‘Stories of contemporary domesticity or HOMEland’, a series curated by Archt. for Archisearch, poses questions about the concept of home through an open dialogue with contemporary architectural practices in housing.
The fourth episode follows architects Christina Iliopoulou and Aspassia Mitropapa as they redesign a classy 1960s corner Athenian penthouse, honoring the post-war material legacy of the 20th century on the one hand, while redefining inherited luxury as a matter of sophisticated elegance, authentic materiality, detailed craftsmanship, and the familiarity of the handmade on the other.
“We raise our children, boys and girls, we educate them, we look after them so as to inherit our homes”, writes Virginia Woolf in her novel The Waves, reminding us that, among many other things, home is a legacy; a parental apparatus letting tasteful or distasteful things happen.
Undeniably excelling in terms of good taste, this corner Athenian penthouse, with refined ‘60s aesthetics, was redesigned by architects Christina Iliopoulou and Aspassia Mitropapa so as to embed a touch of the post-war Athenian bourgeoisie’s magnetic charm into the hybrid domestic scene of contemporary Athens.
A piano, a round dining table with a still life arrangement, and an outdoor bathtub with cyan rectangular tiles make a strong statement on how inherited luxury is always defined by sophisticated elegance, authentic materiality, detailed craftsmanship, and the familiarity of what is made by the hands.
If this apartment home had a name, it would be Alma because it shelters what is left of our romantic Athenian hearts.
Featuring breathtaking panoramic views of the Acropolis, Lycabettus Hill, Panathenaic Stadium, and the city’s vast coastline, the house works inside-out, grounding its inhabitants into the historical context, cultural landscape, and natural topography of the city of Athens.
The new design approach cherishes the apartment’s legacy while building around it, simultaneously, restoring its key architectural features, revealing inscribed memories, and reviving old ways of being.
Starting outside-in, the apartment’s one-of-a-kind façades, clad in light beige travertino marble and showcasing decorative artifacts with floral and nautical motifs as well as a replica of the signature semi-circular carved lintels of Tinos island, stay intact, setting the tone for the interior refurbishment.
Inside, the Acropolis is the compass, guiding the view to the true essence of Athens and posing rhetorical questions on what is really important.
Visible upon entering the apartment, the greatest landmark of Athens, the mother of monuments and the only unchangeable point in an urban landscape that suffers enough, the persistent Acropolis view makes you wonder about the power of beauty, the rhythm of the eternal, and the rituals that make us belong and define who we are.
In the spacious living room, the opening scene of the domestic sequence, the hand-painted polygonal coffered ceiling, the green Tinos marble floor, the white marble fireplace and the bespoke wooden inlays are all preserved and matched with a black piano, new lighting, design objects and vintage Louis-style furnishings radiating a highly sophisticated, classy vibe.
A key element of the new design is the reconfiguration of the previously isolated kitchen that has been reimagined as a bright, minimal space with white cabinets, beige Didyma marble countertops, and a glass brick, light-permeable wall acting as a filter between the gathering room and the more private rooms of the house.
The bedrooms’ original herringbone parquet flooring has been extended to the rest of the house creating visual and spatial continuity. Last but not least, a splash of blue in one of the residence’s bathrooms carries connotations of the bold, vibrant and experimental use of color back in the 60s.
Coated with marble, dipped in wood, and shaped by light, this high-profile Athenian penthouse is the bequest of 1960s materiality and craftsmanship unravelling stories of another era while making ours tasteful and genuinely true.
Facts & Credits
Project title An Athenian way of life
Typology Apartment renovation, restoration, residential, interiors
Location Athens, Greece
Architecture Christina Iliopoulou & Aspassia Mitropapa
Photography Lea Martin, Costas Papapanagiotou
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