Front plan
Front Yard Sketch
Back Yard Sketch
Back Yard Plan
Back Yard Section
Mediterranean Zen Garden
In the surrounding area of this house, which consists of two clean cut orthogonal surfaces - one front and one rear - two key ideas are combined upon an abstract and contemporary substrate: the Mediterranean simplicity and the Japanese Zen aesthetic. The use of a limited number of materials -concrete, pebbles, glass, olive trees and grass - based on a strict formulation creates a discreet and plain environment. The hard building materials at first sight may seem to contradict, but on second thought they exhibit color continuity. The light gray concrete, the soft green pebbles, the imperceptibly green glass and the characteristic silver green color of olive tree Olea europea, an essential species of the Mediterranean flora, create a calm line of color degradation. To overcome the altitudinal difference between the entry of the site and the house building, the "garden" was divided into three parts. Each one consists of equal sized horizontal levels, including also equal sized interfered inclined levels. On the left of the ambulation passageway the dominant material, concrete, creates a calm background for six illuminated trees, arranged by pairs in each horizontal level. On the right side, at the counterpart levels ditches are constructed and are filled with medium sized soft green colored pebbles. The rear part of the house’s landscape is mainly occupied by the dining room, an outdoor lounge and a BBQ. As in the front part, altitudinal differences were counterbalanced by inclined surfaces. Initially, the grass covers the horizontal site of the landscape and then expands to the inclined part, , in order to reach the concrete fence, whose inner surface is also inclined. At equal intervals of this concrete fence, recesses were created in order to have olive trees planted and lit upwards in a dramatic way. In both parts, front and rear, the fence of concrete is integrated at the top by installation of rectangular glass panels. We also note that the formulation lines used at master plan design, on which upon all the materials were placed, are linear and intersect always vertically.
Tolis Tatolas BA, BSc
Spatial Designer - Visual Artist
