Desde la dimensión sustancial

The main aim of the studies included in this group is the categorisation of domestic architecture into dif- ferent house-types for the Cyclades and other se- lected Aegean islands, and the description of build- ing traditions, materials and techniques. Apart from typologies, an attempt to establish a basic chronol- ogy for different house forms and styles is another interest of the authors, who are principally Greek ar- chitects from the Athens Technical University. Most of the studies include topographical and architectural plans, and photographs.

4.2.1 The Cyclades

The second volume of Greek Traditional Architec- ture, edited by Philippides (1988a) still comprises the most comprehensive study and attempt to estab- lish a typology and chronology for Cycladic housing. It is a collection of nine studies on vernacular archi- tecture for the islands of Andros, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Siphnos, Syros, Kea and Tinos. Each architect or group of architects (Charitonidou, Philippa-Apostolou, Philippides and others) studied a different island. The methodological approach they follow, however, is basically the same in describing and typifying island housing. Some of the papers, however, do differ in their approaches and could very well fit in our next category.

The first paper by Charitonidou (1988a, 11-42), in the volume edited by Philippides (1988a), examines the main house types on the island of Andros. The study includes a short review of the island’s history throughout the ages and its main town during the early period of Venetian domination. The town was established by the Venetian lord Dandolo on a pro- montory on the central-Western side of the island, while the back house-walls formed the actual fortifi- cation wall of the town. There follows a typology of different built structures of the Andros countryside. Tower-houses, rural houses, stone field houses and threshing floors, springs, dovecotes, field boundaries and examples of neo-classical architecture in the main town of Andros are the main architectural types discussed in the paper. The second paper by Roma- nos (1988, 45-76) in the same volume examines the architectural history of the island of Mykonos from a

different perspective. The author analyses the settle- ment layout of Chora, the Late Medieval town of Mykonos, and other built structures of the country- side in association with the socio-economic and poli- tical history of the island.

The third paper by Kouroupakiet al.(1988, 79-110) is another typological study on housing in the capital of the Late Medieval Duchy of the Cyclades. After a brief discussion on the establishment and develop- ment of the Late Medieval town or Chora of Naxos, the authors note three house-types:laikaor popular,

archontikaor noble housing andpyrgospitaor tower- houses. The examination of building materials, build- ing techniques and architectural decorative styles are also discussed in this paper. Related approaches have been employed by Philippa-Apostolou (1988, 113- 44) in the same volume, in her study of the traditional settlements and the domestic architecture of Paros. The main subject of the study is the presentation of the basic house types within the Late Medieval settle- ments of the island and the division of Post-Medieval and Early Modern domestic architectural examples into astika or urban housing and agrotika or rural housing (cottages). Similarly, typological approaches have been employed for the study of different house- types on the islands of Santorini (Philippides 1988b, 147-78), Siphnos (Tzakou 1988, 181-212), Syros (Kartas 1988, 215-46), Kea (Kloutsiniotiet al.1988, 249-72) and Tinos (Charitonidou 1988b, 275-306). Wagner’s (1997) study is one of the few highly reli- able typological studies from this group on housing in the Cyclades. The author provides some general information about the Late Medieval Kastro, the principal town of Siphnos, and continues by present- ing six different house-types common in the tradi- tional settlements of the island. Although Wagner (1997) has divided traditional house-types according to rooms added on to the main and original room of the house, there is no attempt to examine the factors behind this practice and this change in housing tradi- tions.

The four following papers are published in a volume edited by Michelis (1981), they are written by Greek architects and concern aspects of vernacular architec- ture on the Cycladic islands of Santorini, Tinos, Paros and Andros. Ververis (1981, 41-60) examines

Fig. 4.3 Single-roomed house in Tinos (Thalassinos 1981, 89, fig. 16)

the main house-types, building techniques and mate- rials in Santorini. He notes four house-types on the island; the two-roomed, the ‘twin’, the two-storey and the‘house with the mill’. Apart from presenting these characteristics he attributes the present appear- ance of the built environment in Santorini to the vol- canic nature of the island and its climatic conditions, the ‘humble’ life-style of the inhabitants and the 18th-century codified law. Thalassinos (1981, 77-93) examines aspects of housing on the island of Tinos and approaches the topic in a similar manner. He notes that aspects of the island landscape, climate, available building materials, principal occupation of the inhabitants and the threat of piracy were the main factors that shaped traditional housing in Tinos (Fig. 4.3). He categorises housing according to types on the basis of the existing number of floors and rooms, and reviews the main external and internal decorative styles. Karathanasis (1981, 94-104) provides a clear picture of the typical house-types of the island of Paros. He distinguishes three different types: the two-storey house, the Π-shaped house and the one- and-a-half-storey house, while he also reviews the main decorative features of traditional housing on the island. The author remarks on the development of the single-roomed house (house-type 3), a useful contribution to housing typology. Aravantinos (1981, 105-25) similarly presents the main house- types of the island of Andros and distinguishes four types: single-storey, one-and-a-half-storey, two-stor- ey and the tower-house, while he makes a compari-

