PAPERCUT | Milles feuilles – a thousand leaves

DESIGN: dARCH studio
PROJECT: renovation of the showroom YESHOP IN HOUSE
LOCATION: AGION ANARGIRON 13, PSIRRI, ATHENS, GREECE
CLIENT: YIORGOS ELEFTHERIADES
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: dARCH studio (Elina Drossou, Nikos Karkatselas, Chrisa Konsta)
PROJECT SHEDULE: OCTOBER 2007
COST OF CONSTRUCTION: 2.500 euro
GROSS FLOOR AREA: 90 m2
PHOTOGRAPHY: Vasilis Skopelitis
Numbers
-1500 sheets of corrugated carton, 5mm thick, size 110cm x 80cm.
-50 kgr glue for wood.
-8 chisels.
-40 blades.
-2000 blueprints-patrons
-countless cuts and pastes.

‘YESHOP IN HOUSE” is the result of the collaboration between the greek architectural office dARCH Studio and the fashion designer, Yiorgos Eleftheriades. It is located on the first floor of a two-storey building at the center of Psirri – Athens, where the fashion designer works and exhibits his work. According to Elina Drossou,architect and founder of dARCH Studio: The need to synthesize the two different approaches to design (fashion design, architecture) was the focal point of this project. Concepts and practices used in fashion design were incorporated as organizational principles during the design and the construction phases of the project.

Concept - Milles feuilles – a thousand leaves | Concept of the approach was the design of site-specific constructions that would emphasize and intensify the continuity of space and its homely feel while at the same time they would homogenize in a mental and formal way the varying events that happen in the “house” (shop – exhibition space, lounge area, party space, small scale fashion shows). The ephemeral character of the refurbishment was a wish of the client.
Existing furniture were rearranged in order to bring into forth the two, new, constructions that were handmade, using eco -friendly corrugated packaging carton. The sense of packing (as a reference to refurbishment, moving and the ephemeral) is spatially expressed, while the cheap material used in a derivational manner, structures space.

Synthesis 1 (southern wall)
The existing furniture was rearranged either with the same use or its use derived. Trying to free as much a space as possible and emphasize the movements of users, the massy furniture were suspended (screwed up) on the wall, where the tables became lightings, the book case turned into stand for coffee machine and display case. The wall was covered with corrugated carton (5mm thick) in stripes, with the corrugated side of the carton on the front. As a result the furniture seemed as they were wedged in the cardboard.
The metallic hangers were rearranged in a radial pattern in order to accentuate natural lighting and users movements in the “house”.

Synthesis 2 (eastern wall)
The synthesis is based on the design of a biomorphic self-illuminating construction consisted of thousands sheets of corrugated carton in correspondence to synthesis 1. The boxes that perforate the liquid form produce displays for the objects, designed by Yiorgos Eleftheriades. The displays are intensified with the use of built-in indirect lighting. Also the paper curves shaped sittings.
Via stratification the two dimensional material is transformed into a volume interacting with its surrounding space and provoking visitors in free interpretation. One gesture – multiple images.

Materials | The materials used in the refurbishment were intended to emphasize the dynamic properties of the space contrasting, in means of value and texture, the materials used by the designer. The two new syntheses in the atelier were constructed with (the 100% recyclable material) corrugated carton and low cost OSB wood.

Construction

Patron | Every construction in the atelier was made ad situ as site-specific prototype models. For 15 days, the architects of dARCH studio and their equipment were relocated to the showroom. More than 2000 blueprints (horizontal sections of the curved parts) were produced and used as patrons for the hand-cut sheets of carton. Each sheet was glued in its specific place and so on…

dARCH studio was founded in 2006 by the 29 years old architect Drossou Elina. The firm is located in Athens, Greece and has been involved in a variety of projects either as heading or consulting designers including office buildings, residences, shops, ephemeral constructions and theoretical installations plus small scale projects like furniture, graphic design and set-design for a variety of occasions. The dARCH studio practice focuses in an architecture of the senses that embodies the natural and urban environment as a forcefield for lived experience.

Yiorgos Eleftheriades - History Behind The Name

Yiorgos Eleftheriades has created thirty-eight womens and nineteen mens collections that have been presented in Athens, Paris, London, Milan and Berlin.

Based on his love for classical forms and in search for contemporary elegance, he aims to create a truly alternative urban style with interesting shapes, strong tailoring and experimental combinations of fabrics and textures. He is often fond of bringing together contrasting materials ? the mat with the glittery, the high tech with the retro, the masculine with the feminine, the luxurious with the humble. Color wise, each collection is usually based on a palette of neutral shades, followed by a strong scheme of intense colors` the result is often offbeat and striking.

The main quality of his designing perception is a transeasonal timelessness and a glamorous but cool day-to-night approach that has as a result clothes which function either in dynamic, simple and minimalist combinations or in accessories that have a sense of humor.

In 2007 he made the debut of his diffusion line, Collage Social, in cooperation with Shop & Trade, one of the biggest import companies of world-wide known brands.

In 1994 he was assigned the position of Creative Director for ‘Grecotel’ company in Greece, in which the uniforms he designed are still in use. Throughout the years he has been cooperating with some of the most important directors and actors/actresses in Greece while creating costumes for theatre.

Being environmentally conscious, he has been using natural and eco friendly textiles since he begun. The phrase “protect the earth, we’ve got only one” is written on the inside of each one of his garments.