In November 2011, the house of C.A. Doxiadis at Porto Rafti was demolished, part of the Apollonio community the architect built at the end of his life as a recreation of a traditional Cycladic island village. Perhaps the architect’s greatest work was destroyed.

I have written a brief description of the incident, as well as a description of my biographical project, that has been published in a special issue of Ekistics and the New Habitat. The issue is dedicated to the memory of Panayis Psomopoulos, a significant figure in the history of ekistics, “the science of human settlements” created by Doxiadis in the 1950s and 1960s. The new Ekistics journal is a successor to the original publication founded by Doxiadis.

You can find the article behind the paywall of the journal website. Below is the reference and DOI.

Blackman, H. (2022). The Demolition at Porto Rafti: Retracing Doxiadis’ Remarkable Life and Contested Legacy. [Special Issue] Ekistics-related research – A Critical Approach to the Ekistics Legacy. Ekistics and the New Habitat, 82(1), 91-94. https://doi.org/10.53910/26531313-E2022821464.

In the weeks to come I will also be writing about the Porto Rafti house in The World Planner, the Doxiadis-themed section of The Usonian newsletter.

Thank you, as always, for reading.