The ancient Etruscans thrived for some 500 years in central Italy before the Roman Republic was established in 509 BCE. The Roman-Etruscan wars resulted in the overthrowing of the last Etruscan king of Rome and the assimilation of Etruscan culture into the new Roman Empire. The statues make it clear that the Romans and Etruscans were not only co-mingling, but worshipping together at this sacred site. The Italian Culture Ministry describes it as a “unique multicultural and multilingual haven of peace” during a time when the civilizations were mostly at war.

A team of Italian archaeologists unearthed the bronze statues of human figures in September and October from the mud and waters of an ancient pool in San Casciano dei Bagni’s hot springs. Over 2,000 years old and almost perfectly preserved by the unique site conditions, the statues represent the largest deposit of bronze statues of the Etruscan and Roman age ever discovered in Italy.

They date back to between the second century BCE and the first century CE, yet their features are still sharp, and the inscriptions (in both Etruscan and Latin) are still legible. Among the statues are representations of the gods Apollo, his son Asclepius, and Asclepius’ daughter Hygeia, from whose name we get the English word “hygiene.” Back in 2020, when the dig first began, archaeologists discovered a large marble pool of an ancient sanctuary decorated with fountains and altars to these same deities.

Other findings include about 5,000 coins, small votive offerings representing body parts in need of healing, and bronze depictions of internal organs that are shockingly accurate. The findings indicate that Etruscan and Roman families prayed together at the sacred sanctuary of the thermal baths.

“The pool was a sacred place, only the religious custodians could bathe there,” says Ludovico Salerno, a member of the local archaeological association that participated in the work. “Sick people came to the sanctuary in the hopes of being cured and would offer gifts to the gods. It was a place of suffering, and it was a place of hope.”

Researchers have determined that Romans dismantled the sanctuary piece by piece around the year 500 CE, about two centuries after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The statues were then laid at the bottom of the pool and covered with columns and slabs of marble in what archaeologists describe as a reverent and respectful burial.

Together, the findings provide an unusual amount of context for what life was like in that particular place at that particular time, potentially allowing scholars to rewrite the history of the transition from the Etruscan to Roman civilizations. “We can describe all the life, day by day here, through four or five centuries, so this is incredible,” says archaeologist Emanuele Mariotti.

Excavations will resume next spring, and the statues will be displayed in a new museum planned for the site.

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Now, a new trend is emerging that takes vintage to the next level. But instead of turning back the clock a mere 100-plus years, designers are getting in their proverbial time machines a la Bill and Ted to revisit the annals of history — a time where togas were the norm and Aristotle was still on the scene: Ancient Greece.

Whatever the reason for its newfound popularity, there’s no doubt that Ancient Greece-inspired decor is destined to become one of the hottest trends of the year. According to Pinterest’s 2022 Trend Report, searches for Hellenistic motifs are on the rise. From Corinthian columns to statue art and everything in between, people have found a renewed interest in getting their Greek on.

Looking to channel your own inner ancient? It’s surprisingly easy to add a splash of B.C. boldness to your space — no columns necessary. Below are some signature pieces that will have any home up to speed with the new trend faster than the time it takes to turn a sundial.

Bust a Move

When you think of ancient Greek decor, chances are you think of the ubiquitous bust. A standard ornament in ancient times, this traditional accessory is a great way to create a Hellenistic haven of your own. Snag this one from Anthropologie for just $24.

A Mediterranean Palette

Not committed to going fully Greek? Experiment by adding a splash of color to your space that echoes that bright, sun-washed feeling of the Greek islands. Start with a stark white backdrop for an eternally classic look, then work in some cerulean accents for a look that’s marvelously Mediterranean. Try these Cerulean Blue Curtains from Society6, available for $97.30.

Architectural Accents

Columns and arches were literal cornerstones of Greek architecture — but they’re not always the best choices for modern homes. Instead, opt for accents that evoke these elements. Think column-esque design motifs and classic accessories like urns. Grab this Pottery Barn Provence Planter for just $24.50

Pattern Power

A repeating motif seen throughout ancient Greece, the key pattern was commonly seen on everything from buildings to pottery. Still recognizable today, this gloriously Greek pattern perfectly evokes ancient vibes, even in a modern world. Buy this Velvet Pillow Cover with Greek Key Pattern on Etsy for $65.60.

