FLOATING CUBES
The project regards the construction of five vacation homes located on the island of Karpathos, Greece.
The main intention was to divide the building into five distinct cubes that blend in with their surroundings. This would enable the houses to blur the boundaries between natural-artificial, private-public, and interior-exterior. To reinforce this intent, each individual cube house introduces three different space qualities that act as transitional thresholds from the interior to the exterior.
The first space is a strictly private area and contains the essential facilities of a home: sleeping, eating and bathing. The second space, the courtyard, was designed to extend the first and forms the transition between the private part of the dwelling and the exterior. The third space surrounds the house and encloses the swimming pool.
The residences are interconnected by a central corridor that links each unit individually. The purpose of the corridor is dual: on the one hand, it establishes the access routes to the dwellings and, on the other hand, it acts as a means for creating a variation in elevation among the blocks in harmony with the natural slope of the terrain to allow the rear dwellings to overlook the sea.
On the back side of the houses a patio was created which allows natural sunlight to stream into the bathroom and kitchen while still providing a certain level of privacy.
In addition, the client wished to include a shared social space with an outdoor lounge, kitchen and dining area. To preserve the privacy of the homes, this space was not designed as a void but as a full space. However, in order to maintain its public character, the structure was constructed with the same materials as the shared central corridor.
