Art Warehouse in Boeotia by A31 Architecture

A31 Architecture have designed a workshop for an artist in Boeotia, Greece. Between olive, oleander and cypress trees, in a 4000 m2 plot and a few meters away from his dwelling in Dilesi, Boeotia, the ancient Delion, the erection of the new workshop of painter and sculptor Alexandros Liapis was determined. A part of the landscape was incorporated in the open-space sculpture gallery, hosting the artist’s creations. The basic criteria of the new structure’s synthesis were: the economy of its realization means, its construction honesty and discipline, its plasticity which would converse with the spirit of the Greek landscape. The new structure is a shell comprised of fair-faced reinforced concrete, completed in three separate phases. The dome, a timeless and interregional architectural coronation element spanning from antiquity to Modernism, interacts with the intimate space of the artist’s house, the “cell”.

The new structure is located in the North-South axis, while the orthogonal plan view is divided into 3 zones: Firstly, the cantilever with the balcony in the South, where the entrance is situated, secondly, the artist’s workspace and finally the attic in the North which serves as a storage space. A straight staircase connects the two levels, while the cantilevered concrete steps can serve as exhibition stands for the artist’s work. The wall openings, which relate to the Sun’s trajectory, the interior lighting and the ventilation, stem from transverse horizontal sections in the building shell. The sliced concrete blocks that are removed now function as benches for people and pedestals for sculptures.