Something Old, Something Borrowed & Something New: Athens Apartment by Oikonomakis Siampakoulis Architects.

Athens is a city that wears its history on its sleeve, and that is exactly where the magic and mystery lies. Over the years, this magic has found refuge in the form of the city’s architecture and by extension, interior design.

The Athens Apartment by Oikonomakis Siampakoulis Architects is one such manifestation, a curated gallery of artworks, textures and colours composed within 85 square meters of a 1970s apartment, and the space is fully representative of the couple inhabiting it. Dancing between the suburbs of Exarcheia and Kolonaki, the Lycabettus Hill apartment represents a palimpsest of the area’s history and heritage, with a dose of modern mysticism for good measure.

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The couple, two art collectors who split their time between Athens and London, had clear intentions from the outset. The desire was to maintain many of the existing elements, with a particular focus on the brown marble and colourful terrazzo flooring, an Athens staple, and the existing carved marble sink.

The colour palette of the floor informed the scheme, as we see mint and moss green tiles in the kitchen jump to the other end of the colour wheel with paprika-hued red in the bathroom, the overall white gallery space punctuated by the honey-stained oak of the casework, all paying homage what once was. The Tetris-like push and pull of the rectilinear shapes throughout the joinery and casework adds intrigue and depth, with the suspension of the shelving resulting in a space that is light and limber, reminiscent of a gallery hang. This is further supported by the white throughout, becoming the perfect backdrop for the collectors’ collection.

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The couple’s fondness of cooking confirms the kitchen as the central circulation driver of the space, the island bench becoming the centre-piece for daily rituals and activities. As with the flooring, a softening occurs through the introduction of embowed elements in the steel joinery and marble tops, offering spatial separation as well as display shelves for the art and artefacts. These softening curves can be found in the joinery and door handles of the honey-stained oak timber, further contributing to a sense of play. The study reveals more history by peeling back the paint to reveal the soft sage green of the 1970s shell, remembered and preserved, immediately adding interest and playing its part in the palimpsest that is Athenian history.

Alongside a curated selection of contemporary furniture pieces that stretch from chrome-covered cabinets to mint-legged timber tables, some antique furnishings such as the chandeliered light fitting in the study have been retained, further establishing a relationship between the old and the new. It is clear that the team at Oikonomakis Siampakoulis Architects understood their clients and the brief perfectly and managed to capture the local context, art curation and couple’s creativity all in one.

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[Images courtesy of Oikonomakis Siampakoulis Architects. Photography by Alina Lefa.]