Paros, Naxos
Periferiakos Parikias
844 00, Paros Island
T. (+30) 22840 27 550
Syros, Tinos, Mykonos
2 Perakaki str.
841 00, Syros Island
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9 Kolokotroni str.
105 62, Athens
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Cedar View House, Paros Island
Residential
Paros Island
Completed 2024
Yiorgis Yerolymbos
Meramos.com
Evripiotis Architects
Cedar View House is located in Aspro Chorio, in the southeastern part of Paros, on a densely vegetated site overlooking Naxos. Native vegetation, patches of woodland and mature cedar trees characterise the landscape. A prominent cedar on the western edge of the plot gives the house its name and establishes the principal direction of the view from the interior.
Description
The house is conceived as a small settlement rather than a single building. Its volumes are dispersed across the site, following the natural topography and creating a sequence of outdoor spaces between them. This fragmented organisation allows the architecture to respond to the particular conditions of the landscape while recalling the spatial logic of Cycladic settlements. A sunken, wedge-shaped axis begins at the entrance and leads gradually into the composition. It connects the individual volumes while creating a protected outdoor living area at its centre, sheltered from the strong prevailing winds.
Description
Movement through the site becomes an integral part of the architectural experience, revealing the house progressively rather than presenting it as a single object. The main volume accommodates the sleeping area and shared living spaces, which extend towards an outdoor living room and an open-air kitchen. Four guest suites are arranged in separate volumes across two levels, connected through the exterior and organised around a series of courtyards. Tall stone walls, built from material recovered during the excavations, define these courtyards and provide protection from the wind. Open to the sky yet enclosed by the architecture, they form a transitional zone between the interior and the surrounding landscape. Their organisation draws from the courtyards, passages and sheltered outdoor spaces characteristic of traditional island settlements. The material palette is rooted in local construction practices. Dry-stone masonry alternates with white-rendered surfaces, while chestnut timber pergolas shade the outdoor areas. Their sparse reed infill filters the Mediterranean light and allows the prevailing breeze to pass through. Marble slabs are used for the floors, continuing across indoor and outdoor spaces.
Description
The project draws from the principles of Cycladic architecture without reproducing its forms. Instead, traditional strategies of climate protection, spatial sequencing, material use and outdoor living are reinterpreted through a contemporary architectural language. Topography, vegetation, wind and views become fundamental parameters of the design. Rather than treating the landscape as a backdrop, the house is embedded within it, allowing the boundaries between architecture and nature to remain deliberately fluid. Cedar View House proposes a contemporary form of island living in which the experience of the house unfolds through movement, thresholds, courtyards and views. Its architecture emerges from the specific conditions of the site, establishing a close relationship between inhabitation and the Cycladic landscape.