Classical Concepts

Symmetry ruled the classical era. Today, it’s the perfect way to add a bit of classical flair to your home. Think balance, matching pieces, and an overall feeling of ordered symmetry. Try this set of 2 Greek Key Lamps from Target for $95.99.

Ancient Greece-inspired home decor is the latest in a series of nostalgia trip design trends. Try out a few of these tips in your home and bust out the Socrates, and you’ll be chilling with the ancients before you know it.

The post Ancient Greece-Inspired Decor is the Next Big Thing in Interior Design first appeared on Dornob.

“The idea is simple: recovering projects by little-known and unknown architects, works that remain in the shadow of the great masters, looking into ‘minor figures,’ and combining different backgrounds in the history of architecture to complete students’ university studies,” The Forgotten Architecture Facebook page explains. “It is a collective experience that goes beyond the purely architectural, a virtual world peopled by more than 27,000 members from a variety of different professional backgrounds.”

The book is a compilation of many of the site’s exciting finds, with each page listing the Facebook contributor that introduced it to the group. It went on sale from March 7th to June 7th only, never to be sold again as a way of turning it into an instant collector’s item.

In case you can’t get your hands on a copy, here are some of our favorite highlights:

Casa Saldarini

Nicknamed the “Dinosaur House” or “Whale House,” the zoomorphic residence was designed by architect Vittorio Giorgini in 1962 in Piombino, Italy. Giorgini’s objective was to create an animal-like building that looked like it was at home in its own natural environment. Evocative curved walls flow organically through the unique house’s interior and exterior.

Complesso Rezidenciale di Piazza Grande

Built over the course of a decade starting in 1979, the Piazza Grande in Naples, Italy was designed by native architects Aldo Loris Rossi, Donatella Mazzoleni, Annalisa Pignalosa, and Luigi Rivieccio. Its influences were a mashup of Italian rationalism (like the Royal Crescent and Circus of Bath) and the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. The circular complex includes private residences, offices, and commercial spaces, as well as schools, gyms, and public outdoor gathering areas.

Aquila Petrol Station

Originally constructed in 1949 in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, this architectural treasure has since been demolished, but pictures of its undulating vaulted roof make clear that it must have been a striking sight for drivers along the Serenissima highway back in the day.

Chiesa del Sanatorio

Perhaps the first rationalist religious architecture in Italy, the church of the Vittorio Emanuele II sanatorium in Alessandria was built in 1926. Its concrete design sticks to only the essential geometric elements.

Arnaldo Pomodoro House

Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro had this “non-house” designed by renowned architect Ettore Sottsass Jr. in 1968. It was to be a place for welcoming clients and friends at social events. The geometric lines and emptiness created a “metaphysical” and “entropized” space that invited people to “stay but not to live.”

Roybal Comprehensive Health Center

Of course, not all the featured architecture in the book is from Italy. Known as “La Clínica de Colores” by the Spanish-speaking inhabitants of Los Angeles, California’s Roybal Comprehensive Health Center was designed in 1979 with a heavy Latin influence showcased in its colorful tiled facade and inset Aztec imagery.

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In 2013, Italian architect Dario del Bufalo, an expert on ancient stone and marble, was in New York to give a lecture and sign copies of his book Porphyry. Included in the book was a photo of a red and green mosaic that had once been part of the dance floor on one of emperor Caligula’s extravagant “party ships.”

“There was a lady with a young guy with a strange hat that came to the table,” Del Bufalo told CBS’ 60 Minutes. “And he told her, ‘What a beautiful book. Oh, Helen, look, that’s your mosaic.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, that’s my mosaic.’”

The architect chased down the young man, who led them to art dealer and gallery owner Helen Fioratti, who did in fact own the ancient tile work and had mounted it to a pedestal as a coffee table decades earlier. The artwork was subsequently confiscated by New York authorities and returned to the Italian government.

Emperor Caligula, one of the most despised Roman rulers, was known for his violence and over-the-top opulence. Among other things, he commissioned two giant pleasure barges (one was as long as an Airbus A380 plane) to sit on Lake Nemi. After his assassination in 41 A.D., the ships were sunk and remained at the bottom of the lake until the 1920s, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had the lake emptied. Hundreds of artifacts were recovered over the following years and put in a museum, but as the Nazis retreated from Italy in 1944, both the ships and the museum were destroyed by fire.

