Rooted in nature, rural landscapes, vernacular architecture, and closely connected to notions such as “disconnection,” “slow living,” and Martin Heidegger’s “Dasein,” namely the art of being present in the world, The Summer Refuge series, curated by Archt. for Archisearch, focuses on seasonal houses that shelter time, memory, and dreams.
“As an architect, you cannot be a tourist. You need to understand people, you need to listen. And you don’t just listen to people, you also listen to place, because place has a story to tell,” says Renzo Piano, reminding us that architecture is not a practice that happens on the surface of things, but at their core. Starting from this premise, the 15th episode of The Summer Refuge series follows A&O Architects, founded by Angeles Mira and Orestis Karydas, in the quiet restoration of three Cycladic traditional cells, guided by an attentive reading of Sifnos’ cultural landscape.
Sifnos’ architecture emerges from its geology, scarcity of water, agricultural terraces, defensive history and, quite significantly, its ceramic tradition, giving the island a character somewhat different from the more familiar white-and-blue shorthand of the Cyclades. The dominant white of limewashed walls is accompanied by the warm greys and beiges of local stone, the ochres and browns of earth, the terracotta reds of fired clay, and touches of blue, particularly across doors, shutters, domes and smaller architectural details.
What makes Sifnos particularly fascinating, architecturally, is its extraordinary relationship with ceramics. Pottery has been practised on the island since at least the Early Cycladic period and remains one of its most continuous cultural practices. Its most immediately recognisable architectural expression is the flaros—the distinctive ceramic chimney rising above the white cubic houses like a small sculptural element, giving the otherwise restrained architecture a moment of verticality and ornament. Sifnian architecture, therefore, cannot really be separated from Sifnian pottery. Both are expressions of the same material culture and of an economy historically grounded in what the island could extract, cultivate, produce and exchange.
By “remaining open, free from ego, and willing to let the place itself guide every decision,” A&O Architects shape the three cells through bold terracotta and Aegean-blue hues, earth-ochre ceramic tiles, straw pergolas and interior roller blinds.
Situated in the heart of Apollonia, the island’s Chora, occupying its central mountainous territory, the outdoor landscape borrows elements from the formation of the traditional settlement: paths, stone walls and paved staircases lead towards shaded courtyards and shared common spaces, producing an arrangement that is at once intimate and irregular, while framing spectacular views of Sifnos’ inland landscape.
Generous pergolas reference the stegadia of the Chora—covered passages and arcaded spaces—creating a spatial sequence experienced through movement and the body.
Architecture is thus read at the scale of the inhabitant: turning corners, passing beneath canopies, moving through narrow routes, and suddenly arriving at an open courtyard or a view across the landscape. Here, circulation becomes an experience of discovery, while shade becomes not simply a climatic necessity but an architectural device for slowing down time.
Three Traditional Cells proves that the Cyclades speak an unexpectedly reddish material language, and that the Summer Refuge lies in the arms of August like a sweet apple, shaped by clay, stone, light, and shades of blue.
Facts & Credits
Project title Three Traditional Cells
Typology The Summer Refuge, Residential
Episode 15th
Location Sifnos, Cyclades
Status Completed, 2026
Architecture A&O Architects
Photography Paula Arroyo Prieto