Sound Tower: Reimagining Karystos through sound, space, and urban harmony
This project began with an exploration of Karystos through the act of listening. The town revealed itself not only through its physical form but through the layered sounds of waves colliding with the harbour walls, church bells resonating across the streets, and conversations drifting from its markets. These sonic impressions uncovered hidden rhythms of identity and belonging, while also exposing tensions between harmony and intrusion. By mapping how both locals and visitors experienced these sounds, the project developed the idea of a “Path to Urban Harmony,” a framework that considered sound as a design tool to balance cultural presence and environmental resilience.
From these foundations, the project evolved into an urban masterplan that embedded sound into civic life. Sound towers, libraries, amphitheaters, and elevated pathways were imagined as architectural instruments, each amplifying positive sounds while buffering disruptive ones. The masterplan aimed to weave natural and cultural rhythms into the urban fabric, proposing a new relationship between the town, its landscape, and its people.
The journey culminated in the Karystos Sound Tower, conceived as a porous landmark where wind, rain, bells, and voices are drawn into echo chambers, whisper galleries, and balconies before returning to the city. More than a building, it is envisioned as an interface between culture and environment, transforming sound into shared memory and collective experience.
