LIKNON by K-Studio

Aiming to connect the Metaxa brand to its roots, LIKNON is located in a 100 year old vineyard in Samos, an island with a rich culture and a long tradition in high quality goods and winemaking.

In order to positively project onto its future, the brand decided to give a nostalgic look back, to celebrate its origins and unique product and highlight its most precious ingredient, the fortified sweet muscat wine.

This story could not be told in any other place than the very same ancient vineyard where Spyros Metaxas developed his precious spirits based on the fragrant notes of sweet muscat grapes, a specialty to the terroir of Samos.

Spreading beneath the traditional village of Vourliotes, 800m from the sea level and subject to the northern meltemi wind, the vineyard sprawls down the valley on a sequence of stonewall-held plateaus. This man-made productive landscape was formed by collecting and artfully placing the rocks of the site in a manner that tamed the slope into terraces that could be cultivated.

In order to root firmly to these origins, our proposal aimed to accentuate and preserve the dominant feature of the terraced landscape, by carving out a route along the stonewalls and embed enclosures throughout them. As opposed to creating a building, we peppered the terraced valley with structures that stitch onto and take a cue from the pre-existing topography, in order to guide visitors through a curated, yet spontaneous experience of sensorial activations.

The brief for a brand home that guests could visit in order to explore the locus, the values, history and heritage of Metaxa included the intention to offer an immersive experience into the vine’s environment for a thorough understanding of the past, as well as the direction of the brand. The mission of the design would be to celebrate the sense of being there and enjoying the unique qualities that distinguish Metaxa.

The story tells itself as the visitor is invited to explore the different aspects of the vineyard, from the productive processes all the way to the user’s enjoyment of the goods that arrive at a well made table.

Three key structures-checkpoints in the journey represent a distinctive quality each:
TOPOS (place), a breathtaking transverse cut through the stonewalls, is an interpretation of the pre-existing paths and steps that connect consecutive terraces. Through a deeper cut into the landscape, the visitor is brought underground, stepping into a space filled with argillic smells of the earth. Highlight of the space is the cross section of the terrain through a bespoke glass opening, where one can witness the full growth of the plant, under- and over-ground, as roots and main body are revealed, along with the terrain’s layers. Here, the qualities of terroir – intrinsic in the quality of the product, become evident in a museum-like exposition.

Second stop, CHRONOS (time), a key ingredient in the aging process of the fruit after the harvest. That concept was translated into a Metaxa cellar, where special casks are kept to develop the unique products of the brand. The visitor can taste their evolution through time and get to know the differentiated characteristics in color and taste.

The final stop would be the Metaxa Bar, an area to relax and sample the finest distillations. The outside terrace complements the experience, with its hanging pergola, woven with vines, where delicacies of Samos are generously served, in order to showcase the broader culture of handmade-ness and conviviality that infuse the Metaxa spirit.

The walkthrough unravels among the vines, overground and underground, closely to all the elements that compose the terroir, the special conditions that define soil and plant. Throughout this journey the building is present in different configurations around the guest: under, over, next to, in subtle presence woven into the vineyard surroundings.

By employing the original craftsmanship of stone-stacking, as seen in Samos, we managed to recreate the spontaneity of the landscape in geometry and materiality, to blend into the valley with a roughness and dynamic borrowed from the natural and traditional productive landscape.

In LIKNON, the vine is the protagonist, and the traditional concept of a building dissolves into a walkthrough and an exploration around the vine’s habitat. Rather than a building, it is a landscape, where the visitor wanders around and under the vines’ birthplace, submerges underground in order to get in touch with the history of the brand through an interactive experience and a series of sensory activations. Together with the experience in the Kifisia premises, LIKNON showcases not only the origins of Metaxa, but also the continuation and expansion of its production circle beyond its limits, through experimental new products and practices, as well as the exciting exploration of the drink’s textures when it is found in a table with local goods.

• Other landscape architecture offices involved in the design of the landscape:
FYTRON landscape – Petsangourakis Michalis

• Architecture offices involved in the design:
K-Studio

• Other credits:
K-Studio Design Team: Dimitris Karampatakis, Christos Spetseris, Stavros Kotsikas, Marina Leventaki, Achilleas Pliakos, Argyris Mavronikolas, Arianna Mechili, Dimitris Eleftheriadis, Myrsini Ziogou, Christina Charistou, Konstantinos Stergiopoulos, Natassa Kallou, Thalia Sachinidi, Antonis Tzortzis
3D Visualization: Bakagiannis Pavlos
Branding Designer: BLOSSOM ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS
Project Management: CONJEKT
Surveyor: Georgoudis Michalis, Palaiokastritis Yannis
Planning Consultant: Palaiokastritis Yannis
Structural Consultant: Elliniki Meletitiki – Aggelos Ladas
Mechanical Engineer: CONAP – Andreas Psaroudakis
Lighting Designer: LAST – Lighting Architecture Studio – Aris Klonizakis
Landscape Designer: FYTRON landscape – Petsangourakis Michalis
AV Consultant and Supplier: Panou Systems
Kitchen Supplier: XENEX S.A., Inoxland
Main contractor: BALLIAN
Photographer: Nikos Daniilidis, Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (BREBA)