Dionysis Sotovikis in “K”: Architecture is not only buildings

Dionysis Sotovikis does not perceive architecture as a simple tool of usability and aesthetics, but mainly as a means of expression with a social and philosophical dimension. Alongside the small and large-scale projects undertaken by his architectural office throughout Greece, he devotes a large part of his time to projects that have historical references and a symbolic character. One of them is the house of Tonis and Ioanna Spiteris in Kypseli, a historic Athenian house, which he bought in 2006 to save it from demolition and compensation. He gave it life again and housed his house and workshop there, while at the same time it functions as a space for contemporary art and expression, open to the general public.

So there he welcomed us, just before the setting up of the exhibition with visual works of well-known Greek architects, which will be auctioned to support the Hellenic Institute of Architecture. At the same time, the space hosts – in addition to Gallery Citronne – the exhibition of the visual artist P. Charalambous, entitled Amvrakia. Mia.

He took us on a tour of all the spaces, which, although they have remained almost untouched by time, thanks to his careful and sensitive interventions exude something very modern. He explained to us his philosophy behind the rescue and promotion of the Spiteri house, he told us why he is interested in the rescue of old buildings in general, how he perceives architecture and what is his opinion on the modern housing crisis.

What is it about the buildings of the past that attracts you?

I started to turn my interest in saving buildings when I realized with sadness that what architects are mostly interested in is their ego. But for me, architecture is a very essential way of expression, starting from the personal level, but extending and encompassing the social as well; that’s why it should be beyond and above the expression of our ego. So I’m interested in building a story around architecture. If you do not respect and know what has gone before, it is impossible to have continuity. You have to see what it is that interests you from the past and then bring it up and make it a part of your being so that you can continue forward.

Why did you choose the residence of Tonis and Ioanna Spiteris?

I knew this specific building since I was a child, since I grew up in Kypseli, but without knowing any details about it, until the moment when two friends, the historian Denis Zacharopoulos and the artist Diochantis, informed me that the institution to which the said house intended to give it in consideration. They asked me if there is anything we can do to save it. So, I started searching and learning. Tonis Spiteris was one of the first techno critics in Greece and his wife, Ioanna Spiteris-Veropoulou, was a sculptor. Initially they lived in the corner building, built in 1928, while in 1955 they commissioned the architect Aristomenis Provelegios to design and build a small building right next door, to have it as a studio. The Spiteri couple, sharing their lives between Athens, Venice and Paris, created a strong bridge of intellectual, artistic and ideological exchange between Greece and abroad.

“I’m interested in building a story around architecture. If you don’t respect what has gone before, it’s impossible for there to be continuity.”

As for Aristomenes Provelegios, he was a living example of how architecture can and should change social conditions. For many years he lived in France, worked with Le Corbusier and, returning to Athens, instead of multiplying his works and wealth at a time when all of Greece was being built, he chose a more alternative path by turning to poetry and painting. He was president of the architects, defending their rights, and was involved in the urban planning and expansion of Athens. You know, architecture is not only the buildings, it is also their content. What is the significance of a concrete box? It’s the people, behind and inside the box, that matter. So you can infer why I chose to save this house.

A similar case is the house of Rodakis in Aegina, built in 1884, which you also bought and saved. What attracted you there respectively?

Rodakis was a simple man, a farmer, who built this house with his own hands, to live with his wife and their eight children. But at the same time, he was a sculptor, architect, painter, philosopher, musician… With the difference that in his case art was an integral part of his life cycle, as a family man and farmer, and not as a profession or an end in itself. Art was an expression of his soul and the way he practiced it is still evident in every part of this small house. A typical example of the above is that, while he could enter his house with five steps, he had defined a long path around it and up to the entrance. On this he himself commented: “When you want to lie down in bed with your wife, don’t you hug her first?” With a corresponding thought, he had placed four sculptures on the main facade, a piglet, a clock, a snake and an eagle, which symbolized in turn luck, time, knowledge and power. Alexandros Rodakis argued then, in 1900, before modernism and anything conceptual, that his house is built with these concepts and that these are its four pillars. Indeed, when his daughter died and these sculptures were removed, after a while the house almost collapsed.

What were the influences and stimuli that shaped your temperament as an architect?

My father and grandfather were builders and as a child I had many experiences inside yuppies. I decided to study art and architecture and I had initially decided not to study because I had noticed that all the architects I admired had not studied architecture: Le Corbusier, Tadao Ado and Luis Barragan. But a little later, I learned about the AA school in London (Architectural Association School of Architecture), which is more artistic. So I studied there and when I came back I worked with my dad and my brother, but that didn’t work for long, so I quickly started working alone.

What exactly didn’t work?

My dad was more technocratic and on the other hand I was more artistic. Fortunately, from a very young age I was able to realize my difference and slowly find my balance.

As a child, I tended to express all my emotions strongly. I was considered the weak child who cried “more than normal” and everyone thought that this should be curbed somehow. But I didn’t understand why at all. I thought it was perfectly reasonable to cry when something hurt me, and completely illogical that society and my family asked me not to, seeing this way of expressing my feelings as a very bad thing. It was this guilt that I struggled to get over and it took me a lot to understand that emotions are my strength and not my weakness, and that I should be proud of what I feel every moment.

What creation of yours are you most proud of so far?

For my son, Alexander. I say this with a lot of affection but also with self-awareness. What more important can you create than a human being, alive in time and free to evolve?

Which buildings do you think give Athens character?

The buildings of Athens. Athens, like all ensembles, is the sum of those that make it up.

Do you consider it elitist to talk about architecture when renting a house to live in this city has become almost impossible for most?

Architecture is culture, and culture should never be the prerogative of an elite. However, what I perceive as a bad thing is that the prices go up in a very superficial way. Instead of learning from our mistakes and understanding how we got to the point of crisis a decade ago, we are once again looking for quick profit through hasty investments, without digging deep. This is what bothers and worries me. We casually put up a plasterboard, do a quick renovation, multiply the price and aim to make an immediate profit.

“Architecture is culture, and culture should never be the prerogative of an elite.”

On the other hand, prices are also rising due to the fact that Athens is now becoming an international destination, gathering a large number of foreigners. We have to read both the good and the bad into it. Because to remain in the former state, where everything was neglected, miserable or closed, would also not satisfy us. Let’s keep in mind that societies and cities are always trying to balance in a dynamically changing environment. The same is happening with Athens.