ADELOS | ancient technologies • traditional techniques • modern infrastructure in the farmhouse of Markos
completed project
location: Delos, Cyclades
date: 20/10/2024 - 26/10/2024
collaboration: Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades, French School of Athens
funding: .M. Kaplan Fund
support: Municipality of Mykonos
sponsorship in kind: Delos Market, Captain's, Oregano, Hotel Olia, Pension Alexandra, Soul Mates, Mykonos Farmers, Zymoto and Blue Star
design/coordination: Ionas Sklavounos, Grigoris Koutropoulos, George Tzavaras, Nikiforos Meimaroglou, Panos Kostoulas
co-speakers: Hélène Wurmser, Marilena Mela, Nikos Magouliotis, Faidon Moudopoulos-Athanasiou, Kostas Latoufis
tutors: Dimitris Chiou, Kostas Noou, Yorgos Anastasiadis and Dominic Taylor(Stagones)
photography: Yorgos Kyvernitis, Thanos Tsantas, Ionas Sklavounos(BLK), Grigoris Koutropoulos(BLK), Εuropeana
drawings: Grigoris Koutropoulos (BLK)
A hands-on workshop on the relations between ancient and vernacular forms of material knowledge and sustainable models of landscape futures
The interdisciplinary team of Boulouki in collaboration with the Cyclades Ephorate of Antiquities and the French School of Athens is restoring one of the surviving vernacular farmhouses of Delos, the so-called “House” or “Village of Markos”. The restoration will make use of traditional materials and practices, and will aim to create new accommodation space for researchers and practitioners involved with Delos as a heritage site. Through this project, Boulouki initiates an interdisciplinary research around the multiple relationships between ancient and traditional ways of construction and landscape management. To launch the preliminary works of the restoration, Boulouki organised a seven-day hands-on workshop, between 20 and 26 October 2024.
Through an open call, fifteen participants were selected from a broad range of disciplines, from Greece and from abroad, including five students from ETH Zurich together with their Professor Teresa Galí-Izard. The participants joined the Boulouki team and other invited experts in the preliminary works of the restoration of the buildings that comprise the farmhouse of Markos. The goal of this hands-on involvement was to uncover and map the unexpected entanglements of ancient, vernacular, and modern forms of knowledge embedded in this rural complex. Through this study, the workshop attempted to draw lessons on the sustainable coexistence with the landscape and propose solutions for the management of water, energy, and waste of the restored farmhouse.
δῆλος (delos)
visible, clear, evident, manifest
ἄδηλος (ádelos)
not visible or unknown
Implicit, obscure, difficult to understand
The context
Situated across the touristically overexploited Mykonos in Cyclades, the island of Delos is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 3,43 km2 are the remains of a significant religious and commercial centre of the Mediterranean Sea, a cosmopolitan and multicultural port-city that once hosted more than twenty thousand inhabitants. The modern history of the island is marked by the beginning of archaeological excavations coordinated by the French School of Athens in 1873. These excavations revealed traces of a complex ancient urban landscape: sanctuaries of different deities and religions, stoas and markets, artisanal workshops, and a variety of residential building types, supported by an elaborate system for water infrastructure.
The same landscape preserves traces of a rural vernacular culture of the earlier centuries, including constructions by Mykonian farmers who rented plots of land (gr: παρτίδες, [partides]) for cultivation and animal grazing on Delos and the neighboring island of Rineia. The house of Markos’ family is a typical example of a vernacular farmhouse, inhabited by a family whose members cultivated the surrounding land. Such farmhouses, which consist of several small structures, are particularly widespread in neighboring Mykonos and Rineia and are referred to in the local dialect as “choriá [χωριά]”, i.e. “villages”.
Our preliminary studies revealed the seemingly humble ruins of the abandoned farmhouse to be complex structures, embedding a wide range of varied elements and materials: from ancient fragments originating from a nearby Hellenistic house to objects from more recent periods, such as the iron rails originally used by French archaeologists for transporting archaeological finds, and were later used by locals as supporting beams for the roof of the farmhouse. The hybrid nature of this rural complex raises questions and challenges for its restoration, both in practical and in theoretical terms, which Boulouki is undertaking by making use of its long experience in the study of traditional building techniques in various regions of Greece.
completed project
The workshop: 20-26 October 2024
The workshop which took place in Delos included a wide range of activities: During the mornings we worked in situ in the house of Markos, doing preliminary restoration and maintenance works. These involved cleaning of the buildings, stabilization and reinforcement of their masonry, documentation and classification of the different material elements and architectural components incorporated into this agricultural complex. The second half of the day was dedicated to tours of the island, discussions with local residents and experts, lectures on various themes (architecture and construction, archaeology, history, anthropology, as well as experiential narratives), and design sessions focused on the future of the house of Markos. Through these different activities, we aim to uncover aspects of the implicit (adelos) knowledge that is embedded in the landscape and use it to think about scenarios for the sustainable future of the restored farmhouse.
Preparatory works: Through the preliminary works that precede the restoration, we are undertaking a thorough examination of the ruined buildings, with the aim of uncovering the knowledge embedded within: the building practices of local farmers and their guiding principles. We are investigating the materials, techniques, and building standards used in construction, while also exploring how these are connected to the management of the island landscape of Delos.
Visits, walks, presentations: This hands-on exploration was complemented by visits and tours of the landscape surrounding the farmhouse and the neighboring "House of the Fourni”, the archaeological site and museum of Delos, as well as other ruined farmhouses on the island. These tours were led by professor Hélène Wurmser, a researcher with a wealth of experience in the field of Delos. The programme of the workshop was also enhanced by the particularly interesting presentations of our collaborators Marilena Mela, Nikos Magouliotis, Phaedon Moudopoulos and Kostas Latoufis, with the main aim of deepening our understanding of the complex dialogues that the local rural populations developed with the remnants of the urban civilizations of antiquity.
Afternoon design sessions: Through drawings, sketches, diagrams, texts, and photographs and all kinds of recording and representation media, the participants of the workshop worked on the question of infrastructure and facilities of the restored farmhouse in innovative ways, seeking contemporary solutions for the management of water, energy and waste of the restored agricultural complex. Following lessons from ancient and vernacular knowledge systems, we attempt to approach Markos’ "village" in a holistic manner, integrating technical functions, practical uses, and artistic or symbolic engagements with the landscape, beyond strictly technical concerns.
completed project
