Maria Vidali Architect

22/06/2026

Deeply moved yesterday at the invitation of the new book by my dear friend, Eleni Gikakis.
Proud of her journey and grateful that, for so many years, she has been a source of light, inspiration, and meaningful connection in my life.
Wishing this book a wonderful journey ahead. May it illuminate many minds and touch many hearts.

21/06/2026

A week of embodiments, dialogue, and learning.

My heartfelt thanks to Loukia Tsafoulia and Severino Alfonso for such a meaningful and inspiring experience.

It was a privilege not only to participate in Embodiments, but also to follow the presentations, conversations, and exhibition that emerged from this remarkably creative week. What stayed with me most was the opportunity to engage with all my senses, and with different ways of perceiving, experiencing, and interpreting the world.

The discussions around neurodiversity reminded me that understanding human diversity is not simply a matter of inclusion; it is an invitation to recognise the richness and complexity of the narratives we share and the multiple realities through which we experience the world. Every perspective reveals another layer of reality, another possible reading of space, experience, and interaction—expanding the narratives through which we understand ourselves, one another, and the urban worlds we collectively inhabit.

11/06/2026

03/06/2026

Walking as Sensory Method: Narrative Approaches to Urban Experience
Με ιδιαίτερη χαρά συμμετέχω στο Embodiments | Ενσώματες Αντιλήψεις: Τέχνη, Ατμόσφαιρες & Αισθητηριακοί Κόσμοι με το εργαστήριο:
Περπατώντας ως αισθητηριακή μέθοδος: Αφηγηματικές προσεγγίσεις στην αστική εμπειρία
Πώς μπορεί το περπάτημα να λειτουργήσει ως μέθοδος παρατήρησης, αφήγησης και ερμηνείας της πόλης;
Μέσα από αισθητηριακές και αφηγηματικές προσεγγίσεις, το εργαστήριο διερευνά τους τρόπους με τους οποίους οι καθημερινές διαδρομές, οι ατμόσφαιρες, οι μνήμες και οι ιστορίες συμβάλλουν στη διαμόρφωση της αστικής εμπειρίας.
Ανυπομονώ να συμμετάσχω σε αυτή τη σημαντική διοργάνωση και να συναντήσω ανθρώπους που ενδιαφέρονται για τις σχέσεις σώματος, χώρου, αντίληψης και αφήγησης.
📍 Μετρό Κεραμεικος, έξοδος στη Δεκελέων.
📅 16 Ιουνίου 2026, 09:30 πμ
Για πληροφορίες σχετικά με το πρόγραμμα και τις εγγραφές, δείτε τον σύνδεσμο: https://www.synestheticdesignlab.com/embodiments-athens-2026-greek.
UrbanExperience Architecture Atmospheres athens

03/06/2026

Walking as Sensory Method: Narrative Approaches to Urban Experience
Με ιδιαίτερη χαρά συμμετέχω στο Embodiments | Ενσώματες Αντιλήψεις: Τέχνη, Ατμόσφαιρες & Αισθητηριακοί Κόσμοι με το εργαστήριο:
Περπατώντας ως αισθητηριακή μέθοδος: Αφηγηματικές προσεγγίσεις στην αστική εμπειρία
Πώς μπορεί το περπάτημα να λειτουργήσει ως μέθοδος παρατήρησης, αφήγησης και ερμηνείας της πόλης;
Μέσα από αισθητηριακές και αφηγηματικές προσεγγίσεις, το εργαστήριο διερευνά τους τρόπους με τους οποίους οι καθημερινές διαδρομές, οι ατμόσφαιρες, οι μνήμες και οι ιστορίες συμβάλλουν στη διαμόρφωση της αστικής εμπειρίας.
Ανυπομονώ να συμμετάσχω σε αυτή τη σημαντική διοργάνωση και να συναντήσω ανθρώπους που ενδιαφέρονται για τις σχέσεις σώματος, χώρου, αντίληψης και αφήγησης.
📍 Μετρό Κεραμεικού, έξοδος στη Δεκελέων.
📅 16 Ιουνίου 2026, 09:30 πμ
Για πληροφορίες σχετικά με το πρόγραμμα και τις εγγραφές, δείτε τον σύνδεσμο: https://www.synestheticdesignlab.com/embodiments-athens-2026-greek.

01/06/2026

"The micro/world communities/microcosm of plants, fungi, bacteria, animal and insect life can teach us something if only we are prepared to listen. Our conceptual boundaries between 'us and them' need to be seen not as dividing walls, but as spaces of negotiation and development. The environment is not a 'machine to be fixed,' but a whole in which we humans are imbedded."
Photo: Rita Filippousi

Vidali, Maria,“Boundaries and Bonds in a Boundless World: The Relationship of Place and Community to Landscape.” In Architectural Thinking in a Climate Emergency, edited by S. Pelsmakers and J. B. Brown, pp. 242–258. Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.

17/05/2026

“Expanded aesthetics” can be found in everyday practices — not only in the architectural object itself.

Yesterday, at the conference of the Hellenic Society for Aesthetics at the School of Architecture of NTUA, the discussion turned once again to Kampos in Tinos — a place I have been researching for many years, where traces of this lived aesthetics remain vivid in the island’s traditionally inhabited villages, through everyday practices, memory, and people’s relationship with space.

Photo: Rita Filippousi · Map: Ronda Quetglas

tinos cyclades greekarchitecture vernaculararchitecture

14/05/2026

In Smardakito, Tinos, beauty lies in simplicity.
Every structure has a purpose, every detail a meaning.
Built from local materials and shaped by daily life, this is architecture where function and memory become form.

I am especially happy to share that my article on Smardakito has recently been accepted for publication in Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review by the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments.
A small but meaningful recognition for a place of remarkable architectural and cultural significance.

14/05/2026

In Smardakito, Tinos, beauty lies in simplicity.
Every structure has a purpose, every detail a meaning.
Built from local materials and shaped by daily life, this is architecture where function and memory become form.

I am especially happy to share that my article on Smardakito has recently been accepted for publication in Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review by the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments.
A small but meaningful recognition for a place of remarkable architectural and cultural significance.

10/05/2026

Stone is not simply a material.
It is memory, weight, shelter, boundary, ground.
We build with it, lean against it, walk on it, live beside it for centuries — and still rarely ask what it teaches us.
Every surface holds a different time, a different texture of earth.
Stone reminds us that architecture begins long before design: with touch, gravity, patience, and the human need to belong somewhere.
MariaVidaliArchitect