Shelters consisted of two 6-day long workshops which took place in tandem, at the Mountain Refuge of Melissourgoi and the Mountain Refuge of Pramanta, each focusing on different materials and building techniques. 

​

By virtue of both their proximity and distance from the fragile environment of vernacular settlements, Mountain Refuges seems to invite our building imagination towards creative adaptations of tradition. On the one hand, the adjacency to the settlements allows us to reflect on the significance of architectural types, as formal structures and as carriers of multiple layers of knowledge. On the other hand, the distance from those great ‘teachers’, invites us to ‘play’ and imagine the ways through which traditional techniques, natural materials and the unmediated relation to the actual work, could be identified today and thus express our current values. In this manner ‘Shelters’ are introduced as places of a ‘protected play’. During our stay, we attempted to probe contemporary interpretations of tradition’s teachings, by engaging with two different constructions. Within this framework, those willing to participate were asked to choose between two topics, concerning the practical part of the workshops:

​

A. STONE - CLAY: Rearranging the traditional wood-fired oven

​

B. WOOD: Introducing a treehouse in Tzoumerka

​

Both structures were designed with the participation of the managers of the refuges who supported the works wholeheartedly. Finally, the participants had the opportunity to attend joint lectures of technical and theoretical content around the topics of both workshops and also to meet and share their experiences in gatherings by the fire that took place almost every night.