Piperi is a modern Kythnos Island house that bridges past and future. Created by Berlin-based architect Sigurd Larsen as his own holiday home, the residence draws on its Greek location’s local vernacular and traditions, while being infused with contemporary style and 21st-century mod-cons.
Piperi: a modern Kythnos Island house
Set on a hillside overlooking the Cycladic archipelago, this Kythnos Island house was composed as a series of cubes in a geometric arrangement. Its volumes are a nod to the traditional Aegean island architecture, which is defined by low, white volumes of minimalist architecture.
A series of staircases and steps connect the various volumes, bridging levels and indoor and outdoor areas. ‘The white stairs playfully offer a circular movement through all the levels of the house. Inspired by the drawings of M.C. Escher, one can move above, below and through the house in an infinite circle of steps. The cluster of four white cubes is set into the hillside at different heights, creating multiple panoramic views of the neighbouring islands,’ the architect explains.
Among the elements in view from the home’s expansive terraces is the small, uninhabited Piperi Island which lends the project its name. Larsen ensured the small island is perfectly framed from the main living space and its sofa, seen through a large glass door leading outside.
The architect adds: ‘The property continues over the ridge of the hill, where a small guest house is built into an existing stone barn with an outdoor kitchen and pergola. During the day, one can migrate from the sunrise in the main house on the eastern cliffs to the sunset at the outdoor kitchen facing the beach on the southwest side.’
Piperi is available for holiday rentals.
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
-
At The Manner, New York has a highly fashionable new living roomThe Manner, a new hopsitality experience by Standard International in the heart of SoHo, triples up as a hotel, private residence, and members’ club
-
First look – Bottega Veneta and Flos release a special edition of the Model 600Gino Sarfatti’s fan favourite from 1966 is born again with Bottega Veneta’s signature treatments gracing its leather base
-
A breezy Greek island retreat lets the outdoors inOpen to the elements, an island retreat in Corfu by Invisible Studio was designed to suit the local climate, using metal mesh screens rather than windows
-
A Corfu house balances local vernacular and 21st-century minimalismCorfu House, a sensitive and minimalist holiday home, has been recently completed on the Greek island as a collaboration between architects Tony Wynbourne, Georgios Apostolopoulos and engineer Makis Gisdakis
-
Piraeus Tower is a Greek high-rise icon revived through sustainable strategiesThe restoration of the Piraeus Tower is completed in Greece, revealing a revived façade by local architecture studio PILA
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Tour House D in Athens, where interiors are peachy keenDesigned by Cometa Architects, House D in Athens is full of curvy, colourful character
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Residence in Dionysos was conceived as a minimalist ‘cave refuge’ outside AthensResidence in Dionysos by Desypri & Misiaris Architecture is a family home designed as a minimalist refuge among the surrounding nature's pine tree-filled slopes
-
This Greek villa's superyacht aesthetics conceal two self-contained family residencesA Greek villa in the upscale Athens suburb of Filothei, House Symbiosis is home for two sibling families, designed in white, sweeping volumes by Direction Architects
