Urban Forest Residence is a two-story concrete home located in Athens, Greece, designed by Pieris.Architects.

Description
Pieris.Architects? Urban Forest Residence situated at Kefalari, a leafy residential suburb of Athens is the representation of Japandi, an architectural approach that draws on the ubiquitous Scandinavian style and pairs it with the ideas of Japanese Design. The building is characterized by clean lines married with elegant shapes that help showcase the beauty of balance and form. The minimalistic qualities of fair-face concrete which echoes cultural values of integrity have been combined with the rich and soft timber palette and sharp mystic dark-colored aluminum cladding to enclose bold yet fluid spaces and generate on-site a tangible golden ratio between manmade and natural elements. The site, populated by overgrown pine trees possessed a tranquil forestry atmosphere despite its closeness to an urban context. The existing mature trees were maintained and the vegetation has been enriched with fine-grained earth, dense green bushes, colorful aromatic shrubs, and young trees.
The residence is airy and forms a U shape enclosing a courtyard, the main outdoor hardscape area with the water element, which serves as an intermediary zone for outdoor living and leisure. Further away, the extension of the garden has been preserved in its forest state, offering at the same time privacy and security from the street. The ground floor living spaces are cov...