On the Greek island of Paros, the place the Swiss-born, Columbia College–skilled architect Christina Seilern has constructed a trip residence for herself and her household, robust winds are as persistent a component as blue skies and clear seas. “This home got here out of very pragmatic and romantic notions,” says Seilern, who had no plans to construct on the positioning on the time it was inherited from her late in-laws. Then native laws modified, forcing her hand: It was construct now or lose the precise to construct endlessly.
The ensuing home is of a bit with Seilern’s studied method, regardless of its surprising genesis. Her 16-year-old London- and New York–primarily based agency, Studio Seilern Architects (SSA), has developed a research-intensive apply tackling briefs as various as live performance halls, non-public libraries, and eating places. She recounts an early collaborative venture in Zimbabwe as a profession turning level: “On the time, development supplies had been exhausting to return by. If we wanted gutters, for instance, we must reduce them out of stone we discovered on-site. Typically it’s a must to work in a completely completely different approach from what you might be used to.”
From then on, SSA has countered the Western custom of architectural imposition, producing work knowledgeable by native supplies and the heritage of every venture’s location. “We don’t pigeonhole ourselves into one typology,” Seilern says. “It’s about discovering the precise shoppers, somewhat than the precise buildings.” With herself because the consumer, Seilern turned to the dialogue between nature and historical past for inspiration.
Perched on an remoted peninsula overlooking the Aegean Sea, the three rectilinear, flat-roofed constructions that make up the house move into one another through exterior corridors, positioned on an east-west axis to resist the at-times-overpowering winds. (A wind advisor was introduced on to assist discover structural options that additional mitigate its affect.) Knowledgeable by Cycladic structure, the buildings comply with medieval examples within the space, up to date with a up to date bent towards sustainability. Sharp edges exchange rounded ones, and precision is valued over patina. Marble mud from historical quarries on the island was combined with stucco to complete the outside partitions of every constructing, that are product of aerated concrete blocks that make the most of a 3rd of the fabric weight that poured concrete surfaces would require. The outside areas had been conceived of as a collection of overlapping slabs that comply with the pure terrain and are executed in variations of terrazzo in order that visitors can go barefoot. “Stone can get a lot too sizzling,” Seilern says. “However the terrazzo is like delicate butter in your ft.”
The focus is the pool, which takes up greater than 2,000 sq. ft and juts out over an olive tree orchard. It’s mirrored by a curved laminated-wood and bamboo pergola that covers an out of doors lounge, a bar and eating space, and built-in pool lounge chairs.
Inside, Seilern eschewed a proper eating room in favor of a modest dine-in kitchen. She carved out a intentionally small footprint for the open-plan residing areas to accommodate as a lot entertaining area open air as attainable. “This home is concerning the sundown,” says Seilern. “That’s what visitors see as quickly as they enter.”
Somewhat than whitewashed adobe, she opted for built-in beds, benches, desks, and headboards made of sunshine grey microcement, a skinny coating that doesn’t want joints and doesn’t crack. Customized cushions and linens had been made in a complementary calm and cloudy palette. Additional inspiration was drawn from the island’s conventional structure in framing home windows and doorways with hammered Aliveri marble, akin to the ornate stone thresholds of Parian church buildings and rich villagers’ houses. “This is a component we derived from the historic context, rethought and reworked in order to create one thing acquainted to the island but new to the expertise,” Seilern says.
This, in fact, is exactly whereby the success of the house lies: bridging the space between the inside and the outside; addressing the wants of a household and the whims of Mom Nature; and melding the traditional previous with our current second.
This story initially appeared within the Winter 2023 situation of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE
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