The architecture of the Cyclades is often reduced to a postcard: white cubes, blue doors, a church dome against the sea. This talk looks past the postcard at the decisions that produced it, and at what contemporary architects have taken from them.
We begin with material. Lime wash was cheap, antiseptic and endlessly renewable, and it was applied again every spring, so that walls thickened and softened over generations. Terraces were cut into slopes to catch rainwater and to make level ground where there was none. Arches and vaults were built because timber was scarce. What looks like a style was mostly a set of answers to wind, sun and shortage.
The framed horizon
The second half of the evening turns to the view. Island houses rarely offer a panorama. They give the sea in pieces: through a low door, over a parapet, between two walls, under an arch. That habit of framing has travelled into some of the most admired modern houses of the Mediterranean, and into a good deal of imitation.
Using drawings, photographs and recent projects, the talk asks what separates the buildings that understand the island tradition from those that simply borrow its colour. The answer, as with most good architecture, has a lot to do with restraint, with shade, and with knowing when to stop.
Practical notes
- The talk is given in English, with a short summary in Greek.
- The terrace is open before and after, weather permitting.
- Concession tickets are available for students and over-65s.
Seating is unreserved and limited to eighty places, so we recommend arriving by 19:10. The venue is step-free from the street entrance.
