#3 Three vacation houses, Mani

These 3 houses will be erected on an olive-tree planted slope that overlooks the sea of Mani.

This composition is inspired by the dry and sharp host environment. There is conscious effort to blend architecture in it, yet not entirely. In order to achieve this ambiguity, sharp geometries (lines, prisms, planes) are used, but they are composed in an organic way, that complies with the rule of the site. The plot is organized by the introduction of a primitive element of architecture: the wall. Stone walls (A) that run parallel to the plot, define circulation and create levels. A second set of walls (B) extend perpendicular to the A walls, aiming towards the view. The intersection of A and B walls define the position of each house. Consequently, each house casts a dual glaze towards the view.

The plot and the three houses are accessed by a winding path that is defined by the A and B walls. At the deepest point, the path becomes a "stairway to nature".

Project status: permit clearance

Joint project with Aris Kordas (akp architects)
copyright: Kostas Poulopoulos, Aris Kordas, 2009

#2 OlympicAir logo

A logo is a compact composition of meanings important to the company it portrays. Its primary aim is to communicate those meanings in a clear and direct way. Then, a good logo seeks to install itself in the memory of the consumer, like a virus.

With the above in mind, this proposal for the new logo of Olympic Air (competition) features : custom designed fonts, dynamic yet static, in order to express safety and dominance; one, attractive and clearly defined color (cyan 100,0,0) , that wants to become itself a symbol for OA; the traditional rings of OA, in order to evoke a sense of continuity and integrity, whereas their monochromatic simplified appearance seeks to express boldness and self-confidence in redefining brand identity.

Visit www.oalogo.gr to see what was the opinion of the jury and the public vote (greek only).

copyright: Kostas Poulopoulos , 2009

#1 The watchmen of Nezu-Yanaka

This project's objective is to investigate sustainable ways of protecting the traditional "roji" lifestyle that crumbles within Tokyo megapolis.

Roji (露地) reads "exposed ground", which, in medieval Japan meant the dense circulation network of alleys amongst wooden houses. Today still, everyday life within roji is friendly, soft and informal, due to the small width of the streets (3 m.), the gardens and heavily planted yards. Modernity, however, threatens such an atmosphere, seeking to bring car and fire-brigade access everywhere (by widening streets up to 5 m), and substitute traditional wood housing with concrete or steel frame construction.

Even though safety is the top priority for engineers, it so happens that often, solutions are approached with lack of subtlety and socio-ecological responsibility. The "Watchmen of Nezu-Yanaka" are trying to insert a composite yet focused response to the issues that concern roji-style life.

Each of these towers contain a chain parking mechanism, from the ones that are actually very popular in Tokyo . They are scattered in vacant lots all over the study area, thus saving yards from being transformed into parking lots. They are also water towers, bearing a tank that collects water from the rainy Tokyo sky: this is meant to provide water immediately in case of fire. Three sides are covered with climbing ivy, while the south facade is clad with solar panels. On the top, wind turbines collect clean energy. The towers are symbols of sustainability, protectors of the soft, old and fragile roji environment.

The project was published among others at "Another Tokyo", a 2008 U. Tokyo publication supervised by professor Darko Radovic.

project copyright : Kostas Poulopoulos , University of Tokyo 2008

INTRO: What this blog is about.

Hello everyone.

This blog is made for friends and associates to keep an eye on what's happening on my desk. I intend to keep it posted as an ongoing portfolio, but mostly as an open platform for presentation and critique of current projects. So, feel free to drop in and comment on what you see.