Because the mosaic-turned-coffee table shows no signs of fire damage, authorities suspect it was either stolen from the museum before the blaze or taken for a private collection before it could ever make it to the museum.

“These items may be beautiful, storied, and immensely valuable to collectors, but willfully disregarding the provenance of an item is effectively offering tacit approval of a harmful practice that is, fundamentally, criminal,” New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said in a statement speaking of the mosaic, as well as two other artifacts recovered and returned to Italy.

“It was an innocent purchase,” Fioratti told the New York Times in 2017. “It was our favorite thing and we had it for 45 years.”

She and her husband reportedly bought it from a Roman noble family in the 1960s, through a sale brokered by an Italian police official known for finding Nazi-looted art after World War II. When the millennia-old artifact was seized, the Fiorattis were not prosecuted, and although they still feel they have a legitimate claim to it, they did not fight the confiscation.

“I felt very sorry for her,” Del Bufalo said of Fioratti, “but I couldn’t do anything different, knowing that my museum in Nemi is missing the best part that went through the centuries, through the war, through a fire, and then through an Italian art dealer, and finally could go back to the museum. That’s the only thing I felt I should have done.”

At any rate, Italy is happy to have reclaimed one of its priceless pieces of history.

“The mosaic testifies how important and luxurious these imperial ships were,” Nemi Mayor Alberto Bertucci said in March, when the artwork was installed at the Museum of Roman Ships. “These [boats] were like buildings: They were not supposed to sail and they confirm the greatness of this emperor who wanted to show the greatness of his rule of the Roman empire through these ships.”

“This is a great day for Nemi and our entire territory!” the mayor added.

The post Ancient Roman Mosaic Recovered After Spending 50 Years as a Coffee Table first appeared on Dornob.

Now, a team of designers called Flyte plans to recreate this lost pyramidia in spectacular floating form, as the world’s largest magnetically levitating artwork.

Named Py, the sculpture will be at least 20 feet (six meters) tall and showcased both in person at an art gallery and online in early 2022. The designers have developed custom-built maglev technology capable of levitating up to 220 pounds, and have already built a smaller-scale working prototype measuring 13 feet high. While this prototype is just made of carbon fiber rods, the full-scale version will be solid. They’re currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter to fund the project, including its exhibition, and backers get a pretty awesome reward in the form of a mini levitating capstone of their own.

Aiming to help remind us all that “there’s still a place for mystery and magic in our everyday lives,” the mini Py features a built-in light that you can turn on and off by touching the base. It comes in black, white, gray, iridescent, gold, and premium or iridescent glass versions.

The designers explain that “Py is a combination of the words Pythagoras, the Greek Philosopher, and Phi or Golden Ratio. 1:1.1618. Both are present in the structure of the installation. The Great Pyramid of Giza has a base of 230.4 meters (755.9 feet) and an estimated original height of 146.5 meters (480.6 feet). This also creates a height-to-base ratio of 0.636, which indicates it is indeed a Golden Triangle, at least to within three significant decimal places of accuracy.”

“Throughout the centuries, the ancient pyramids have been a source of inspiration to artists, writers, mathematicians, and architects. Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla had an obsession with the Egyptian pyramids. Tesla believed they served a higher purpose and was investigating them throughout his life. He believed the pyramids contained a power to send energy wirelessly due to their shape and location, which provided the inspiration for his experimental Wardenclyffe Tower and his designs for generators that could theoretically use the Earth’s ionosphere as a source of energy. His triangle-shaped design became known as Tesla’s electromagnetic pyramid.”

Flyte, which specializes in home decor and lighting products, previously created the world’s first levitating light bulb, which was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2016. Like Py, the Flyte bulb hovers in mid-air using magnetic levitation, powered wirelessly through the air.

The post Py: Colossal Levitating Pyramid Display Pays Tribute to Missing Ancient Capstones first appeared on Dornob.

Unfortunately for us all, this year’s solstice celebrations are going to be radically altered because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The English Heritage organization, which manages Stonehenge, is asking people not to visit the site, instead offering a virtual livestream of the event for those near and far to enjoy.

The annual summer solstice event at Stonehenge is typically attended by thousands of people — exactly the type of gathering that’s been banned or discouraged around the world as the coronavirus has spread, sickened, and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. In accordance with the UK’s own governmental guidelines, the Stonehenge site has been closed to the public since March, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way for the time being.

