This thesis project is placed in the small settlement of Sampatiki in municipality of South Kinouria in the regional unit of Arcadia and considers the implementation of ecotourism through the location of a bio-climatic settlement of temporary residence with cooperative character. The selection of the intervention area and the chosen techniques of construction aim at the environmental, cultural, financial and social upgrading and promotion of the study area.

Eco-tourism contributes to sustainable development of local communities. By sustainable development is defined the type of development that not just aims at financial growth, but also at the protection of the environment, the cultural promotion and the integration of tradition in the modern lifestyle.

Eco-Settlement, Arcadia

Academic Journal

Arcadia is a historical place, the generator cradle of Greek mythology, a wild and imposing natural landscape full of protected settlements and rich cultural tradition. The coastal settlement which is chosen, is located 6 km from Leonidio, inhabited by only 50 people and surrounded by an olive grove.

The on-spot investigation highlighted significantly different problems in which answers can be given trough the goals that the design has set. The new settlement is composed by the street and the square, archetypal elements of a residential development, and on either side of them, the houses and the complementary uses are attached, fully adapted to the natural landscape. To support external activities, walking routes are provided, a small pier for marine activities and an outdoor theater.

Crucial designing element was the choice of the residence types which complete the new settlement. The three types, Gamma type, linear type and the tower, derived from the investigation of the patois of traditional arcadian architecture which transcribed in modern terms. Alongside, the individual residence types didn’t treated as ‘’an autonomous residence”, but as a cell-element which its sequential development could organize a wing.

Finally, the square, which functions as a "joint" between the wings of the settlement, is surrounded by a public building housing auxiliary uses to the operation of the new and the existing settlement.