Block722 architects+: A versatile architectural office that combines art, design and architecture.

DS.WRITER:

Σοφία Θρουβάλα

Image: “Lofos”, the architectural work on Crete within which “Post Landscape” by Pantelis Chandris was shaped, photo by Ana Santl.

Works inspired by the mediterranean and scandinavian vocabulary.

Pantelis Chandris shapes a work titled “Post Landscape” in bas-relief for the “Lofos” project, bringing together Cretan geomorphology and the minimalist aesthetics of the interiors.

The Athenian architectural office Block722 was founded in 2009 by architect Sotiris Tsergas and interior designer Katja Margaritoglou. It has gradually built an extensive team composed of various fields (architecture, industrial design, sustainable design and curating) and it specialises in creating high-quality residences and hospitality or commercial structures. Showcasing the diverse backgrounds of its founders, the studio combines Mediterranean and Scandinavian influences to create distinctive, high-quality architectural works that seem effortless and timeless.

In collaboration with local creators and manufacturers, they create a dialogue between the tradition, aesthetics and philosophy of the Mediterranean and the North, a modern and ecological approach. The particularity of Block722 lies in the relationship they wish to maintain with contemporary art. They introduce visual works into their projects, "pursuing unique experiences that accentuate powerful identities and the local signature" as the artistic director of the studio, Efi Spyrou, tells us. That is why they are inspired by the Greek landscape and contemporary artistic production.

Architecture, art and design meet in a dynamic dialogue and complement each other. With the 50s as a starting point and source of inspiration, a decade when the relationship between architecture and art blossomed through the collaboration of great architects and visual artists -with iconic works such as the monumental composition for the Hilton Hotel by Yannis Moralis in 1959, or even less known works like that of Thanases Exarchopoulos in collaboration with the architect Savvas Kourouklis-, Block722 continues to co-create.

The works of art, which converse with architecture, are curated by Block722 either on commission or result from collecting objects distinguished by their narrative character, thus strengthening the special identity of the project that is completed and the brand. This is done by inviting artists to create specific works that are adapted to an undivided body of architecture, where art is now an inseparable part of the overall concept.

Recently, Greek artist Pantelis Chandris was invited to create a sculpture inspired by the Cretan landscape, the location where the residence would be constructed and its surrounding atmosphere. The work, being an integral part of both the history of the house and the construction itself, was named “Post-Landscape”. The mountain “background” and the meadow on the foothills were the central inspiration and theme of the project, transforming the colours, sounds and atmosphere into materials and space. At the core of the transformation of the landscape into something constructed rather than pre-existing was viewing the natural as archetypal. The historicity and metaphysics of the space that exists there now -and has existed for thousands of years- together with the human presence and its modifications throughout history, resulted in a bas-relief and cartographic work that reproduces the gaps and protrusions that characterise the abnormal Cretan terrain.

For the communication and integration strategy of the projects in the architectural corpus, the studio embraces the curatorial practice. Just as in an art gallery or a museum, so too in the particular case of Block722, the curator acts as an orchestrator between architecture, art and design, “translating” and communicating all these different creative “languages” to the broader group. The philosophy of the studio is based on multidisciplinarity and the interdisciplinary approach of a concept. "In this way, the creation of custom furniture and constructions, the handmade textiles, the metallic details, the ceramic forms, the material aspects of a sculpture or of an artistic installation, develop in a common direction, strengthening and promoting the philosophy of the work”, Efi Spyrou says. These creative partnerships aim to empower the sense of experience resulting from all facets of the final work, like in the case of “Post-Landscape”. Our upcoming commissioned artistic project -as E. Spyrou informs us- is “an installation specially arranged to generate a direct dialogue with our next project-spa, which will be located on Santorini.”