Optimist Eyewear, Greece by 314 Architecture
creative design by the athens based firm. m.
designed by athens-based 314 architecture studio, the optical shop ‘c_29 / optimist’, is part of an interwar listed building, and encompasses a total surface 90 square meters. located in the centre of chalkida, greece, the space is airy and expands along the central market and the back courtyard / patio which is formed in the core of the building. the edifice itself is a composite construction with the ground floor being made of bearing masonry and the two floors of reinforced concrete and filling brickwork.
the main design aspect was the creation of a gradient technique in the texture of materiality in order to emphasize the reflection and the absorbance of light. this gradient tool continues to exist and plays a significant role even to the choice of materials, resulting in their sound existence or their theoretical absence in the formed space. some utilitarian objects were transformed into prismatic sculptures.