"RE-HORIZON – A gateway to Ayia Napa": 1st Prize in the Competition of the Municipality of Ayia Napa | by Delis Papadopoulos, Laoura Maria Fotiou, Eleni Flouri, Andreas Tsiaklis & Eleonora Antoniadou

Architects Delis Papadopoulos, Laoura Maria Fotiou, Eleni Flouri, Andreas Tsiaklis and Eleonora Antoniadou won 1st Prize in the Competition of the Municipality of Ayia Napa. They design a gateway to the resort town of Ayia Napa as a combination of a natural element and a mannade object. The design aims at creating a
visual connection between land, sky and sea.

-text by the architects

The competition brief called for an installation that will act as a gateway to the resort town of Ayia Napa, known for its distinct topography, the sea and blue sky. The site is a roundabout at the entrance to the town.

©️ MYARCSTUDIO

We drew inspiration from two elements characteristic of a coastal resort town, the horizon (a natural element) and the pier (a manmade object).

©️ MYARCSTUDIO

The Horizon is the apparent line that separates earth from sky or the line at which sky and earth meet and seems to appear paler almost white due to its distance. The Pier is the man-made physical connection between land and sea.

The notion of the horizontal became the guiding factor to the design interpreted as being parallel to the plane of horizon and at right angle to the vertical. The design aims at creating a visual connection between land, sky and sea drawing inspiration from the repetitive vertical elements found in Piers and a modular system of horizontal connectors, creating a play to the line of the horizon. The linear configuration of the installation parallel to the horizon, highlights and underlines the existing one, while forming a new fluid horizon line that appears to move as you approach the roundabout from the sloped topography of the highway at the entrance to the resort town of Ayia Napa.

©️ MYARCSTUDIO

At night the installation becomes a bright billboard setting the mood for the town’s club scene.

©️ MYARCSTUDIO
©️ MYARCSTUDIO

The installation consists of tall vertical metal structural elements placed on an alternating grid and horizontal and diagonal connecting metal elements. The proposed design was significantly influenced by the construction method due to time constraints imposed by the site (a busy intersection). On site installation had to be reduced to a minimum. So we proposed a modular system of units and diagonal bracing all manufactured in a factory to facilitate the on-site assembly.

©️ MYARCSTUDIO
©️ MYARCSTUDIO

Facts & Credits

Project title   RE-HORIZON – A gateway to Ayia Napa
Category  Architectural Competition
Location  Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Design team  Delis Papadopoulos, Laoura Maria Fotiou, Eleni Flouri, Andreas Tsiaklis, Eleonora Antoniadou
Structural Engineer  Stelios Papastylianou
Contractor  P. Orphanides Steel Construction
Client  Ayia Napa Municipality
Photography  Myrto Economides – myarcstudio


RELATED ARTICLES