Nichola Tasker, the director of Stonehenge, explains that his team has “consulted widely on whether we could have proceeded safely, and we would have dearly liked to host the event as per usual, but sadly in the end, we feel we have no choice but to cancel. We hope that our livestream offers an alternative opportunity for people near and far to connect with this spiritual place at such a special time of year, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next year.”

Stonehenge is a popular tourist destination on an average day, typically hosting around 800,000 people annually, but the summer solstice holds a special meaning for certain religions in addition to the ever-present spiritual pull. For example, in the 17th and 18th centuries, many believed Stonehenge was a Druid temple built by ancient Celtic pagans as a center for their own religious worship. Other groups celebrate the site with the belief that it has otherworldly origins. Alternatively, some flock to the area with the notion that the site was used to honor the dead through extravagant ceremonies.

Whatever the reason for your desire to be at Stonehenge in the early hours of June 21st (local time), it looks like you’ll just have to set your alarm to make sure you’re in front of a computer screen instead. Hit up the English Heritage’s social media accounts to join in the experience.

If you’re unable to catch the livestream, you can always hop over to the English Heritage Stonehenge page for a wealth of information about the destination and its history. Learn how the planets and seasons align with the individual stones and discover the engineering design used during its construction over 5,000 years ago. You can also take an interactive tour with a 360-degree view from inside the monument.

Happy Solstice!

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Harking back 11,500 years, the Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known temple on the planet. Discovered in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, the stone temple has quickly created a hum of enthusiasm for researchers piecing together the purpose of its design, and more specifically, the planning process involved prior to its construction.

As with all architecture, especially an example dating back to the Stone Age, purpose always comes to mind. What was it used for? Why is it shaped the way it is? In this case, researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority used architectural analysis to learn that the builders of these round stone structures used a lot of geometry in their design calculations.

The Göbekli Tepe complex was discovered in 1994 by German archaeologist Dr. Klaus Schmidt. Since then, scientists have considered many theories regarding the planning process involved in erecting such a complex. While many researchers agree the entire thing was built over time, Gil Haklay of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University, and Professor Avi Gopher of TAU’s Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations used a computer algorithm to come to the conclusion that at least three of the structures were designed as a single project. Their findings were published in Cambridge Archaeological Journal in May 2020.

“Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological wonder,” Professor Gopher explains. “Built by Neolithic communities 11,500 to 11,000 years ago, it features enormous, round stone structures and monumental stone pillars up to 5.5 meters high. Since there is no evidence of farming or animal domestication at the time, the site is believed to have been built by hunter-gatherers. However, its architectural complexity is highly unusual for them.”

“The layout of the complex is characterized by spatial and symbolic hierarchies that reflect changes in the spiritual world and in the social structure,” Haklay adds. “In our research, we used an analytic tool — an algorithm based on standard deviation mapping — to identify an underlying geometric pattern that regulated the design.”

“This research introduces important information regarding the early development of architectural planning in the Levant and in the world,” Professor Gopher adds. “It opens the door to new interpretations of this site in general, and of the nature of its megalithic anthropomorphic pillars specifically.”

This information pushes back the timeline on the belief that the use of geometry and formulation of pre-designed floor plans came about 500 to 1,000 years later, around 10,500 years ago. This original connection between the farming communities and type of architectural planning, which came mostly as a result of a nomadic hunter/gatherer lifestyle, was based on the use of rectangular design elements not previously seen.

“The most important and basic methods of architectural planning were devised in the Levant in the Late Epipaleolithic period as part of the Natufian culture and through the early Neolithic period. Our new research indicates that the methods of architectural planning, abstract design rules, and organizational patterns were already being used during this formative period in human history,” Haklay says.

The post This 12,000-Year-Old Temple Exhibits Modern Architectural Characteristics first appeared on Dornob.

Located in northwestern Saudi Arabia, AlUla is both the country’s first UNESCO-protected location and the largest preserved site south of Jordan for the Nabataean civilization. It’s full of palm groves and elaborate facades and tombs carved into sandstone cliffs. Over the last few years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been transforming it into a “living museum” representing a crossroads of ancient civilizations. Desert X AlUla will be the site’s first major contemporary art installation, with each piece engaging with its surroundings in a way that’s truly unique.

