Interview about Interelationships Residential Complex, winner of the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award 2020
Interelationships is a pilot, sustainable, collective housing, supported living complex that hosts vulnerable groups of people living in a collective community. The social impact of the project is important because it (re)integrates these people with work and joint participation in a multitude of activities with city residents. It may thus become a cultural attraction where interpersonal relationships develop through social, cultural and leisure revenue-generated activities. Fundamental aim of the project is to demonstrate that UD fits into buildings or complexes with modern aesthetics.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe INTERelationships Residential Complex redefines the very notion of sustainability, expanding it beyond its conventional environmental scope to include the human dimension. Its innovation lies in treating sustainability as a living framework that integrates energy performance with social inclusivity and long-term usability.While the zero-energy infrastructure — combining photovoltaic arrays, geothermal systems, and passive design — ensures environmental efficiency, the project’s holistic sustainability emerges through the Universal Design philosophy. By adopting a Design-for-All approach, the complex accommodates residents of diverse abilities and ages, enabling them to interact, access, and thrive within the same spatial ecosystem throughout their lifetime.In this way, sustainability is not perceived merely as energy conservation but as a continuous relationship between people, space, and time. This inclusive approach enhances the longevity and adaptability of the built environment, ensuring that both the infrastructure and its users evolve together — thus contributing to a truly enduring and socially responsive model of sustainable living.
The central courtyard of INTERelationships was conceived as the emotional and spatial heart of the project — a place where the essence of urban life could be distilled within the boundaries of the residential complex. The inspiration came from the traditional Mediterranean courtyard, reinterpreted not as a private enclave but as an open civic nucleus that fosters dialogue, inclusion, and belonging.The courtyard acts as a connective tissue linking all programmatic layers — from the communal workshops and café at ground level to the residential terraces and rooftop cinema above. This vertical and horizontal permeability encourages residents to meet naturally, to cross paths, and to share experiences in a setting that feels simultaneously intimate and public.By allowing visual continuity, natural light, and greenery to flow through the entire complex, the courtyard becomes a living catalyst for social engagement. It blurs the boundaries between architecture and community, transforming the act of inhabiting into an act of participating. In this sense, it embodies the project’s philosophy: architecture as a framework for relationships — inter-relationships that sustain both the people and the place.
The historical layers embedded within the INTERelationships Residential Complex became the foundation of its architectural narrative rather than a constraint to overcome. The preserved neoclassical façades and the revealed ancient masonry were not treated as static relics but as active participants in the project’s spatial dialogue. They embody the city’s memory, anchoring the new structure within its cultural continuum.These remnants shaped the entire design philosophy — one that seeks reconciliation rather than contrast between epochs. The new architecture grows around and through the historical fragments, allowing each layer to express its identity while contributing to a unified composition. The dialogue between old and new unfolds through material transitions, spatial juxtapositions, and the interplay of light upon the aged textures and contemporary surfaces.In this sense, the project transcends restoration; it becomes an architectural conversation across time. The past informs the present, while the present gives new life to the past — creating a living urban organism that honors heritage while projecting it into the future.
In INTERelationships, sustainability extends far beyond the boundaries of energy and technology — it becomes an urban catalyst. The complex operates as a living organism within the city, where environmental performance, social inclusivity, and local engagement form a unified ecosystem.People from the surrounding neighborhood are actively involved in the daily life of the complex — working in its facilities, participating in creative workshops, and contributing to its cultural identity. The ground-floor café and pool are open to the community, while the rooftop cinema invites both residents and neighbors to share collective experiences under the city’s skyline.Through these interactions, INTERelationships establishes itself as a microcosm of urban coexistence — a reference point and social hub that revitalizes its surroundings. Sustainability here is not only about preserving resources but about nurturing relationships: between people and place, private and public, architecture and community. In doing so, the project becomes a true cell of urban life — an active generator of connection, belonging, and renewal.
The Stairwell Exhibition concept was born from a desire to transform the experience of movement into a narrative of discovery. In INTERelationships, circulation is not merely functional; it becomes a cultural and emotional journey through light, material, and memory. The stairwell, wrapped in a translucent polycarbonate skin, filters daylight into soft, shifting tones, turning the vertical passage into a glowing spine that connects every level of the complex. Light itself becomes an exhibit — an ever-changing medium that defines atmosphere and perception throughout the day.The decision to reinterpret this space as a cultural venue stemmed from a wish to embed art and community within daily life. Along its path, small exhibitions, creative workshops, and local art displays unfold — blurring the line between resident and visitor, between private dwelling and public encounter.At ground level, the presence of preserved neoclassical façades and visible ancient masonry anchors the stairwell within Athens’ layered history, allowing each ascent to traverse both time and space. Thus, the act of moving through the building becomes a poetic dialogue — between heritage and innovation, opacity and transparency, solitude and collective experience. It elevates everyday circulation into a celebration of coexistence and identity.
