A: Athens, Exarcheia, Tositsa 24, 10683
The project has to do with the reuse of an already existing building shell. An artistic space formerly housing a Dance School has been remodelled to serve as an Architecture Office and Design Studio. The arrangement in two separate levels has been determined by the already existing layout.
The Architecture Office is located on the ground floor level. Its positioning allows direct visual contact with the adjoining street. The intention is to preserve the pre-existing central hall’s morphological features—once a dance classroom—with its wooden floor and mirror walls. All amenities and equipment are redesigned including the central working table—the hub of activity. The library is placed in the central hall serving as its extension. Finally, a lavatory and a kitchen are appended to meet the need for functionality.
The lower level is remade into a unified, flexible Design Studio space. The workshop opens up to the semi-open air area—a deliberate choice of special importance which allows light into the room. This particular space, the school’s former changing room, is designed anew in industrial style: the original concrete pad of the ceiling is exposed and the floor recoated. In addition, a tool storeroom and other ancillary functional areas are added.
The main feature of the composition comprises the two distinct, albeit complementary functions coalescing to form an integrated whole. The design takes into account the intrinsic nature of the former Dance School and preserves the memory of the earlier space. The goal is to emphasize the character of the intervention by reorganizing the layout plan and underscoring materiality and light management.
DISTINCTIONS - EXHIBITIONS
Exhibition of Contemporary Greek architecture in Moscow, ‘AFTERSPACE’, UIA, 2016
Europe's 40 under 40 Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaum Institution, 2017
DOMES awards 2017. DOMES International Review of Architecture
'KTIRIO' Interiors, Architecture Editions, 2016
LOCATION
Athens, Greece
TIMELINE
2016
TYPOLOGY
Architecture Office - Workshop
ARCHITECT
Giannis Giannoutsos