son with other islands’housing. This group of papers edited by Michelis (1981) is a useful typological study of Cycladic housing, its building materials and aesthetic styles, without seeking parallels with rele- vant archaeological data and textual or other sources. The following three papers examine the most repre- sentative examples of Post-Medieval island domestic architecture. Dematha (1997) examines the Late Medieval town or Kastro of Pholegandros. The author briefly reviews architectural aspects of the is- land’s defended settlement in comparison with other fortified towns of the period and researches into the originally built parts of the site. She finally questions whetherKastrowas completed in different phases, if the plan of the settlement reflects social organisation and differentiation and whether special areas within the town were occupied by the upper and lower classes accordingly. The paper by Nafpliotis (1997), on the other hand, about vernacular architecture in Paros also follows a typological approach and is mainly examining Post-Medieval housing outside the Medieval defended centres of the island.

Similarly, Koumanoudis’review (1969/70) of settle- ments and housing in Santorini presents the main house-types within the Late Medieval defended set- tlement of Pyrgos and the so-called ‘subterranean’ houses developing outside the defended centres dur- ing the Post-Medieval and Early Modern periods. Al- though this paper follows similar approaches to the studies presented above, it provides us with fascinat- ing information about housing and other related built structures (yards, built ovens, built benches etc) within and outside Medieval settlements. Dimitrokal- lis (1995) on the other hand examines the character- istic whitewash on the interior and exterior walls of Cycladic houses, a rather neglected aspect of aes- thetic in domestic architecture. Dimitrokallis (1995) questions when this habit was introduced by examin- ing secondary literature as well as foreign travellers in the Cyclades during the Post-Medieval period. He further suggests a Byzantine date for the introduction of whitewash on Cycladic houses and churches, mainly as a desire for public health and cleanliness, insulation and conservation.

4.2.2 South Aegean Islands

Dawkins (1902/03) early in the 20th century gave a first and detailed but still rather‘romantic’record of housing and internal decoration from the island of Karpathos, employing socio-anthropological ap- proaches for his study. He provides examples of house-types of his period, as well as information about seasonal occupations of the local population due to the agricultural nature of their economy and the rural activities they carried out. Moreover, he provides a good description of domestic internal fit- tings, such as the high sleeping platforms with carved railings and panelled work or ‘sofas’ deco- rated with rows of plates and embroidered towels hanging over a rail above the platform.

A decade later, Wace and Dawkins’(1915) published studies on Greek embroideries and Aegean towns and houses were a further attempt to present data on settlement layout, vernacular architecture and do- mestic material culture. The authors provide a rather detailed description of house-types and internal fit- tings for most Aegean islands, from the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, to Crete and the Sporades. They further accompany the latter paper with house plans and drawings of the characteristic wooden structures that served as sleeping platforms for par- ents and children, and display-shelves for domestic valuable decorative items (Fig. 4.4). It is an impor- tant study for its period and can prove very useful nowadays in that it provides a detailed picture of house-forms and domestic interiors for the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

Zagorissiou’s (1996) monograph on vernacular ar- chitecture in Crete similarly follows a typological ap- proach, but with a very useful record of plans, photo- graphs and descriptions of current housing traditions and social practises.

4.2.3 East and North Aegean Islands

The architectural analysis of the defended settlement of Mesta on the island of Chios is the subject of an unpublished study written by a group of seven Greek architecture students of the Athens Technical Univer- sity (Kokkiniet al. n.d.). This monograph discusses special issues such as the defensive aspect of the

Fig. 4.4 Reproduction of a house interior with its sleeping platform and chest complex on the island of Karpathos (Wace and Dawkins 1915, 105, fig. 4)

settlement, presents the basic house types within Mesta and analyses the building materials, decorative styles and special built features (e.g.windows, balco- nies). This is an interesting volume of its group in that it provides a detailed typological description of the Mesta houses and the division of space within them. Such divisions are, upper floor = living space, ground floor = stabling and storage,iliakos (or cov- ered balcony), bridges connecting house roofs with the central tower, and other features. This detailed study, however, does not attempt to discuss the social meaning of divided living space within the settlement or houses.

