Summer house on the Mountain | Kapsimalis Architects

The project is about a summer house complex on the highest point of Santorini Island, on ‘’Prophet Ilias’’ mountainside. The building faces to the southwest and has a massive view of the Aegean Sea and the volcanic landscape. The design of the building depended on a previous design study. On account of this, the bearing structure and its general form were maintained. At the same time, the design of the landscape took into consideration the fact that the site belongs to a highly protected ‘’Natura’’ zone. In this context, the house complex is integrated into the steep slope of the mountain and uses the materials and the color palette of its surrounding for the construction of the exterior spaces. The rock of the mountain was excavated, the building was placed on the spot and the stones from the rock, after processing, were used as a main material. A variety of gardens, courtyards in different levels, retaining walls, an outdoor pool and sunken lounges form the landscape. The plain white volumes of the summer house are an antithesis to the earthy colors and a mention to the Cycladic cubism, which mainly characterizes the traditional architecture of Santorini Island. The four houses of the complex are placed in two levels. The main typology for the interior spaces is open-­‐space. Free standing walls in it, create circular moves and hide particular spaces. The materials used in the construction of the building are white plaster on the walls, grey soft local cement on the floors and light blue colored wood for the windows.