Standout works include Lita Alburquerque’s “NAJMA (She Placed One Thousand Suns Over the Transparent Overlays of Space),” a star map recounting the story of a female astronaut who visits Earth to spread knowledge of astronomy and navigation.

The installation’s official website explains: “Albuquerque had the idea of Elyseria many years ago and has told the story in a series of vignettes — massive installations of the figure set in distinctive locales across the world. Each place becomes a stage set where the narrative of light, the stars, and collective knowledge is explored and evolved into a character myth. She creates Elyseria in striking ultramarine blue pigment that is reminiscent of the expanse of the cosmos, embodying the mythic figure as a way of welcoming her wisdom and her story.”

Among the most dramatic installations is “A Concise Passage” by Rashed Al Shashai, in which a pyramid made of plastic pallets references both the site’s ancient history providing shelter and respite to travelers in trading caravans and modern-day commerce. The website notes that: “Here, it stands in for AlUla’s history as a major stop along the Incense Trade Route, a center where goods from various corners of the Earth once exchanged hands. In AlUla, Al Shashai brings these two ideas together, constructing a pyramid from plastic pallets. The pyramid’s shape itself points to AlUla’s importance, not just as a cradle of civilization of old, but more importantly, to its reawakening; AlUla has embraced a new role as a center for the exchange of ideas rather than goods, and a generator of meaning and understanding rather than commerce. It has a renewed pride of place as a cultural hub for the region. The blue pallets and colored passage stand out in contrast to the calm tones of the landscape. It becomes a cheerful and emphatic contemporary monument; a beacon of knowledge, it is a metaphor for AlUla itself.”

For “Glimpses of the Past,” Zahra Al Ghamdi laid out approximately 6,000 tin date containers of various sizes across the sand as an “ode to AlUla’s agricultural wealth, its plentiful palm tree groves that have fueled the area’s trade for generations, and the springs of water that have sustained them.”

Visitors will also get a kick out of Manal Al Dwayan’s “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” a series of trampolines set into the desert that glow after dark. This installation mimics the look of a mirage. Its puddle-like components “do not belong in this landscape, and yet they appear paused [and] contained, existing in the crevices of the AlUla rocks.”

Check out all 14 installations online at the Desert X AlUla website. If you’re able to visit Saudi Arabia to see it in person, you better act fast. It’s running now through March 7th.

The post Desert X AIUIa Art Installation Set Along Historic Saudi Arabian Trade Route first appeared on Dornob.

Felton’s goal of creating furniture that feels like its from 5,000 B.C. is evident at first glance. He’s said that he was struck by the gentle welcoming lines of that era’s furniture, all of which were inspired by Pre-Colombian views of creation and rebirth. From the sofas and chairs to the sculptural pedestal tables, the warm colors of autumn, bulky bolsters, and chubby forms abound here. Each piece seems to reach out with a warm hug, drawing you in to feel a soothing embrace from every angle. Even the coverings on them are inviting (we’re especially fond of the alpaca covering on the lounge chair).

The Path to the Kosa Collection

Felton grew up in Washington, DC, a student at Montessori schools with creative parents who encouraged international exploration. He went on vacations to Central and South America as a child and was routinely exposed to international religions and cultures. As a young adult, he pursued a career in industrial design.

Soon after realizing that industrial design wasn’t so much about instilling meaning and emotion into objects, Felton started to realize that it actually wasn’t his calling. He moved to New York and, as he put it in one recent interview, “…the veil was kind of lifted. I realized that industrial design wasn’t quite so magical, and that it was more about things like consumer electronics, which weren’t very alluring to me. I kind of lost interest in industrial design almost altogether.”

From there, Felton started exploring ultra-high-end custom furniture design. “It was one of the only areas of design that was about creating objects that have an emotional connection with the end user,” he explains.

After designing furniture for others for several years, his real breakthrough came when he discovered a pamphlet called Are We Human by Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley. He was so taken by the content’s anthropological take on design that he began researching pre-Colombian cultures. He “found himself realizing how much animism and worldview and emotion and whimsy was infused into everything they did.”

With no specific goal in mind, Felton’s research got deeper and deeper into Mayan and Valdivian cultures, examining their unique symbologies and structural designs. Felton recalls that “At that point I decided to regroup my thoughts a bit, to distill and center on the things that were really speaking to me and put them into physical form — to take all these points of inspiration, [filter] them through my context today in New York City, and reimagin[e] these concepts as they might be introduced today.”

