- Project: Viglostasi Residence
- Architect: Block722
- Location: Greece, Southern slopes of Syros Island, Cyclades
- Year: 2023
- Area: 500 m2
- Photography: Ana Santl, George Pappas
A village in miniature on the Aegean hillside
Perched on the rocky hillside of Syros, Viglostasi Residence is conceived as more than a single house—it operates like a mini‐settlement drawn from the vernacular typology of Cycladic island villages. The architect and client sought to channel the low, orthogonal volumes, stone textures and whitewashed glimpses typical of Aegean hillside communities while delivering a modern holiday retreat.
The design thus reframes the sloping site as an opportunity: instead of fighting the incline, it uses a cascading series of terraced volumes, pathways and open outdoor rooms that knit together indoor and outdoor life with the panoramic sea view. The architecture becomes both refuge and panorama.
Spatial Organisation & Program
The project unfolds as a composition of low‐lying stone and white volumes arranged across the 500 m² site. The program includes:
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A main house containing a master suite, second bedroom, and an open‐plan living/dining/kitchen zone.
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Two guest suites located adjacent but subtly separated, ensuring privacy while sharing the same ensemble.
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A spine of outdoor terraces, a “plaza”-like heart that anchors the circulation and connects all units. From this heart extends a lounge deck and a 25-metre infinity pool terrace that descends toward the sea.
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Below the main terraces, hidden away, a home gym and yoga terrace offering both view and quiet.
The layout leverages the steep slope of the site: by distributing the volumes across levels, it secures long sea views from nearly every space while enabling outdoor rooms to spill toward the horizon.
Material & Contextual Strategy
A carefully crafted material palette and construction strategy allow the building to feel embedded in the landscape rather than imposed on it:
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Stone, timber and white plaster: The primary volumes are composed of local stone masonry alongside white rendered walls, natural wood pergolas and shutters—evoking the palette of traditional Aegean dwellings.
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Green roofs and native planting: The terraces and roofs adopt local planting, enabling architecture to blend with the scrub and rocky terrain and reduce visual intrusion.
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Details of luxury and craft: Despite its vernacular tone, the residence includes refined materials—Olympus marble, travertine, bamboo, oak joinery—imbuing it with quiet luxury rather than ostentatiousness.
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Outdoor rooms as primary space: The architecture emphasises open outdoor living—terraces, courtyards, pool deck—with indoor spaces orchestrated as extensions of this outdoor rhythm.
Experience & Living Quality
Every architectural gesture in Viglostasi is tied to the experience of the place—sun, sea, wind, light, and terrain. The outdoor plaza becomes the heart of the home: a generous space where paths converge, terraces stretch toward sea, and the house reveals itself through moments of chance and view. Meanwhile, the volumes slide into the site rather than dominate it, allowing the terrain and sea to remain protagonists.
Inside, large glazing, shaded pergolas and layered outdoor rooms create a continuity between inside and outside. The slow pace of island life is mirrored in the architecture’s calm surfaces, subdued palette and generous outdoor rooms. The design encourages lingering, looking, and living in relation to context.
Why It Matters
For architectural journalism, Viglostasi Residence stands out in several ways:
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It demonstrates how a large holiday residence (500 m²) can remain respectful to its context by adopting a village‐like structure rather than a monolithic villa.
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It shows the successful reinterpretation of vernacular architecture—volumes, materials, outdoor rooms—for contemporary luxury living on an island site.
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It exemplifies how landscape, orientation and materiality can be orchestrated to deliver views, climatic orientation, and retreat without resorting to dramatic forms.
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It underscores the value of “quiet luxury” and craft in a setting where the backdrop (sea + sky + rock) demands architecture that composes rather than competes.
