Back to US Afroz, April 2013

Dehybernating from a rainy winter for those who spent it in Eressos and an intense one for me in the city. Opening up space for the summer!

Natural Sculpture Beach, Vlychada Beach, Santorini island, January 2011

Photos taken in January 2011 in Vlychada, an amazing beach at the western coast of Santorini-Thira island. As wonderfull it is to bathe there in the summer, it is to walk on it's sand in the middle of the winter. The slopes that surrounds the beach, created by malleable volcanic materials, are transformed into natural sculptures by the sun, winds, rains and waves of the sea and the human hand. This part of the island stays the same by constantly changing...

Traditional Biothermal Architecture in Santorini

Most of the houses in Santorini island-or at least most of the old buildings around the caldera-where built inside the volcanic sand. The "Yposkafa" (underdug) as they are called is an ingenious, bioadaptive way with wich centuries of generations have coped in an enviroment of litited space and resourses. Dry as it is, the island lacks of trees and firewood. Perched on the steep slope of the iland's caldera, most of the settements face the archipelago's conditions and the need for house developing in almost vertical terain. Therefore, the proverb "things are not as they seem" is very true here, as the houses and warehouses extend inside the volcanic rock, invisible to the eye that wonderes on the surface. But the most amazing thing is how the natural materials of this earth, along with the traditional architecture (it's most apparent feature being the arched roofs)create a natural air-condition. Without the use of any energy whatsoever, only by desingning in wisdom and unity with nature, these houses warm up in winter and cool down in summer. The first time i visited my good friend Dayadan in Megalochori village during January of 2010, i was amased to enter from a cold outside into a non-heated room and feel a very convinient warmth to sleep with! Here i post some photos from 2011, that show a part of this unique architecture, as well as the inspirings desing and decoration with wich Dayadan creates his Santorini villas (www.santorini-villas.gr)

FurRide, Megaloxori, Santorini, April 2011

Fury rides in Santorini with beloved friend's Dayadan dogs. From my visit in April 2011.

Santorini, Megalochori Village, Old Grocery Store

Empty from it's antique trades but with traces of it's history found on the walls, the old grocery store of Megalochori was breathing fresh air from it's open doors (one on the main street and the other on the alley) on the day i photographed it. I stood amazed on how the magnificent Santorini light, coming from the sky and from a thousand reflections in this labyrinth of buildings that make the village, was flooding the emptyness of the space with a wholeness of existence. If the old store was left this way, it could be exhibited as a work of modern art. But the hands that had opened the doors for this wholeness to shine in, carried it further during the following week, and revived the old "mpakaliko" into a beautifull antique and handcraft shop. The photos were taken in April 2011.