Located along the coastline of Zakynthos, this bright white house designed by Brussels-based architect Olivier Dwek offers amazing views of the Ionian Sea. Opposite it, the island of Kefalonia reaches a peak 1,628 meters; seen from the mainland, it surges out of the blue depths in an intense light, often coiffed with a veil of clouds. So when the opportunity arose to build a house facing this spectacle, the choice for Olivier Dwek was obvious: the subject would be the island, framed by the house. From the initial sketches until its completion, the plans were developed around the view. From the terraces, the sitting room, the dining room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms, the living space was oriented towards this fascinating seascape, which the architecture emphasises, making it even more theatrical.
There was also a need to accommodate the wind off the sea, from which the house had to be sheltered, as it clings to the hillside. Once this precaution was taken, the boundaries between interior and exterior became blurred. Immense sliding doors open the sitting and dining rooms onto the patio, thereby forming two covered terraces. Facing the Klein blue of the sea (a reference to French artist Yves Klein – acclaimed for his monochrome paintings), the white rendering sparkles like the foam on the waves. Its chromatic contrast evokes the traditional houses of the Cyclades. Olivier Dwek reasserts this reference, convinced also of the need to draw inspiration from the history of vernacular architecture to fit harmoniously into our contemporary time.