The Results

In addition to perfectly capturing the essence of his inspiration, Felton also wanted to finish each piece of his collection with unique textures and coverings. He worked with expert stone carvers and woodworkers outside of Mexico City and discovered cantera while doing so, which he then used for the basis of his side chair and table. He also used Mexican lava rock, the aforementioned alpaca, and stacks of laminated medium-density fiberboard (MDF) for the other pieces. A calcified lime plaster, a take on Tadelakt, is used for many of the hard finishes, polished with soap and stones to seal it all up and add depth.

Felton seems to only just be getting started on the design collection part of his career, and we’re already anxiously awaiting his next release.

The post Ancient Mesoamerican Cultures Inspired Ian Felton’s Debut Furniture Collection first appeared on Dornob.

It took an entire year to gut the five levels of the original 1930s brick and wood villa and complete the design for Hellas House. The construction took another five years. Chatzigiannis even laughed as he noted: “I spent the better part of my youth on it.”

Hellas is what Greeks call their homeland, which is why it was formerly known as the Hellenic Republic in English. Kontomichalos’ challenged Chatzigiannis to renovate the 5,380-square-foot villa so it would “scream Greek” without any brash or tasteless touches that often plague such projects. Chatzigiannis explains: “There is a stereotypical ‘Grecian’ style for this kind of project, one that can’t seem to escape the blue-and-white thing or laurel-wreath crowns or chitons. It can go over the top very easily.” He gladly welcomed his client’s refreshing challenge.

Kontomichalos wanted his main business ventures centered in Hellas House, including an import company dedicated to bringing the finest honey, wine, and olive oil from his homeland into Shanghai, a travel agency dedicated to unique and personalized adventures, and a store offering locals the best of imported Greek produce. His vision also included a space dedicated to showcasing social and corporate events, as well as other floors and rooms that would bring the best of Greece to the other few hundred Greek natives who call Shanghai home. Simply stated, Kontomichalos wanted Hellas House to represent, “the best Greece has to offer: history, culture, natural products, hospitality, and healthy lifestyle.”

The culmination of Chatzigiannis’ five-year project delivered exactly what Kontomichalos wanted. The travel agency, produce store, and import company were the easiest factions to create. The basement of Hellas House became a wine cellar for Greek wines. An open-air kitchen now occupies the ground floor, flanked by a gallery of artifact replicas representing the various eras of Greek culture. The adjacent lounge gives way to a garden, pool, and dining veranda, while a multi-purpose exhibition space occupies the mezzanine. Formal dining is offered on the second floor, which also includes a luxurious living room and terrace. An attic retreat is slipped in beneath the pitched roof and displays ceiling beams salvaged from the original structure.

To ensure Grecian authenticity all throughout Hellas House, Chatzigiannis chose to work with resources and color schemes from ancient times to complete the project. Bronze, marble, and wood are abundant in almost every room, as are basic hues of black, white, and gold. He also imported massive slabs of raw marble to Xiamen from the Aegean islands of Naxos and Thassos to construct the floors, walls, and columns.

Every era of ancient Greek history is represented throughout Hellas House. For example, the entrance hall represents the Bronze Age, with a life-size plaster cast replica of a female circa 2800–2300 BCE. Chatzigiannis complements the statue’s minimalist style with equally restrained custom elements: a graphic metal console in matte black, a simple geometric brass stair rail with a matte-gold finish, and a subtle white-on-white plaid-pattern floor of polished marble.

In addition, the chaises, stools, and chairs found throughout Hellas House are replicas of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, a renowned 20th-century designer celebrated for incorporating ancient Greek furniture standards into modern creations. Chatzigiannis painstakingly found the small number of elderly Athenian craftsmen who still create Robsjohn-Gibbings’ signature curved-wood furniture to ensure he could bring it into the home.

The journey to completing Hellas House was long and tedious, but both Chatzigiannis and Kontomichalos happily agree that it was a big success.

Photos courtesy of InteriorDesign.com

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Reportedly making the top of the mesa their home for around 600 years, scientists can’t explain why the Pueblo abandoned the flat land in favor of the cliff dwellings, which were impressively built and nearly impossible to access. Of course, that could have been the entire point, with one theory suggesting that the tribe moved into the hillside as a defensive move, as it provided a good lookout from which to spot rival tribes. Another theory is that the cliff overhangs offered protection from the elements during what could have been an extremely hot or cold time period.

