek climatic conditions and in particular those of Attica. It aspired to producing a natural, self-sustaining, bio-diverse ecosystem allowing for the construction to become a part of the landscape, while providing all the numerous thermodynamic, storm water retention and cultivation benefits. The substrate is a rich, natural, Hellenic mineral substrate with no further needs for input or fertilization. The ecosystem is robust, disease proof and does not require any pesticide use. It has low to no on-going requirement for artificial irrigation, surviving mainly on annual precipitation and it is feather weight weighing in at a very low saturate weight, allowing for its extensive use at the full length of the north-west cantilever. The eventual corrosion of the clean-cut surfaces of the hovering slab by the hanging rosanthema, helichrysa and thyme will further reveal the contrasting disparity between the character of the south-eastern and the north-western facade. The Sykamino residence seems to be effectively two-faced: It is gentle but at the same time it is not. It is integrated in its field but nevertheless opposes itself to it. It partially disappears and yet insistently manifests its vigor. Its merging is consciously infinite, incomplete. It isn’t a camouflage-building, a landscape-building. It is a building: its architecture willfully declares present. And mainly, open.
Txt.- Tense Architecture Network
