Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

An Astounding Tessellated Home in Greece Burrows Into the Earth

An Astounding Tessellated Home in Greece Burrows Into the Earth

A 10-year project on the island of Milos culminates in a sunken residence shaped by a 19th-century math formula.

Ten years ago, in the project’s nascent stages, the architects started by walking. "The topography is very, very important," says Carlos Loperena. "So, we actually walked all of it."

Adds Alexandros Vaitsos: "Not only did we walk all of it, we spent time there. The idea was to feel out the place completely. We were not trying to create a house to be inhabited. We were inhabiting the entire landscape. And we were feeling the vibe of each individual place, because it has a gigantic variety of experience."



Loperena and Vaitsos are the founding partners of DECA Architecture in Athens, and when the client first approached them about building out this 90,000-square-meter parcel on the Greek island of Milos, the goal was to achieve the opposite of the typical vacation community—that of overdeveloping and plopping houses down for the best view.

Instead, the client wanted to "maintain the natural conditions of the site" as much as possible, says the firm. After a thorough inventory and many steps logged, the architects suggested inserting five separate "corrals" at different points on the property. These corrals are defined as an "informal and empirical way of zoning" on the Greek islands, and are used to demarcate different uses, including residential, agricultural, and wilderness preservation.



First, DECA completed the Immersion Corral in 2012, a small two-bedroom home that perches cliffside and enjoys dramatic ocean views. In 2013, they installed the Orchard Corral, which contains 20,000 square meters of productive olive trees, the largest grove on the island. A protected Preservation Corral is planted with fruit trees unique to the island that are in danger of extinction. That’s "what's considered in the Greek Islands a forest, because it has incredible biodiversity but with very short plants," says Vaitsos.



The fourth installment, the Isolation Corral, has no road access-so as not to impact the land-and was built by hand "as simply one room with a desk and a bed," says Vaitsos. The last piece to be completed was the biggest domestic sphere, a four-bedroom house called the Hourglass Corral.

For its essential form, the architects turned to the Voronoi diagram, concocted by 19th-century Russian mathematician Georgy Voronoy. In the beginning, DECA identified essential points on the site. "Our first exploration was very visceral and it was very experiential," says Vaitsos. "We were like, ‘Okay, this is a really good spot for a tree, right? Yeah. Wow. Wouldn't this be incredible just to have a table here and hang out? I would really love to put a bed right here, like facing this way.’"

With those points defined, they plugged them into the Voronoi formula to produce an organic grid. That grid then informed the layout inside the house. "Each cell corresponds to a clearly defined use, be it an exterior courtyard, a shading canopy, a common space, a bedroom, or an auxiliary space," says the firm.



From the exposed concrete and stone walls outside, to the polished concrete, wood cabinetry, and sculpted marble sinks inside, material selection was guided by how the material felt in hand. "We know the client very well. And one of the things that we have in common is this love for the haptic: when you see a material and you know how it feels," says Loperena. "It creates a sense that you are looking at materials that you want to touch."



The resulting home is one that, rather than imposing on its environment, thoroughly merges with it. And thanks to the Voronoi diagram, the interior flows together equally smoothly. "It's one of those meant-to-be spaces somehow," says Vaitsos. "You enter, and the proportions are exactly as they’re meant to be. It's a really intense, nice sensation."


Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×