TOPOPHILIA We are interested in the emotional connection with the environment. The intellectual and emotional bonds of an individual with a place. The southern suburbs are a highly referential space, constantly evolving in all directions and always attracting diversity. It is an active platform for innovative and transcendent ideas that also bears characteristics of Mediterranean architecture since the element of water, the sea, is an integral part of it. What is defined as "Mediterranean architecture" arises from the lifestyle of the inhabitants translated into space-material-place.

For this reason, it is governed by a plethora of typologies-archetypes and design concepts. Due to climatic conditions, Mediterranean houses adopted certain peculiar characteristics. The relationship of the residence with the path of the sun and the seasons is also related to the connection of the interior with the outdoor space

Hortus Conclusus

Our basic design principle is the "enclosed garden." Therefore, the residence is designed considering the creation of hanging gardens around the two atriums that divide the building into three sections. Three autonomous buildings served by three staircases with the garden as a vital space. The most significant tools used by the studio are the interpretation and transformation of forms, traditional architectural types, and archetypes. Often, the starting point of the creative process is the search for morphological elements, structural and volumetric characteristics that we could redesign within a different framework, enriched with a different function or adapted to a different scale.

In this project, the arch - a fundamental element of traditional Mediterranean architecture - served as the starting point for this transformation process. The initial maquettes were constructed with cardboard and modeling clay. This material was deliberately chosen as it is shaped by hand and produces forms that carry the memory of the imperfection of a handmade object. Influenced by the practice of wabi-sabi, which appreciates beauty in imperfection. During the composition process, the forms that emerged in the clay and paper maquettes resembled the morphology and plasticity found in stone Paleolithic tools.

Objects whose morphology is inherently based on randomness and imperfection. Further research on the qualities and forms of these objects served as our basic references, evolving the composition further, which continued in three-dimensional environmental design. SITE The three volumes are visually connected with thin monolithic plates to create a unified composition, while being separated by large atriums. We create vaults through the synthetic process that contribute to the decompression of the complex volume.

A sculptural perforated pergola that protrudes, as well as a delicately crafted pergola on the roof of the building, contribute to the integration of the building into the urban environment and function as a base-core-belief. The building is mainly read from the form of its balconies. The sculptural plates give the impression of floating in the air. The white surfaces play with the reflections of light and intensify the curves of the composition. Throughout the day, sunset, and night, the white absorbs the color of the sky.

Three entrances lead to three different cores. The presence of water and plants creates a natural barrier. This also creates the sense of neighborhood around the residential environment.