Open House Athens 2023: Design Society's Highlights
DS.WRITER:
Vasilis Xifaras
The 10th Open House Athens was successfully completed, with thirty thousands of local residents and visitors taking part in the guided tours of residences, offices, hotels, monuments, creative spaces, places of culture, leisure and production. From the historic mansions and villas of Athens, to artfully restored interwar apartment buildings and modern architectural bioclimatic works, this year’s programme offered a well-rounded look into everything that constitutes the built urban environment. We visited some buildings that took part in the project and we present to you the ones that stood out to us the most.
Myran Apenanti – OOAK Architects
The Greek Scandinavian design furniture company Myran has created, just across from its store in Kolonaki, a space that functions as an advanced showroom. In this interwar apartment building, the juxtaposition of the Art Deco elements with the machine aesthetics that dominate the building resulted in the style that is now known as “Streamline Modern” design. The apartment walls bear specific colours in selected zones, constituting the ideal "canvas" for the company's furniture but also for items from designers and artists that we host here from time to time, such as Artificiel by Yiannis Ghikas. This model home offers warmth, simplicity and functionality, proposing a mix of Scandinavian-Greek design that fascinates.
The Orbit - Lianou Chalvatzis Architects & Vikelas Architects
A half-finished shell on Kifisias Avenue remained unexploited until 2020, when its design study was redesigned by Lianou Chalvatzis Architects και Vikelas Architects, creating “The Orbit” complex. It’s a bioclimatic office building characterised by the use of continuous curves, transparency through the use of glass but also the presence of nature in the interior spaces. The external green common areas, which include the square, the park, the balconies and the roof gardens, are an extension of the interior space, constituting an attraction site for the neighbourhood.
House in a House – Studio Thanasis
Τhe renovation by Greek-Canadian architect Thanasis Oikonomou aimed to explore the relationship between art and architecture in this typical apartment in a 1940 apartment building in Kypseli. In the bright apartment of 88 square meters, many elements that highlight the past have been preserved, such as the floors that were conserved and the ceilings that remained unchanged. Paintings and sculptures by Kleopatra Tsali define the atmosphere in almost every space, and introduce the element of human nature, but also of man's desire to live and ceaselessly discover new things.
Rodokanaki Residence – KN Group_Design that works
This building has a long-standing history within the Athenian map as it stands unchanged across from Hilton’s imposing facade. It is a sample of eclectic architecture from 1926, with two characteristic semicircular Erkers interrupting the austere facade of Vasilissis Sofias Avenue. After ceasing to function as the residence of the wealthy Rodokanakis family from Chios, the building began to accommodate various purposes. Today, KN Group_Design that works, active in many areas related to architecture and design, has preserved the historicity and grandeur of the interiors, adding contemporary design objects and sculptures that link us back to the present.
Design Studio in Syntagma - Olympia Zographos Designs
Interior designer and artist Olympia Zographos found the space where she would house her plans and dreams, in a 1930 building behind the Old Parliament. She herself decided to remove most of the interior walls in order to give new dimensions to the space, which has a special floor with tiles designed by herself, as well as custom-made furniture that meets the multitude of uses that the design studio can accommodate, through the project "Moon Station Athens": talks, exhibitions, discussions, screenings and workshops. Elements that previously existed in the space were reused, such as one of the doors that was turned into a dining table, while the designer is inspired by the urban environment of the Athenian “commercial triangle” as well as Art Deco.
Melas Martinos Gallery – Sofia Xanthakou
In the heart of Athens, in Monastiraki, Melas Martinos Gallery is located in a 1930 building, which features facades redesigned by Takis Zenetos. For the needs of the exhibition spaces, a renovation study was recently carried out by Sofia Xanthakou, who wanted to highlight the architectural elements of each previous intervention in the building and at the same time create a discreet vocabulary for her own interventions, which do not overshadow the whole. The three floors of the Melas Martinos Gallery are dominated by the white tones on the wooden floor and walls, the warm light from the sun as it enters through the large openings, but also the impressive gray wooden staircase.
sofiaxanthakou.com | melasmartinos.com
Kykladon Street Atelier – Dionisis Sotovikis
It’s a classic participant of Open House and with good reason. The facade of the Kykladon Street Atelier, with its modern lines, small scale approach and exposed concrete reveals the Bauhaus influences on Aristomenis Provelengios’ work. Dionisis Sotovikis continues to work at the historic building as well as the building next to it and he has unified them into an ongoing project that is expected to be completed in 2028. All interventions, but also its furnishings that include works by renowned Greek and foreign creators, promote the spirit of modernism, “excavating” each spot enough to reveal and preserve the original layer of the building as designed by Provelengios.
Mithimnis Courtyard Apartment – Royffe Flynn Architects, H. Pangalou & Associates for Molonglo
The recently restored 1920 two-storey residence in a “simplified” classical order, with mild Art Deco elements, includes a ground floor apartment with four bedrooms and an underground studio. The architects chose large white surfaces and minimalist furnishings, avoiding superfluous decorations, to showcase the original character of the residency. So, attention is given to the different textures, like the impressive Cipollino marble surfaces and the preserved mosaic floors. Regarding the furniture, Theodore Psychoyos’ carved table stands out as well as the wooden shelves discovered in an old factory in Piraeus.
molonglo.com | royffeflynn.com
The guided tours of all these buildings by the Open House Athens 450 volunteers were interesting, informative and straightforward. Until the next event, you can read about the ongoing competitions concerning the beloved public tours, the photography competition, with this year’s motto “Building Futures Together” as its theme, as well as the portfolio competition. For more info, click here.
