Maini Castle: Human presence traces at the non-existence limits Mani, Greece, Georgia Malevri, Greece

Architects: Christina – Kyriaki Malakodimou and Georgia Malevri
Supervisor: Nikolaos Skoutelis and Alexis Tzompanakis
Institution: School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete

In the south part of the Peloponnese, exists the peninsula, Tigani. It is an important archaeological site where a Byzantine fortress was built. The present work focuses on highlighting the archaeological site, the castle, and its wider area.

The first intervention concerns the restoration of the basilica in Maini Castle and the creation of a salt harvesting square that follows the activities of excavation and debris accumulation.

The second intervention examines a rock quarry where the detached "nature" shows the wild impingement of the landscape. Its interior is subjected to a violent transformation by the mining action. The slope and shape follow the pre-existing curvilinear contours, thus forming an environmental sculpture. The site acts as a receptacle for a second sculptural landscape with special acoustics, an echogenic space for all kinds of events.

Facing the area where the building is integrated, a barren place with a special color and arrangement of rocks is observed. This leads to the idea of focusing on the concepts of excavation (subtraction) and accumulation (addition). The result emphasizes more on the creation of a void space, rather than the presence of a building