The restoration of this traditional house in Sikinos is shaped by strict constraints that allowed almost no alteration to the historic shell. With the façade and volumes meticulously documented and ultimately retained, the design turned inward, focusing on what could be reimagined: the ground plane itself. Through careful observation, surveying, and 3D scanning of the house and the surrounding alleys, a concept of spatial continuity and fluidity emerged.

A newly designed floor acts as a narrative “carpet,” extending the experience of the village into the courtyard and through the house. Crafted in micro-concrete and inlaid with stripes and motifs of local green slate stone, this continuous surface connects and activates all the dwelling’s temporal layers, reviving dormant spaces without disrupting their scale or structure. Some of these spaces are subtly adapted to meet the needs of a contemporary summer home, while maintaining their dialogue with the past.

Movement throughout the house unfolds as a journey of shifting scales -small to large, low to high, and back again- echoing the labyrinthine qualities of Cycladic settlements. Along the street, the linear arrangement of the house creates a sequence of encounters and framed views, sustaining a dialogue between passerby and inhabitant and reinforcing a deeply “Cycladic” sense of openness and interaction.

The design has been approved by the Archaeological Committee and is entering construction.

Credits

Design Team: Eleni Vagianou, Tasos Theodorakakis  |  Structural Engineer: Antonis Gavalas