Amorgos Island Magazine

Amorgos Villa designed by Ioannis Xenakis – Photo by jv.resolution (Flickr)

Iannis Xenakis (1922 – 2001) a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer who worked at Le Corbusier’s studios from 1947 till 1959, is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers, designed a house on Amorgos (1966 – 1977).

The vacational house on Amorgos he designed for his daughter and their husband and composer Francois-Bernard Mache. The building complex is located on the slope of a hill, overlooking the northern coast of the Tirokomos gulf, near Lefkes. The nearest settlement stands 200 m higher: it is Aghia Thekla, typical of the traditional Cycladic nineteenth century architecture.

The House in Amorgos was considered a personal challenge for the re-invention of the design process and the redefinition of the dwelling itself. It is an architectural event. Each of the four volumes is a separate room (living room, dormitory-cum-guestroom, bedroom and bathroom), laid out at the same level on a slight curve parallel to the hill. An exterior corridor connects the rooms, while verandas and open sitting areas are fitted in between the independent volumes. The composition combines elements of traditional architecture with some basic principles of the modern movement, as well as Iannis Xenakis’s personal investigations.
With his enterprising and creative frame of mind, Xenakis achieved an absolutely personal and original piece of architecture.

See more pictures (by Amorgos Island Magazine)