High on Voukourestiou St. in Kolonaki, in a sleek 1980s marble-clad building with metal and tinted glass details, AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects have completely remodeled a 90 square meter apartment. And it’s now a stylish and functional corner Pied-à-Terre for their Milan-based family. ‘Something fun and colorful’ was their only request. 

Architects started by stripping the apartment and reverting to the original layout: they squared filleted corners, widened bathrooms, opened up the tiny kitchen, replaced the drafty single-pane windows and balcony doors, switched interior and exterior door locations, and worked on improving the flow between spaces.

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

“They covered the crumbling black Chios marble with blonde wood and replaced the decaying metal and cracked glass balcony railings”.

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Inspired by the quintessential Milanese architect Aldo Rossi and his emblematic 1980s striped Cabina dell’Elba in particular, they used a vivid color palette and striped woodwork to achieve a light, cheerful, summery feel.  Furthermore, they used clear, basic geometries (stripes, squares, circles, spheres) singularly or in repetition, oversize or miniature, to achieve a playful result.

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

“The ceilings throughout the apartment were painted sky blue, contrast with the brilliantly white walls”.

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

The kitchen and dining room console/bar were custom designed using Rossi’s signature vertical stripes, but in black and white with orange highlights. The black stripes are raised, creating a three-dimensional surface that is not merely decorative, but integral to the structure.

Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects | Photo © Alina Lefa

A wall-mounted ceiling-height circular mirror opposite the kitchen multiplies the sea of stripes. Hazy blue and white tiles in a checkerboard pattern were used in the bathrooms, accentuated by black grout and fixtures. Clusters of classic white opaline lighting fixtures were created on the ceilings: two quartets of squares in the kitchen and a circle of spheres above the dining table.

Apartment’s Plan, © AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects

Facts & Credits:

Project title: Voukourestiou apartment, Project type: Apartment renovation, Location: Kolonaki – Athens – Greece, Architecture – Interior design: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects, Area: 90sqm, Year of completion: 2023, Text: AKA – Apostolou Colakis Architects, Photography: Alina Lefa

Υποβάλλετε ένα άρθρο

Το όνομά σας *

Το email σας *

Το θέμα του άρθρου σας *