Under the Landscape is unfolding on the island of Therasia as a long-term exploration of landscape, memory, and craftsmanship. Beginning with the revival of the historic settlement of Agrilia, the project brings together research, education, and collective action to address the urgent question of how traditional knowledge and local materials can shape contemporary approaches to sustainable building. By engaging the volcanic terrain, the architecture carved into it, and the communities that have lived with it, the project seeks to reframe the notion of landscape as both cultural heritage and living environment.

At its heart, the project combines hands-on restoration and participatory workshops with interdisciplinary research and artistic creation. Young apprentices, local craftsmen, students, and international experts worked side by side, rediscovering traditional building techniques such as dry stone masonry and experimenting with the volcanic material known as theran earth. The restoration of Agrilia’s cobblestone pathway and its stone walls became not only a technical achievement but also a shared act of reclaiming place and memory. In parallel, collaborations with artists and researchers revealed new ways of interpreting and experiencing Therasia’s landscape—whether through sculpture, contemporary art, or academic study.

Beyond the construction site, Under the Landscape extended into the public sphere with exhibitions, cultural events, and an international symposium hosted across Therasia and Santorini. These encounters created space for dialogue between local communities, scholars, and creators, broadening the project’s impact and situating it within global debates on heritage, ecology, and resilience. As a whole, Under the Landscape demonstrates how the study of materials, techniques, and landscapes can become a framework for connecting past and future, science and craft, theory and practice.

Discover the project’s custom website