Pairi Daeza

“Pairi-daeza” means in old Persian “walled garden” or “orchard protected by walls” — it is the origin of “Paradise” — man’s attempt to imagine a place of nature where all men are happy. The purest and simplest intention, with the awareness of the obvious impossibility of achieving it, and the will to try anyway.

Pairi-Daeza is inspired by the traditional typology of the local sheepfolds and the antique Cycladic villa’s which are both articulated around a courtyard. In one case to protect from the winds, and in the other also to collect the rain water and to create a refreshing atmosphere against the hard Greek sun.

With its pure geometry and relation to the landscape, the courtyard offers a space of calm serenity overlooking the sea and the hills while leaning against the rock — it is an attempt to offer the consciousness of the « here and now ». From the courtyard, a thin door let you follow a stair going down to the water tank, the inverted space of the courtyard, the space a mystery — but also the necessary condition for its existence in the aridity of the Cyclades. All the living rooms are attached to the courtyard without the secondary rooms which are placed on the lower floor - freeing spaces from any constraints to allow them a direct relationship to the landscape as well as to the courtyard.

Waiting for permit approval