The last 50 years has transformed Mykonos into a popular stop on the world’s summer itinerary. Private yachts, ferries, Gulfstreams and Airbuses transport visitors and residents looking to reconnect with one thing – authenticity. For generations, this island, all 85.5 square kilometres of it, has been a destination for those who seek the Greek island experience.
Over the years, the essential ingredients to this summer recipe have remained the same: a Cycladic horizon where blue water meets blue sky, thick stone walls to keep interior life comfortably cool, and an outdoor living space, around a pool, that shelters the visitor from the harsh elements of searing heat, strong wind and blinding sun. In short, Mykonos identity. The rest, it could be said, is design.
K-Studio is a design practice rooted in architecture. Co-founders, brothers Dimitris and Konstantinos Karampatakis, are accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (following studies at the prestigious Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London), but their inspiration springs from the Greek landscape. Sky, rocky slopes, wind and sun restrict vegetation to the desert-like minimum, but they remain the essential ingredients and constraints that inform the sort of spirit of place that is Mykonos.
The creative process is imagining how the end result will make one feel. The brothers, while architects, maintain they are truly narrators. “We think beyond the building envelope,” says Konstantinos. “We imagine the feeling of actually being there. We are storytellers. Wherever we go, our ethos remains the same: to build strong identities and architectural narratives that use the local context in balance with contemporary aspirations to elevate and enrich the user’s enjoyment.”
The user in this case is a dynamic couple who sought a place to share mindful time with family and friends in an extraordinary context.
The house is imagined along the lines of laid-back summer living, in a context that encourages a connection with family, friends and the freedom to exist peacefully in nature. “Form follows emotion rather than function,” says Konstantinos, “as every space becomes another opportunity for rest, reflection and exploration”.
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