AFRODITI BONATSOU

At Kifissia, a beautiful suburb of Athens.

by Dimitra Dimitriou

Where, 7 years ago, she hosted her own architectural firm. Where she spends most of her day, fulfilling her dreams. Afroditi Bonatsou, from an early age knew she wanted to practice architecture. She loves interfering with what surrounds her and altering other people’s routine. Her studio such as her home follow the same architectural style, especially over the clear lines, spaces and materials. The cozy decoration and the arrangement of different objects, balance with the chosen color palette. She is attracted by modern and contemporary design, keeping the limits loose between the different styles. Our photographs reveal her love for natural materials, but she loves even more the fact that they are flawed. She strongly believes that perfection is hidden in the imperfections, so to objects as to people. Hotels are among her favorite projects, even though during her career as an architect she has a wide variety of projects. One of her biggest goals is to achieve in architecture with her team abroad. In her kitchen, we spotted a collection of souvenir cups from all over the world. She feels like a real tourist and if she had to choose something from her studio, it would be the souvenirs, because “it’s a way of keeping alive the memories from my trips!”. Her excitement for traveling can’t be easily hidden. She constantly organises her next trip and she truly believes that it’s the only way to broaden your mind and observe many things from a different perspective.

A typical day of hers, can’t be described in just a paragraph. Her job is highly demanding and an ordinary 24h day, seems like a few seconds to her. When she comes back home, her husband and their cat are waiting for her. Nevertheless, her studio often becomes her home, with her favorite hideout being her own office. During summer, she’ll either find herself at the studio or in her garden. The location of her studio creates two parallel but different situations. The front side on the busy central road of Kifissia, is the “big city” and noisy side. At the rear side, where her tension is relieved, one can hear birds singing and feel like being in a provincial town, surrounded by greenery and small houses. While we were taking the last photographs of Afroditi, a good, old friend and working partner of her, visited her studio. It was meant to be our next “hideout” host, showing us his most personal space. we can only reveal his name: Andreas, he’s a collector and he wears two rings on the small and on the ring finger. “The Hideout Project” is a unique experience, which gives you the opportunity to meet people with interesting and creative jobs and occupations, discovering where the true inspiration really hides”, Afroditi. Maybe, in a simple answer can’t be hidden every aspect of a project, created by words and images. That’s what is charming about it, the multiple points of view that one can translate art.

When «The Hideout Project» first started, the most difficult part was to describe what the actual concept was about. Two years later, the most difficult part seems to have become the easy one, through your way of expressing it.