This villa on a Greek island has a swimming pool running through it

Near the port and the village of Antiparos Island, Athens-based ARP-Architecture Research Practice of Argyro Pouliovali has designed a house that holds the genius loci within essential, immaculate volumes and measured proportions in dialogue with the landscape and the bright light of the Cyclades. The project recovers a pre-existing reinforced concrete structure (a legacy of a law that allowed building permits to be extended by completing even only the load-bearing structure) built years earlier and left unfinished, around which the studio has modelled a dwelling inspired by the puzzle of Tetris: a game of volumetric joints and minimal geometries that markss a simple and logical layout, leaving room for dramatic contrasts between solids and voids, between light and shadow.

The dwelling is set in a flat plot surrounded by buildings on three sides: a location that implies abandoning the extroversion typical of architecture in a coastal context in favour of more marked introversion to protect the intimacy of living. Opening only towards the west in the direction of a protected forest area, the complex consists of a series of one-storey buildings and a two-storey body to the north-east, arranged around the central swimming pool, the true beating heart of the composition running through its spaces. An interplay of contrasting materials – sharp plastered surfaces that reflect light and full-bodied masonry masses of local stone – create a strong material bond with the context.

On the ground floor, fluid, interconnected spaces provide a backdrop for domestic life, balancing privacy with privileged views of the landscape. On the upper floor of the northeast body, the living area and master suite intercept the quiet life of the harbour on one side, and the spontaneous vegetation of the site on the other. An external staircase provides independent access to the main floor and the rooftop, from which a panoramic view stretches across the seaside landscape around.

Particular attention is paid to sustainability, thanks to passive design and efficient technologies that reduce the work's environmental impact: from cross ventilation and thermal insulation strategies, to the use of the staircase as a “cooling tower” (thanks to the skylight placed at the top); from photovoltaic panels, to native vegetation that nourishes biodiversity as it gradually shields from the view of the hotels nearby.