In the district of Kamena Vourla, known for its hot springs and their beneficial qualities, our proposal attempts to set up the scenery of a relaxing experience. Taking into consideration the current human needs, the existing stock or public treasury and the location’s identity, we try to revise the issue of tourism in Greece.
The architecture formed is related to the naked body, the shade and light. The body is allowed to wander in a delimited and clearly defined labyrinth, where it is free to walk, stand, sit, get wet, swim etc. The space results from the interpretation of a program, called "the wellness program", which dictates the state of the body inside the site and is associated with various human needs depending on athletic or therapeutic exercise. The order of the wellness program is specific and absolute and is the key element which produces the vertical and horizontal spacial elements, positive and negative spaces, perspectives and finally the sensation of each area.
The type of space created is an inner experience, a more tactile space. Across the landscape of the composition, the surrounding area is respectively a homogeneous area, where no prominent objects protrude but continuous boundaries- natural or artificial, create spaces. The enclosed spaces form a continuous "carpet". The coherence and organization shows the physical experience of space and water hinged on narrative paths. The plan is an ongoing plot of walls that define spaces. Some of them are roofed or closed, others are open-aired. The slabs and respectively the walls "effuse" in the area, creating larger units and emphasizing the tactile narrative characteristics of the composition. No building exists, only combined architectural elements that form spaces.
The complex consists of three spatial qualities - covered space, indoor and outdoor spaces and five architectural elements; wall, column, glass, slab and water. These elements spread out and create these spatial situations based on the wellness program.
For a clearer understanding of the sense of each space, we have produced a series of images that correspond to snapshots of the wellness path through the buildings, starting from the main entrance, continuing to the spa and concluding at the apartments. The images do not aim to display photorealistic, three-dimensional representation of the buildings but to capture the emotional state or mood of the visitor at each point. For this reason, the third dimension is somehow "naive" or partially real. The space is mostly flat. Materials (stone, kourasanit, glass, and water), light, perspectives and human body compose an emotional path.