Drawing on contemporary design and geometry, while preserving the space’s interwar identity, Athens-based architect Natalia Bazaiou has designed Acropolis 13 apartment with a playful approach. Located in the historic city center of Athens, the spirit of the building’s original architectural character manifests in both the facade and floor plan and the various details of the construction.
Soft forms have replaced static elements that now seem to take shape organically into spatial extensions of the house’s existing architectural shell. The choice of materials used in the living room -honed or unpolished marble, an elongated slab of concrete resting on a thin white metal frame- adds to the dialogue of textures and enriches the palimpsest of stories that lie at the core of the apartment. Surfaces, that seem simple and functional at first sight, create a visual composition with materials that evoke a theatrical atmosphere of spatial sophistication. In the dining room, where space was limited, an extension of the existing wall was filled with books and objects, aiming to avoid the impression of visual clutter, while serving as a design solution for multiple needs. The new structure incorporates built-in sculptural openings and a subtle yet animated dialogue of textures that combines with the intrinsic elegance of materials used in the kitchen. The bookcase is a blend of different materials and textures – thin metal sheets, pleated and perforated surfaces, and wood, that come together to form an organic sculptural whole. Assimilated into the flow of the bookcase’s basic grid are two complementary parts of a metal circle which help tie the bookcase’s two sides together into a unified piece.