The movement through INTERelationships was conceived as a choreographed sequence — an architectural promenade that encourages interaction, exploration, and awareness. The deliberate complexity of diagonal pathways, multilevel terraces, and outdoor transitions transforms the act of moving from one point to another into a social ritual. Circulation here is not a neutral act; it is a catalyst for human connection.The diagonal accesses weave together the residential units, communal zones, and public amenities, creating overlapping visual and spatial relationships. As residents traverse these paths, they experience a constant sense of openness and encounter — brief exchanges, shared glances, spontaneous conversations. The resulting network of movement functions like the circulatory system of a living organism, sustaining the social life of the complex.This three-dimensional choreography reinforces the project’s philosophy of interconnectedness. The architectural geometry is intentionally porous, allowing transparency, light, and human presence to flow freely across levels. In doing so, INTERelationships dissolves boundaries between private and communal realms, transforming circulation into a participatory experience — one that nurtures both community spirit and individual awareness within the fabric of everyday life.
From the outset, INTERelationships was envisioned not only as a residential complex but as an economically self-sustaining community ecosystem. The inclusion of revenue-generating functions — such as the café, workshops, pool facilities, and rooftop cinema — was never conceived as a commercial addition but as an integral component of social empowerment.These spaces operate as shared interfaces between the residents and the surrounding neighborhood. They create opportunities for local employment, collaboration, and cultural exchange, allowing people from different backgrounds to contribute to and benefit from the life of the complex. By integrating such mixed-use activities, the project ensures financial resilience while nurturing inclusivity and a sense of collective ownership.In this model, sustainability transcends environmental performance and enters the economic and social spheres. Each activity reinforces community vitality, encouraging a circular economy where resources, creativity, and participation flow continuously. Ultimately, INTERelationships becomes a prototype for urban coexistence — an environment where architecture, culture, and economy sustain one another through shared value and human connection.
The material palette of INTERelationships was carefully composed to articulate the project’s core narrative — the coexistence of transparency and solidity, memory and transformation. Each material was selected not only for its technical performance but for its symbolic capacity to convey continuity between past and present.The translucent polycarbonate sheets enveloping the stairwell act as a contemporary membrane of light — filtering daylight, softening boundaries, and revealing movement as a living pulse within the building. In contrast, the patinated copper panels express permanence and tactility; their evolving surface reflects the passage of time, echoing the weathered tones of the preserved neoclassical façades. Together, these materials embody the dialogue between old and new, opacity and translucency, craft and technology.Natural textures, reflective surfaces, and recycled components reinforce the project’s sustainable ethos while maintaining a sensory warmth that encourages human interaction. Materiality here becomes more than construction — it becomes communication. Through this nuanced composition, INTERelationships finds its identity not in uniformity, but in the poetic interplay of difference, where every surface participates in the story of connection.
Technology within INTERelationships was never intended to dominate the living experience but to discreetly support and enhance it. The integration of intelligent systems — from energy management to health and wellbeing monitoring — forms an invisible infrastructure that reinforces the project’s philosophy of supported living.Smart energy networks optimize consumption and storage, ensuring that the complex operates as a self-regulating organism with minimal environmental footprint. At the same time, digital systems assist residents in maintaining comfort, safety, and autonomy: sensors monitor environmental quality, accessibility aids respond to individual needs, and communication platforms connect users with on-site support or community activities.This seamless technological layer enables residents to experience independence within a collective framework. It bridges functionality and empathy, creating an environment that anticipates rather than reacts to human needs. In INTERelationships, technology becomes an extension of care — a silent architecture that listens, learns, and adapts — ensuring that sustainability and wellbeing evolve hand in hand throughout the life of the building and its inhabitants.
INTERelationships stands as a prototype for how architecture can redefine the way we live together in cities. The greatest lesson emerging from its development is that sustainability and inclusivity cannot be treated as parallel agendas — they must be interwoven into a single, human-centered framework. The project demonstrates that a collective living environment can be energy-efficient, socially cohesive, and emotionally resonant at once.By combining adaptable design, accessible infrastructure, and shared cultural spaces, INTERelationships illustrates how the built environment can evolve alongside its inhabitants rather than age apart from them. It shows that architecture can act as a facilitator of relationships — between generations, between private and public life, between the city and its citizens.Perhaps the most profound takeaway is that truly sustainable communities are those designed to change gracefully — to absorb diversity, to cultivate belonging, and to nurture the continuous dialogue between people and place. If future architecture embraces this ethos, our cities can once again become habitats of connection, dignity, and shared meaning.
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