Considering today’s weather patterns in the area, snow likely accumulated heavily during the winter in the Mesa Verde of old. But regardless of the reasons why the moved, it’s clear the Pueblos migrated from the mesa to the cliff dwellings around the year 1190. From that point on, the tribe was broken into villages around a massive canyon, with houses and meeting areas meticulously sculpted into nearly inaccessible caverns. The dwellings ranged in size from small storage areas to massive complexes with up to 150 rooms.

Today, a visit to Mesa Verde National Park provides you with the remnants of around 600 ruins scattered throughout the region, many of which are remarkably preserved.

Discovered in 1888 by cowboys Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charlie Mason while out looking for errant cattle, Cliff Palace, the largest of the cliff dwellings, was still loaded with baskets, sandals, necklaces, spears, knives, mugs, and other artifacts. Although there is evidence that perhaps some of the dwellings had been previously discovered, the area was largely untouched, as if frozen in time from centuries before. A harvest of corn even sat preserved in a nearby storage area, indicating that the Pueblo may have left in a hurry.

Besides the artifacts themselves, the story of Pueblo design lives on in the sandstone. Wooden beams made from felled trees and lowered over the cliff hangings offered central support to many of the structures. Anchored with sandstone and mortar, walls and towers were erected to create rooms. Mortar was made using local soil, water, and ash. Chinking, a mixture made from small bits of stones, was also added to enhance the strength of the dwellings.

Large pits in the ground called kivas were contoured into the design and covered with criss-crossed timber roofing. The Pueblo used ladders to climb in and out of these pits, which were used as religious spaces and meeting areas during the long winter days. Most impressively, all of this construction took place with rudimentary tools, mostly sharp rocks collected from nearby riverbeds.

Outside of the dwellings, the tribe continued to grow and harvest crops on the mesa above, requiring individuals to scale up the rock face with little more than toe and finger holes carved out of the nearly-vertical surfaces. Tools equivalent to basic sticks left clues about how the people managed to till the soil and grow crops.

After nearly a century of development, the Pueblo people began to leave the region, electing to join other tribes in what is now New Mexico and Arizona. By the late 1200s, the region was totally abandoned.

At the very least, we can all be thankful that the ruins and evidence of their people’s innovative building techniques still stand today. 

All photos courtesy of the National Park Service

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An October 4 discussion panel called “Building with Digital Fragments” at this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial looked at how some of these technologies are being used to recreate a multi-sensory history of buildings. Looking at the use of three of those technologies, we can see how centuries-old buildings are brought back to life.

Reflectance Transformation Imaging

When looking at the mosaics of Early Christianity, even in person, it’s challenging to fully appreciate the visual characteristics of their “tessera” and “smalto” elements. At the time of their construction, the direction of light within a space influenced how the mosaics were observed. After hundreds of years, the design intent behind how a mosaic was built gets lost as new lighting is installed. Technically, a 1,700-year-old mosaic cannot be viewed the same way now as it was when it was originally constructed. But by using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), the way the light originally reflected off of a surface can be captured in ways that it couldn’t on a regular photograph. Computational photography captures the shape and color of a surface with various lighting directions, and the software makes properties visible that are invisible to the naked eye.

Impulse Response Creation

Nobody is alive to describe how it sounded inside the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Thessaloniki, Greece. We can only speculate on how heavenly the sounds of hymns were within this space, despite the fact that its walls and ceiling were built to create memorable vibrations.

When Hagia Sophia was tested with Impulse Response, the frequencies were as the sound of wings. Speakers are spread out within a space to play a low-frequency sound followed by high frequencies. Microphones are then placed throughout the space to capture the sound as it reverberates, and software maps how the sound travels. In a place like Hagia Sophia, when the generic sounds are replaced with hymns and the celestial sounds bouncing off the walls are captured, we can record the experience that made ancient worshipers think of angels.

Virtual Reality

The feeling of walking into the Roman Colosseum likely varied from amusing to terrifying, depending on one’s perspective. Using virtual reality, we can appreciate the imposing form of the building at its peak. Companies such as Radical VR and Unimersiv are placing people back in time to experience historic buildings as they once were.

