Concept

Vernacular architecture in southern Europe is characterised by the clever and simple use of its resources: the sun and the air as the ever present ones, the water as a scarcer commodity. For hundreds of years, the native population has used these resources for cooling or heating and for achieving the best possible comfort in their homes. The thickness of the walls as a thermal buffer and the white lime as a reflecting technique, the window shutters, the narrow streets and the patios as a way of producing shadow and to force air to flow, and the use of flowing water as a cooling device are some of the genuine solutions of architecture around the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, architecture today has somehow lost the magic of this simplicity.

Atika bridges past and future: a concept that combines the simplicity of traditional architecture with the most recent techniques of cooling and building automation.

Traditionally, attics had little insulation and were therefore unpleasantly hot in summer and freezing cold in winter.  Atika demonstrates that well-designed architecture and VELUX systems can make them comfortable and attractive living spaces.

The dwelling on top shows also the Raise-the-Roof concept developed by VELUX as an approach to urban sustainability.  From an ecological point of view, density is more recommendable for future urban growth than sprawl. Mediterranean cities are comparatively dense urban realities. A key argument for sustainable growth is to densify existing cities instead of creating new suburbs, considering the architecture of the city as an artificial geology that already exists.

Atika exemplifies how new housing units can independently be placed on top of this built fabric, like building on top of a hill.