The following three papers also concern the Aegean Island of Chios with its Late Medieval or Genoese defended settlements. Eden (1950) examines how the rectangular town planning was adopted in the Medieval fortified village of Mesta and gives some general idea of the morphological features of the set- tlement. He argues that the basic arrangement of the town did not change until recently (e.g.buildings in- corporating inscriptions of the 19th century are simi- lar to Medieval ones). He notes that the use of exter- ior house-walls on the perimeter as a defensive wall for the village is in conformity with a very old tradi- tion in the Aegean. Archaeological evidence and a passage in the Laws of Plato show a similar arrange- ment from the 7th century BC or earlier at Vroulia in Rhodes (Eden 1950, 19). In conclusion to his expla- nation of the morphological features of Mesta, Eden interprets such town planning under a more or less historical perspective. Thus, the town was designed and planned from the beginning and buildings were approached from the inside, forming a single open space at the centre of the town. Finally, limiting the number of gates resulted in the limitation of access to the centre and the concentric loops orcul-de-sac ap- pearance of the settlement, always set out according to custom by a band of colonists.

Tyrwhitt (1966) analyses aspects of town planning and housing in theMastichochoria,i.e.the four best preserved fortified mastic-producing villages of Mes- ta, Olympoi, Pyrghi and Kalamoti on the island of Chios. She is particularly interested in the rectangular form of the settlements and argues that the consistent use of the barrel vault resulted in elements of rectan- gular shape, whilst the repetition of these elements naturally resulted in a more or less regular grid-iron pattern of buildings and streets (Tyrwhitt 1966, 201). Tyrwhitt (1966, 202) also suggests that each section was built by the individual householder himself and proceeds further by noting other aspects of housing such as internal divisions and use of domestic space. She notes for instance that upper floors were used as living quarters, while ground floors were used for stabling and storage. The use of mobile and immo- bile internal and external staircases gave access to the ground and upper floors, while terraces were used for social gatherings. Central towers must have been used as places of refuge in case of attack, at a time when the popularity of centralised structures

and optical perspectives was at its peak. Thus, the author in this case makes a step further by attributing the establishment and development of defended Aegean towns not only to morphological features and technical issues but also to environmental and social factors.

Another paper about Chios was written by the Greek architects Lambakis and Bouras (1981) and exam- ines the defensive character of Mastichochoria and the ‘Greek’ system of defence found on many Aegean islands, as well as in many Byzantine mon- asteries. The authors argue that this was a defence method known even before the Hippodamian system. Lambakis and Bouras are mainly interested in the building traditions and the morphological character- istics of these extraordinarily preserved villages. Moreover, they attempt to establish a typology of the most common house-types, and put great emphasis on the existence of the iliakos on the upper floor (Fig. 4.5), making comparisons with Medieval urban houses found at Rethymnon in Crete. They conclude with the assumption that the town plan and house- types remind us of Mistra and they argue for a By- zantine and Eastern influence on building traditions, which were kept by the local population throughout the ages.

Fig. 4.5 Two-storey house in Chios, with aniliakoson the upper floor (Lambakis and Bouras 1981, 20, fig. 23)

4.2.4 Ionian Islands

It is worth commenting also on a representative study from the Ionian Islands in Western Greece, mainly due to the similarities and common Latin influences between those islands and the Cyclades. Zivas

(1974) discusses private housing on the islands of Zante, Kephalonia and Corfu. His main interest is the influence of ‘polite’ architecture on housing of farming communities. Zivas describes surviving ex- amples of rural housing and stresses the stylistic and aesthetic similarities of such rural domestic struc- tures with urban houses. Therefore, he uses the sur- viving evidence as a basis, disregarding the standard humble rural housing; this is mainly because his aim is to prove that rural domestic architecture simply re- flects elite trends in house-styles during a period of greater prosperity and a process of social emulation. 4.2.5 Aegean Mainland Greece and Euboea

Ideas connected with the origin of Medieval housing in the Balkan peninsula and its association with par- ticular ethnic groups, the origin of Byzantine housing in Classical Antiquity, and the influence of climatic conditions, are some of the questions examined by the authors of the following papers.

Bouras (1974) argues that the large unified space of the upper floor in two-storey Late Byzantine houses in Mistra reflects the agrarian social structure, while similarities between Medieval and ancient housing testifies to the continuity of domestic needs and func- tions. Aalen (1996) on the other hand examines as- pects of two and three-storey houses in the Balkan region and argues in favour of functional features in such domestic structures (upper floor = living space, ground floor = storage and stabling). Aalen further notes that the undivided space in humble single-stor- ey peasant housing might be connected with the an- cient idea of the‘Megaron’. He also traces different house-types, such as the Turko-Oriental, the Laika, theArchontika, theChiftlicksin different geographi- cal regions, presumably occupied by different ethnic groups. Similarly, Wagstaff (1965) distinguishes dif- ferent house-forms according to geography, building materials available, climate and ethnic groups living in each area discussed. Furthermore, he argues that the physical environment shapes housing types ac- cordingly. Cycladic houses are flat roofed due to low rainfall, while scarcity of large timber (for the con- struction of tile-roofed houses) has affected the ar- ticulation of island-housing,e.g.houses in Kimolos, Santorini, Antiparos are constructed with cylindrical corbelled domes (Wagstaff 1965, 61).