Architects Delis Papadopoulos, Laoura Maria Fotiou, Eleni Flouri, Andreas Tsiaklis and Eleonora Antoniadou won 1st Prize in the Competition of the Municipality of Ayia Napa. They design a gateway to the resort town of Ayia Napa as a combination of a natural element and a mannade object. The design aims at creating a
visual connection between land, sky and sea.
-text by the architects
The competition brief called for an installation that will act as a gateway to the resort town of Ayia Napa, known for its distinct topography, the sea and blue sky. The site is a roundabout at the entrance to the town.
We drew inspiration from two elements characteristic of a coastal resort town, the horizon (a natural element) and the pier (a manmade object).
The Horizon is the apparent line that separates earth from sky or the line at which sky and earth meet and seems to appear paler almost white due to its distance. The Pier is the man-made physical connection between land and sea.
The notion of the horizontal became the guiding factor to the design interpreted as being parallel to the plane of horizon and at right angle to the vertical. The design aims at creating a visual connection between land, sky and sea drawing inspiration from the repetitive vertical elements found in Piers and a modular system of horizontal connectors, creating a play to the line of the horizon. The linear configuration of the installation parallel to the horizon, highlights and underlines the existing one, while forming a new fluid horizon line that appears to move as you approach the roundabout from the sloped topography of the highway at the entrance to the resort town of Ayia Napa.
At night the installation becomes a bright billboard setting the mood for the town’s club scene.
The installation consists of tall vertical metal structural elements placed on an alternating grid and horizontal and diagonal connecting metal elements. The proposed design was significantly influenced by the construction method due to time constraints imposed by the site (a busy intersection). On site installation had to be reduced to a minimum. So we proposed a modular system of units and diagonal bracing all manufactured in a factory to facilitate the on-site assembly.
Facts & Credits
Project title RE-HORIZON – A gateway to Ayia Napa
Category Architectural Competition
Location Ayia Napa, Cyprus
Design team Delis Papadopoulos, Laoura Maria Fotiou, Eleni Flouri, Andreas Tsiaklis, Eleonora Antoniadou
Structural Engineer Stelios Papastylianou
Contractor P. Orphanides Steel Construction
Client Ayia Napa Municipality
Photography Myrto Economides – myarcstudio
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