A few days ago, the 5th DOMa Diaries conference series took place in the Benaki Museum, with EPIKYKLOS as its creative partner. During the event, we watched architects from eight renowned offices present eight unique projects in development.

Ioanna Holeva and Nikitas Hatzimihalis of 3H Architects presented “The Home of the architect,” focusing on the interesting architectural questions or dilemmas stemming from the fact that the designer and user of a space under construction are the same person.

Rena Sakellaridou presented the project “Residence in Sifnos” and spoke about how the architect and the client’s visions were joined into a Cycladic house that makes the most of the landscape’s geometric properties and the project’s direct connection to the seaside.

Chrysostomos Theodoropoulos and Eleni Livani of SOUTH architecture took us on a trip to Chios through the project “Agroikia III,” their proposal for a creative re-habitation in a place that isn’t one’s primary place of residence.

The architects of Micromega Architecture & Strategies introduced us to their special new residences in Naxos, named “Cavea Naxia,” where the “authentic locality” of two “imported-model” buildings is achieved through their immersion into the original landscape.

Next, Eva Manidaki and Thanasis Demiris from FLUX Office discussed the “New Acropolis Store” in Theorias Street, a “discreet and robust” project that “quietly blends into” the vicinity of the emblematic monument while staying “spatially independent.”

Iris Lykourioti and Leda Lykourioti from A Whale’s Architects offered us a taste of the project “Hotel Pluriversalis,” the renovation of a hotel in Skyros that will be completed “literally step by step,” paced according to the clients’ capabilities and the unexpected changes that may occur in the way.

Agis Mourelatos gave us a tour of “Office building E55” in Ampelokipoi, Athens, which was made by adding a construction in height on top of a post-war residence, filling the remaining space in the dense urban landscape of the area. 

Finally, Bouki Babalou and Antonis Noukakis presented their proposal for the “Redevelopment of the Acheiropoietos – Hagia Sophia axis” which aims to reimagine an essential part of the Thessaloniki city center as a public space that “claims its use by citizens.”

At the end of the evening, DOMa Diaries – the series of workshops that sheds light on the process, methodology and creative ambiguity behind architectural practice – renewed its appointment for October, with new domestic practices presenting their work that has not yet materialized.