PK21: Reimagining the Art of Dwelling in Contemporary Athens

Set inside a restored modernist apartment near Mavili Square, PK21 examines the relationship between architecture, historic Italian design and contemporary cultural memory

In a city where apartments are increasingly treated as real estate assets, short-term rentals or neutral containers for contemporary life, PK21 offers a different proposition. Conceived by Antiqua Gallery inside a restored 1967 apartment near Mavili Square, the project invites visitors to reconsider the meaning of dwelling itself.

More than an exhibition, PK21 is an act of restoration in the broadest sense of the word. It seeks to recover the values embedded in a period of Athenian architecture when domestic spaces were designed not merely to maximise square metres but to mediate between the individual, the city and the natural environment. Here, architecture becomes a cultural instrument, shaping the rhythms of everyday life through proportion, materiality and light.

Located at 21 Panagi Kyriakou Street, the apartment remained closed for almost two decades before undergoing an extensive renovation. Rather than imposing a new identity, the restoration sought to reveal the intelligence already present within the space. Original features, including the iron-and-wood spiral staircase, marble surfaces, full-height doors and carefully calibrated transitions between interior and exterior, have been preserved as integral elements of the apartment’s character.

The project also draws attention to a largely overlooked architectural heritage. Buildings of this period contain layers of craftsmanship that have become increasingly rare, from the green marble of Tinos and bespoke joinery to the intricate geometries of screened openings. Every detail reflects a design culture in which function and beauty were inseparable.

Antiqua’s curatorial intervention developed through a process in which every object was selected in direct relation to the architecture itself. Historic Italian furniture and lighting pieces by major post-war designers are placed throughout the apartment not as collectible artefacts but as functional elements within a living environment. Their presence recalls the vision articulated by architect Gio Ponti, who viewed the home as an organism rather than a container, a place where every object contributes to a larger equilibrium.

In this context, vintage design is understood not as nostalgia but as continuity. The project asks what remains valuable across time and how certain ideas of quality, craftsmanship and proportion continue to resonate within contemporary life.

PK21 also features works by Christos Tzivelos, presented in collaboration with RECORDS, the initiative founded by Helena Papadopoulos and Andreas Melas. Active between Athens and Paris from the 1970s until his untimely death in 1995, Tzivelos developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning drawing, installation, design and scenography, with light serving as a central material throughout his work.

Drawings, studies and notes from the 1980s reveal an artist deeply engaged with language, architecture, spatial perception and the cosmos. Their inclusion enriches the project’s broader exploration of how space can operate simultaneously as a physical, intellectual and poetic experience.

The location itself plays a subtle but important role. Although situated within walking distance of central Athens, the apartment occupies a remarkably quiet pocket of the city. Surrounded by greenery and overlooking a nearby church, it offers a perceptual distance from the urban tempo, creating a sense of suspension that transforms the experience of everyday life.

Ultimately, PK21 proposes that inhabiting a space is not simply a matter of occupying it. Through the convergence of architecture, historical design and art, the project suggests that dwelling is a relationship, one built through memory, attention and care. By reactivating a forgotten apartment and restoring its original logic, PK21 becomes both a reflection on architectural heritage and a timely meditation on what it means to live well today.

Interior Photography Alina LefaGiorgos Sfakianakis  Still life Photography Dimitris LazarouAlina Lefa  Architectural support provided by Stones & Walls  The Estate of Christos Tzivelos is represented by Akwa Ibom, Melas Martinos, and Radio Athènes