SOULFUL HUMANS: Ariadne Karapidakis, Young Architect, Athens, Greece

Monday, April 2, 2012

Ariadne Karapidakis, Young Architect, Athens, Greece

Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

Ariadne Karapidakis: "My dad, my initial source of inspiration, was continuously challenging me and made me believe that nothing is impossible "

"Brick as a module" plaster model - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP: Who are you? And who you really are?

Ariadne Karapidakis: Raised and based in Athens, educated in London in the field of Architecture, with a strong interest in urbanism, I am Ariadni Karapidakis, 26.

I‘m Adaptive, restless and always in pursuit of creating an emotional response through whatever I do. One of the philosophies I follow is that the whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning… keeping that in mind makes me a better person.

Sports complex proposal, Refshaloen, Copenhagen - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP: If you could say something important to others who were listening, what would you tell them?

Ariadne Karapidakis: Through my exposure in life, I noticed that it’s never about resources, but all about resourcefulness. Translating this into design, the best thing for a designer is always to have something cooking in the corner. And then when the planets line up, to have something ready.

Bath house proposal in West Cumbria, UK - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

Bath house proposal in West Cumbria, UK - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP: What is your true dream, the one that keeps you up at night and if one day it were to come true you would feel peace and calmness in your heart?

Ariadne Karapidakis: Designing myself, is my life’s project.
The brief is to offer to humanity someone that is successfully labored in the normal circle of life, but ultimately, someone that helped society advance by leaving something significant behind. Guess I will never know what that is, until the very end, and that’s what fuels the fire in my heart. And as the Little Prince said: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”.

Bath house proposal in West Cumbria, UK - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP: How is life currently for the people in your country and what would you wish for them and for the planet at large?

Ariadne Karapidakis: The whole planet is facing many difficulties nowadays. Both economical, but also environmental. The people in my country are suffering from salary deductions, job cut outs and many more that we never thought would happen. It is very sad to see people at the verge of poverty while the percentage of depression has increased dramatically. However, I believe that Greeks have been tested before in old times and have managed to “resurrect” . Maybe it’s the warmth of our country, the beauty and the sun that keeps us going and God’s will.

I wish that these difficult moments will pass through and that people around the globe will start thinking with their hearts.

A traditional British pele tower model - plaster and card - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP : If you had a chance to be a child again would you choose the same life?

Ariadne Karapidakis: Reminiscent of all the good and bad times of my life so far, one thing is certain: I would follow the same path again.

Ariadne Karapidakis working on her projects

Perspective section of the bath house - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

An alternative sectional journey through spaces - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

1 BPP: What was the exact moment that you realized what you wanted to do with your life? How did you feel at this very moment?

Ariadne Karapidakis: My parents told me that, during my childhood, I used to be very creative and I always tried to make things look better. My dad, my initial source of inspiration, was continuously challenging me and made me believe that nothing is impossible. It was when he saw my first drawings as a kid and showed his approval and admiration that I realized architecture is my fate.

Greek Bar proposal, Glyfada, Athens - Image courtesy: Ariadne Karapidakis

BPP: Would you like to tell us something we didn’t ask until now?

Ariadne Karapidakis: We are all works of art, or, perhaps more accurately, works of architecture with those three essential elements of core, frame and envelope.

It is said that we are all three different people: the person we think we are (the one we have invented), the person other people think we are (the impression we make) and the person we think other people think we are (the one we fret about). You could say it would be a lifetime's quest to reconcile this battling trinity into a seamless whole.