» Duetheke [Architheke XI]: Siamese Rural Turrette Residential Prototype Architectural Design: Aristotheke (Design Research)

» Duetheke [Architheke XI]: Siamese Rural Turrette Residential Prototype
Architectural Design: Aristotheke (Design Research)

Introduction: Duetheke [two thecas] extends the Architheke project series for the island of Tinos, exploring masonry volumetrics. Duetheke is totemic, rejecting topographic features that may otherwise link the habitable volumes to the natural slope. The building can be regarded as an “object” versus a “landscape” parti contrasting most other projects in the Architheke series and testing the notion of the defensive structure, the remotely sited bunker. In response to the tectonics of the Cycladian context and the sheer building code restrictions, Duetheke explores masonry volumetrics in the form of two intertwined towers, superimposing one upon another and interlocking the two together, ultimately producing a “Siamese” tower composition.

Programmatics: Beyond the obvious spaces of an independent private house, the building includes a semi-independent guest-floor, a workspace, and a lower playroom. The living spaces take advantage of combined floor-plates spanning the towers, while smaller private spaces are positioned into the various levels. The habitable terrace of the lower tower is the sole man-made outdoor private space, emphasizing the panoramic defenseless exposure to the breath-taking Cycladian landscape.

Lone Bunker: Non-urban habitation was traditionally rare in the Cyclades. The constant concern and risk of exposure to intruders and pirates directed the emergence of dense and tight urban enclaves with austerely defined perimeter, wedged on extreme topographic settings. Remote and isolated tectonic complexes were typically fortress-like in nature, offering defense mechanisms and emergency patterns in the scenario of sudden attack. Strategic positioning of such structures permitted optimum visual control of the topographic terrain. Compressed building footprints and vertical tectonic elements — towers created under the obvious limitations posed by the rough stone masonry construction techniques available — were the ultimate expressions of the defensive nature — observed in various Hellenic coastal regions, in the islands as much as in the mainland, such as the Peninsula of Mani.

Coastal Chateau: Architheke XI recognizes the local idiom and prioritizes the integration of contemporary programmatic agendas into the physical and tectonic context expanding on established patterns of habitation. This intention in no case translates into replicas of historic traces or to their mummification for temporal purposes of visual entertainment. It rather constitutes a sincere and direct commitment to the experiential attributes of this rough locale, to sensing the formal syntax of the region. Architheke XI [Duetheke] sits in total contrast to “no-purpose” sunbathing yards and Disney-like resorts that replicate a supposedly “authentic” local character. This directive responds to the conceptual quest: a philosophy of habitation and architecture defining contemporary agendas in the rural Cycladic realm.

Pigeonholing: The world-renowned dovecotes of the island of Tinos, essentially symbols of a social status and wealth, are a tradition inherited from the era of Venetian feudalism. These man-made pigeon-farms featuring mostly vertical morphological elements are morphed as small upright towers or larger prismatic shapes with multiple chapel-like forms projecting upwards. Duetheke relates visually only indirectly to the forms of the historic pigeon-houses. Traditionally the bird nooks are organized as intricate geometric patterns created with local slate. This directive is re-introduced in the project as an abstracted pattern reworking the dovecote claustra, this time as sequential figures of recesses varying in size and depth.

Plasticity + Sculpting: Vernacular architecture in the Cyclades establishes a formal language emphasizing the subtle manipulation of solid mass through restrained operational moves. Natural materials and visceral building techniques of this locale implied a tectonic syntax of interconnected solid masses merging into flowing compositional complexes, accentuated by the unifying layers of stucco. Duetheke extends this visual and tectonic syntax serving contemporary programmatic agendas through current building techniques and materials, demonstrating that the wide spectrum of services included in a private residence does not necessitate a morphological schism from the vernacular.

Project Credits:
Designer: Aristotelis Dimitrakopoulos (AFD)
3D modeling: Vasiliki Gioka, AFD
Renderings: AFD
Collaging: Pillar Gonzales Burgos, AFD, Sotiriou Maria
Physical model: AFD
Text: AFD

» DUETHEKE [ARCHITHEKE XI]: SIAMESE RURAL TURRETTE RESIDENTIAL PROTOTYPE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ARISTOTHEKE (DESIGN RESEARCH)

SOURCE: ARISTOTHEKE.ORG

» Duetheke [Architheke XI]: Siamese Rural Turrette Residential Prototype Architectural Design: Aristotheke (Design Research)

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