The Strategic Use of Technology

Putting all of these technologies together to examine historic buildings gives us the ability to study and understand these structures from new perspectives. They also give us insight into the design intent of the architects and the experiences of their ancient users. By bringing these buildings to life with modern technology and revealing the deep characteristics that make them important parts of architectural history, architects can start to apply centuries-old design strategies to contemporary structures.

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Architecture studio 314’s proposal for a residential renovation in Corfu may be as modern as they come, but it retains that distinctly “Greek” feeling thanks to its traditional color palette and rounded arches. Rising above the treetops of an olive grove at the edge of a cliff, the villa is infused with all the drama we’ve come to expect from the Hellenic Republic.

While many cliffside homes are designed to blend into their surrounding environments, seeming more like an extension of the landscape than an artificial construction, 314 went in a bolder direction with this summer residence, which catches the sunlight by day and glows from within by night.

“House in Corfu” takes full advantage of the setting, which offers panoramic views of the Ionio Pelagos. It elevates and offsets its main volumes in a stepped arrangement to create a series of porticos and terraces that look out onto the sea. 314’s design would replace an existing structure in the same location on a 64,500-square-foot plot, the home itself measuring just over 3,200 square feet. The architects aim to stick to the same footprint to avoid disturbing the nature that makes the site so special.

Updating Corfu’s architectural vernacular for the 21st century is the studio’s main concern, and the highlight of their design is undoubtedly its incorporation of repetitive arches, as well as some openings in the roofs that allow full-sized trees to flourish. The flat, wide terraces formed by the home’s layout allow residents to take in extraordinarily clear views of the sky, which have earned the property the nickname of “The Midnight Stars.”

Roughly half of the ground floor is open to the air, providing transitional indoor/outdoor spaces that lead from common areas like the living room and kitchen out to the infinity edge swimming pool. Inside, an abundance of mirrored surfaces adds to the reflective qualities of the house’s white paint and textiles, multiplying the views of the surrounding nature.

The upper level contains master and guest bedrooms, private areas which feel a little more cloistered and protected than the house’s common ones. The bedrooms enjoy the best views of the sunset every evening. Though it appears to cantilever off the side of the level beneath it, this upper floor is actually set into a grassy hillside, which might explain all of the mountain goats wandering through the renderings.

The architects explain that they used white cement plaster on the floors and walls to mimic the look of ancient stone and that the patio and swimming pool will be made from uncoated concrete. The curving ceilings, also evocative of traditional Greek architecture, come together in “intersections of domes and arches” for a soft and welcoming effect. There are no harsh contrasts or unnecessary details in this design that would detract from the home’s dramatic silhouette.

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Minujin’s installation provides the perfect response to the Documenta 14 brief, which asked artists to explore the connection between its host cities, Kassel and Athens. Nonetheless, this isn’t the first time the Parthenon of Books has made a public appearance. The piece was first exhibited in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1983 — the same year the last dictatorship fell in Argentina. In a bold move, Minujin decided to open her Parthenon to the public just one week after democracy had been restored to the country. To make things even more poetic, the structure was eventually toppled over, allowing the public to reclaim the books they donated and, metaphorically speaking, take back the power of knowledge.

The original Parthenon in Athens was itself a victim of religious and political appropriation, undergoing countless changes at the behest of different regimes. Following these haphazard reconstructions, “the deconsecrated Parthenon of the modern period became a symbol of democracy and of Western cultural supremacy,” according to Documenta 14’s statement on the iconic temple. Reflecting on these events, it makes sense that Minujin would use the Parthenon as the vehicle through which to explore the contemporary idea of democracy and address the issue of censorship.

The installation is not only powerful in its ideology, but also in its form. The structure dominates the park and creates an interesting tension between lightness and heaviness, its massive size contrasting with its lightweight frame and the books themselves. The Parthenon of Books takes on an entirely different identity at night, when it’s illuminated from within and transformed into an almost pixelated version of itself.

Minujin has long been an advocate of self-empowerment through reading, explaining: “Democracy without books is not democracy. So nobody has the right to forbid books, because that is to forbid ideas. So, that’s how I work. I am always inventing new things, and I cannot stop my imagination. I cannot stop. It works immediately. Every day I have a new idea. And sometimes it takes me 18 years, like with the Babel Tower of Books, of trying to do it, trying to get the sponsor, because it was so high, and so big, and I got together books from all over the world. The people went up seven floors surrounded by books from all over the world.”

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