- The triangular house was quite a radical idea.
(vibrant orchestral music)
We like radical things.
(vibrant orchestral music)
- Why the triangle?
I think that when I was there in Megara, everything passed
through me, but it wasn't exactly me that decided,
but the landscape itself.
Hello, I'm Tilemachos Andrianopoloulos,
I'm an architect, and this is the residence in Megara.
(bright music)
These residence was conceived as an answer
to a specific problem.
How to create a house, a space of intimacy,
that may at the same time, be as vigorous
as this opposing mountain.
- Me and my husband, we have a reasonably sized
plot of land, 30 kilometers west of Athens.
- We are in an olive grove.
It's a rather recluse site in the midst of nature.
- We inherited it from my father,
and we decided to build a house.
It is 200 square meters, two bedrooms, a living room,
that incorporates everything.
A kitchen, two bathrooms, and an internal garden.
We didn't have that in our mind,
and then it happened that we met Tilemachos.
- I have been an architect for 20 years.
Every day on my way to high school,
I was passing by an apartment block that proved
kind of magnetic to me,
especially its exterior circular staircase.
And I was thinking, it is possible to walk up
to your apartment and feel the air, get the sun.
Was the first time I understood what architecture really is,
how it can be seductive.
Architecture is composition.
To compose is to put together, to place together.
Even for a completely new structure,
there is always something that already exists there.
The site, the landscape, its sunlight,
should all be mediated.
That's why the onsite visit is crucial.
The earth with its warm color is dominant,
as well as this remoteness from the city, this quietness.
- [Pepie] We wanted something simple, but elegant.
- He said, "Tilemachos, I just want something Doric."
Doric is the most austere of the three ancient Greek orders,
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian.
And he certainly did not have in mind a house
with ancient-like columns.
He wanted the inherent austerity of that style.
- [Pepie] So, Tilemachos wandered around, two, three hours.
- Two complementary ideas came there.
A house with a main courtyard, and the triangle.
The two sides are more closed, protective,
with only vertical slits as openings.
While the third one is completely transparent
and opens up the interior to this magnetic mountain.
- Initially I thought it was aggressive.
The way he spoke about the house convinced us
that he worked on it, he loved it, and he made us love it.
- Let's get inside.
This intimate garden is that initiation
to the house's inner world.
The tumbling plants are, I believe, in synergy
with its concrete walls.
So this is the main courtyard.
It's an area for the house's outer life.
The house has a green roof,
and this corner will be eventually covered
by the roof's plants.
Through that door we finally enter
into the main living space.
(bright music)
And what dominates the interior is exactly the view
of this opposite mountain.
The sliding glass panels may be completely put aside.
(bright music)
- My favorite part of the house is the sofa,
because I can see everything.
It's like sitting outside in the olive grove.
- The interior space is divided into three areas
that may be subtly defined by this curvilinear curtain.
At the same time, there is an element
that unifies all three.
It's this oblong feature out of golden mahogany wood.
It starts as a suspended fireplace,
suspended by its own chimney, which is a double chimney,
and continues as a long dining table,
slightly lower than the kitchen bench,
and ends up here in the kitchen with cupboards,
and preparation facilities integrated into it.
- I think this was the best designed part of the house,
because I don't think a lot of people have the privilege
of washing dishes and having an unhindered view
to a beautiful mountain.
- Next we move through a closed corridor
that lies exactly opposite to the open air one.
And it leads to the sleeping quarters.
It feels like you're inside, but at the same time,
in contact with the garden, and in contact with the sky.
(bright music)
This is the master bedroom,
with an en suite bathroom
that's separated only by a curtain.
The bedroom and bathroom are directly connected
to the entrance courtyard.
Let's get out again.
(bright music)
I don't believe in the notion of a creator.
I believe that a creator is essentially a mediator.
One should try to let all forces pass through him
so that they are finally incarnated into creation.
- When you are in a radical house,
because it is a radical house, it's not a common house,
okay, you live with what it offers you
without being really able to explain what it does.
- It asks from the owners to live in a certain way,
and that way is closer to nature than we are used to.
- It is a house where you feel free.
All my life until now, when I was sleeping,
I was looking at curtains.
Now I sleep, and I see the stars.
That's the house for me.