From neolithic period until today

Researchers and Photographers highlight

Is it not meteorological time that dictates, among others, even the seasonal journeys of the migratory birds? During this event a shelter-building of unbelievable scale takes place. A constant, monumental intervention in nature, with materials detached from her to erect shelters as refuge from her forces.

Οne finds in some people an inborn ability to build instinctively dwellings of a pure structural geometry –an atavistic knowledge. This geometry guarantees their structural integrity and their sound integration into nature, the ultimate teacher.

Left: Basketry, photo Takis Tloupas, Αrchive of Tloupa Vania.  
Right: Thessaly, Larissa, D. Theoharis, "Neolithic Civilization", MIET

Excavation findings in settlements give us a clear picture of the shelters comprising them.The similarities with modern huts are evident, especially in the articulation of the timber frame and its twigs and thatch cover weaved into the timber posts. 

North Euboea , Papades, Kria Vrisi, sheepfold interior, 03-05-2005.



Down left: "Experimental reconstruction of a neolithic hut in Thrace, 'Melina project" 19th EPCA. Down right: Reconstruction of a prehistoric lakeside settlement, Dispilio, Kastoria.

Ιn recent years, a series of younger researchers highlight, each from his own vantage point, aspects of the ongoing shelter-building. Huts and sheepfolds become objects of research and documentation. Aris Konstantinidis had christened "theochtista" (god-built) these "samples of decline and deprivation" many years ago. He was perhaps the first Greek architect who deliberately documented, highlighted and utilized in his work the quintessence of these humble structures.

Left: Cyprus to Asinou, Aris Konstantinidis, "Theoktista".  Right: Agrinio, Aris Konstantinidis, "Theoktista".    

Takis Tloupas, the gifted Thessalian photographer, "lover of truth in its philosophical essence" was a colleague of Theocharis Dimitriou and an enthusiast of prehistoric archaeology.

Left: “Tsardaki-Dragasia” ,Τhessaly, Ambelonas Larissas, 1960, photo Takis Tloupas, Αrchive of Tloupa Vania. Right: Tsardaki-Dragasia,Τhessaly, photo Takis Tloupas, Αrchive of Tloupa Vania.    

I could not finally avoid the connection with the reconstruction drawing, by Manolis Korres, of the Middle Neolithic Sesklo Acropolis which, while located in Thessaly, epitomizes the unified technique of an important period. The "mandres" of Lemnos recorded by Sifounakis, plainly resemble the prehistoric huts of Sesklo.  

Left: Thessaly Middle Neolithic Sesklo Acropolis, reconstruction drawing by M. Korres.  Right: Limnos "Mandra" on Archi Zemata beach, photo Nikos Sifounakis.     With the conviction that huts and sheepfolds are characterized by archetypal values, direct and indirect relationships with contemporary art and architecture are pointed out. Works by prominent artists, as well as works of contemporary architecture, are juxtaposed alongside these anonymous shelters, highlighting them as archetypes. It is through these revealing correlations that the underground path of sensitive [authors] who ultimately seek the truth in their work is recorded.    

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