“For the Greeks good life is a Grand Life”
Nafsika Efklidou is an architect, currently based in the Netherlands.
Born in Thessaloniki (Greece) in 1990, she graduated Cum Laude from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2014. Between 2014-2016, she studied at the Berlage Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design, based in Delft University of Technology.
Her thesis project at the Berlage -a 1:20, ten-storey tall dollhouse- is an exploration into how a banal -yet massively widespread- building type can be rhetorically and through design transformed into a utopia. By employing humour as design tool and by establishing a new aesthetic iconography she projects how ordinary domestic interiors capture the essence of good life in such a cultural context as her home one. Before the Berlage, she worked with the architect Giorgos Papayannopoulos, where -over a period of three years- she documented the Archive of the architect Elias Papayannopoulos (b.1939-d.1998) including drawings, paintings, texts, books, photos, models, publications. Outcome of this project has been a book as well as articles in Greek journals.
Her interests focus on the cultural (intellectual?) role of the architect within contemporary society, and how this role informs the way we practice, make drawings, build models, write texts and make films for projects, ranging from objects and interiors to buildings and landscapes.
Education
09/2014 - 01/2016
The Berlage. Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture and Urban Design.
Delft University of Technology.
MSc Berlage Master in Architecture and Urban Design
10/2008 - 07/2014
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Diploma of Architect Engineer (Cum Laude, 9.38/10)
Professional Experience
03/2011-07/2014
Giorgos Papayannopoulos Architectural Office. Athens, Greece.
Monograph of the architect Elias Papayannopoulos.
Documentation of Elias Papayannopoulos Archive. Documentaiton of architectural drawings, paintings, texts, books, photos, publications. Interviews with Dimitris Katzourakis, Tasos Mpiris, Giorgos Provelegios, Agni Kouvela, Dimitris Fatouros, Stelios Zairopoulos, Antonis Apergis. Site visits to buildings designed by Elias Papayannopoulos.
3-14/8/2009
KA Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. Santorini, Greece
Volunteer work
Documentation of architectural pieces of prehistoric tomb.
Workshops
03-16/07/2015
'Intervening Rokin'.
Summer School Thinking City 2015. Beyond Resilience.
R.van Herpt, N. de Groot, T. Deutinger, G. Margheri, M. Kanters.
University of Amsterdam.
N. Efklidou (GR), with J. Cheon (KR), J. Diringer (DE), M. Gubic (RS),
J. Izquierdo (ES), T. Kaye (UK), C. Lubell (CA), N. Mullenger (UK),
M. Nghiem (VN), F. Scarduelli (IT), K. Zhang (CN).
http://interveningrokin.tumblr.com
16-27/03/2015
'12 Acts of Demolition'.
The Berlage Spring Masterclass 2015.
AMO/OMA, I. Pestellini Laparelli, J. Bystrykh and S. Petermann.
Act 1: Demolicratisation. The politics of representing demolition.
N. Efklidou (GR), with A.L. Friel (IT)
http://www.12actsofdemolition.com
10-21/11/2014
'Architecture Without Architects. Architects without Architecture?'.
The Berlage Design Masterclass 2014.
B. van Berkel, C. Veddeler (UN Studio), T. Avermaete, H. Teerds (TU Delft)
The Idea Machine
N. Efklidou (GR), with A. Gerasimova (RU), N. Morkoc (NL), M. De Vries (NL)
11-20/01/2012
'CITY CRACKS! Architecture in the cracks of the city'.
School of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
First Architecture Biennale Thessaloniki.