Ateno Architecture Studio sculpted Olen Resort into an amphitheatrical plot in Syros as a semi-submerged composition that unfolds in three distinct parts. The project is organized through a tripartite spatial narrative—varying in form, scale, and degrees of privacy—where architecture merges with terrain.
The design is articulated through three typologies—the Plane, the Line, and the Point—manifested as the Plateau, the Nest, and the Cave. Each form establishes its own spatial behavior and relationship with the land, shaping a sequence of environments that balance openness, shelter, and intimacy.
There is a primal contentment in living inside the land. From Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to the subterranean volcanic settlements of Oia in Santorini, underground dwelling is linked to a descent into the self, into the unconscious, into our primordial power.
Following this line of thought, Ateno shaped the hospitality experience of Olen on a seaside, amphitheatrical plot on the island of Syros as an assemblage of submerged and above-ground volumes—an artful interweaving of architecture and landscape offering unobstructed views to the Aegean Sea.
Responding to the need to accommodate complex functional requirements while remaining attentive to the morphology of the terrain, architects Elias Theodorakis and Yiorgos Fiorentinos compose a hospitality architecture that seems to grow from the ground.
Organic design lines blend with the slope’s identity to form a resort that unfolds as a quiet topographic gesture—an architecture “capable of living together with the land,” echoing the words of Aris Konstantinidis.
Morphologically and conceptually, Olen is a coherent composition of three distinct built parts: the Plane, the Line, and the Point.
At the highest point of the plot, the Plane unfolds as a communal plateau for the residents—a space of gathering and quiet intensity. As Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari write, “A plateau is always detachable, connectable, reversible, modifiable, and has multiple entryways and exits.” Ateno’s Plane embodies this ethos: a continuous field of activity articulated by gently curving walls clad in warm terracotta-toned render.
These enclosing gestures form a soft embrace while acting as a conduit for vertical circulation—ramps and stairs guiding movement across the site—where encounter, transition, and pause unfold seamlessly.
Rooted in the land yet open to the imagination, the Plane accommodates three independent guest units, while a submerged volume beneath hosts the shared living and communal spaces.
Centrally embedded in the slope, the Line takes the form of a submerged rectangular volume accommodating two autonomous living spaces. Their outdoor areas can operate either independently or as a unified continuum, allowing the spatial experience to shift between privacy and togetherness.
The Line evokes the idea of the nest—a symbolic image of dwelling.
As Gaston Bachelard writes in The Poetics of Space, “The nest is a house for the bird… but it is also the image of a natural dwelling.” In this spirit, the architecture shapes a protected and intimate world where the guest may retreat and withdraw, while still remaining open to the boundless sunlight and the expansive seascape.
Secluded at the lowest edge of the plot lies the Point: an independent subterranean guesthouse, positioned just a few meters from the rocky shoreline. Conceived as a rock-cut architecture, it evokes the cave—the most primal form of shelter—recalling the origins and the subconscious dimension of dwelling.
Fully embedded within the landscape yet opening toward the horizon, Ateno’s almost invisible cave is shaped from materials sourced directly from the site.
A circular terrace gently unfolds from the ground, framing the seascape while creating a threshold between introspection and the nature’s vastness.
Scattered across the cliff-edge site, four skywells and three pools of varying sizes and shapes complement the resort’s tripartite design structure.
Echoing the lapping of waves and the pulse of the land, Olen is an earth-sheltered retreat that places Cycladic well-being at the heart of the ground.
Facts & Credits
Project title Olen
Typology Resort, Hospsitality, Residential
Location Syros, Cyclades, Greece
Status Completed, 2026
Architecture ATENO Architecture Studio
Design Team Elias Theodorakis, Yiorgos Fiorentinos
Structural Engineering Stavros Theodorakis, Evaggelia Tekou, Tesseract Engineers
MEP Engineering Leonardos Roussos
Supervisor 3axes – Ioannis Giannakas
Photography Yiorgis Yerolymbos