Kastro

Kastro Kastro (castle in Greek), is in the island of Sifnos, in the Aegean Sea, a tiny medieval village built like a castle to protect itself from invaders. It is an exceptionally beautiful place built on top of a rock surrounded by the sea. Today almost abandoned by its inhabitants, only some old people still stay there, as the houses are no more suitable for modern life. Tourism business takes advantage of this marvellous setting and has become the only source of income . A witness of the passing of time, the place leads to a comparison between life of today and of the past: aesthetics, scale and functionality of habitat and neighbourhood, sense of community, relation between the city and nature. One of the things that struck me was the school: just one single room with a courtyard and a tree, with view to the sea, so simple and basic. In spite of the abandonment, the place is still alive and awaits new functions and uses, new inhabitants. At the same time so bold with its history and so fragile against modern technology, I wonder how it will resist in the future.