37 Cyprus on PhiPhi ( an Island on an Island)

Last July we were back again to Phi Phi Island. This time was to work on the construction site with my students. (If you want to follow our progress on the project, HERE it is.)

On the last day of the trip, the free day for all, instead of swimming in the deep blue sea on the extra white sand beach, we, architects, were working on a competition!





Well, don't think that we are that serious or nerdy kind of people.. in fact it is rather the opposite. :-) There was a super strong reason why we were doing this competition in such a seaside paradise of Phi Phi island. The competition is organized by Cyprus Architecture Associtation, in occassion of Cyprus' participation to Venice Biennale of Architecture this year. (For those who are not familiar with Cyprus, it is an island in Mediteranean Sea, between Greece and Turkey --> more info HERE). A part of Cyprus' participation to Venice Biennale of Architecture this year is this competition, asking for a architectural idea for Cyprus as a touristic island of the mediteranean under the theme "In Cyprus–relax as Architects - Reinterpret"

Since we were in the extreme relaxation mood, and of course, we all are an architect, we had to do this particular competition, everything matched perfectly! Here we were working on the beach, a new experience of design... by the sea, with the winds and sands.. not bad at all. With our laptops & wi-fi, we discovered that working on the beach is not really a bad a idea. We set our portable office there for one day.


Not really a bad place to work at all... no? After working we also went swimming... What a life!


Our schematic design on the beach! Lovely, isn't it?


By the beach we were discussing and thinking about the competition, there was a wedding ceremony of a Westerner couple at Zevola Resort... which was very inspiring for us.


As you might have seen already from the result that we did not win the competition. However, we love our entries pretty much because we were super enjoying working on the beach and we love the very simple but cute ideas of ours. :-) So we would like to share them with you.

Our first proposal is called "How Deep is Your Love", of course it is from the super famous song of Bee Gees. Here is our plate:


Imagine Cyprus as an Island of Love.. When you arrive Cyprus from an airplane, the first image you see is hundreds of small heart-shape islands around the main island. It may sounds literal, well it does sound very literal, but in the world of relaxation, who cares about being intellectual, we think...It could be an image that Cyprus could sell themselves very well alll over the world, as the Island of Love.


The different size heart-shape islands are actually extensions of the beach surface of Cyprus on the rocky shores. The construction is very simple, they are merely a raft structure...a platform on the water next to the shore.


Different kinds of activities related to LOVE and relaxation could be housed there at the floating structures such as a wedding.... Imagine a wedding "at the bottom of my heart"...:-)


Private beach surface relaxation..


Or the small heart-shape island welcome also elderly.. who come for their XXth anniversary.. isn't it so romantic? :-)



The second idea we got was also very simple. It is called Cyprus Cafe' but we gave a nickname to it as "Sway with me, Stay with me".. (Again this one is from the song, "Sway", I know the version of Dean Martin, an old one, and a newer version from Michael Buble.) The lyrics are very super romantic:

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more

Like a flower bending in the breeze
Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me
Stay with me, sway with me

Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have that magic technique
When we sway I go weak

I can hear the sounds of violins
Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how
Sway me smooth, sway me now....
...........................

The main reason we use the word 'sway' is because we think of a little sway act as a supreme ideal of relaxation.. Again, imagine you are on the beach, in a hammock, a little sway here and there, with the sun, the sand , the winds, not to mention the sounds of the waves..a good book, and good foods... in life you would not need more.


Our idea is to have this a hammock cafe', a place where you can do a little relaxing sway, anywhere in Cyprus. (Actually, I got this idea of hammock cafe' in a rural area of Vietnam where people go to a coffee shop where they have many hammocks hung around for the customers..) But how to hang a hammock anywhere in Cyprus is not an easy task too. So we invented this simple device to help placing hammocks anywhere in Cyprus. It is a plastic tank with a form of six legs (I am sure there is a word for this shape in English.. but I don't know). With the form you can have a stable anchor in any ground condition. The plastic is so light that you can carry very easily, but when you want to it to become an anchor, just put some water in. ...... so simple, so light... (light techtonic is always our theme..)


Here we go: the set up of our hammock cafe' in different situation of Cyprus. On the beach...


In a beautiful open field..


Or even in an acheological site...well, we know that this one is a bit outragous.. but it would be nice to be in a very relaxing mood in an archeological site too..

Our first experiment of all(zone) portable office worked pretty well on Phi Phi Island (the theme of Cyprus went very well with the setting too). Although we did not win the competition, we are very happy to make them already. Hope you like them too. :-)