
Apartment in Athens
The plot appears as a very narrow but deep building gap, accessible from two sides. The design is based on the idea of providing each residential unit with its own outdoor space. The desire for maximally naturally lit and ventilated apartments, along with the aforementioned focus, led to the concept of deep, two-story courtyards on the north and south sides. Each of these courtyards is accessible from four residential units, making them communal spaces. The apartments are clearly divided into public areas, which extend along the courtyards, and private areas, which are arranged parallel to the adjacent firewalls. To ensure maximum flexibility, the public area, likely to be used as living and dining space, is completely free of columns. The courtyards serve as a direct extension of the public spaces of the apartments, as their façades can be almost entirely opened. The façade is defined by H-shaped columns, which are part of the structural support, along with protruding vertical elements of the window frames. The design process was inspired by a quote from architecture historian Siegfried Giedion in 1929: „A house is beautiful if it matches our lifestyle. It desires light, air, movement, openings. A house is beautiful if, instead of shade, there is light, big windows, as well as the ceiling.“


