Amanzoe in Greece is a temple to luxury
Designed by the late American architect Ed Tuttle, Amanzoe, the renowned resort's Greek outpost, is a heavenly hilltop retreat in the Peloponnese
Ed Tuttle is behind the abstractly Grecian forms of Amanzoe, the celebrated hospitality brand’s Greek outpost. The backdrop to our recent summer fashion story, it is only the third Aman property in the Mediterranean (following Montenegro’s Aman Sveti Stefan and Turkey’s Amanruya). American architect Tuttle has been a defining force in the famous brand’s architectural incarnations, having designed seven of them, including the very first one, Amanpuri in Thailand in 1988. Here, on the eastern edge of the Peloponnese, a short drive from Athens, he drew on Aman’s winning combination of peace and experiential drama, as well as the location’s spirit, sea and sun, to craft a perfectly poised 38-suite destination outside the picturesque town of Porto Heli.
Amanzoe: nodding to classical Greek architecture and the landscape
The low, gentle composition is not only refreshingly clean and contemporary, featuring serene neutral colours and minimalist architecture; it also elegantly hints at classical Greek architecture, as displayed by the column and cornice detailing throughout. At the same time, the whole feels entirely embedded into its green landscape, offering 360-degree vistas towards the sea and surrounding verdant nature. Amanzoe is smartly placed at the top of a gentle hill, just a ten-minute walk from the heart of Porto Heli.
Marble and stone appear throughout, becoming a key building block in Amazoe’s architectural identity. They are ‘the most basic and noble materials of Greece’, in the words of Tuttle (who passed away at the age of 75 in 2020). There is beige-coloured Sinai Pearl Antique and dark-green Guatemala Verde marble, mixed with the region’s traditional dry stone cladding. At the same time, timber elements, such as the outdoor terraces’ pergolas, connect the spaces further to the local landscape. Amanzoe includes a handful of private villas, created in similar style, and placed alongside the hotel offering.
A version of this story appears in the June Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available now in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
Last chance to see: LFA 2023 celebrates togetherness and common ground
The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) 2023 is unfolding across the month of June, putting the spotlight on its theme, 'In common'
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Izumi Kato’s extraterrestrial sneaker sculptures invade Tiger Gallery
Japanese artist Izumi Kato unleashes otherworldly spirits to inhabit Onitsuka Tiger trainers and shoeboxes at the brand’s Tiger Gallery in London
By Emi Eleode • Published
-
Santa Maria Novella: a medieval brand enters the modern age
Founded in 1221, Santa Maria Novella is the world's oldest beauty brand, being ushered into the modern era by a new CEO
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Monument Athens is a Greek architectural icon reborn
Monument Athens is a hotel housed in a historic Greek structure redesigned by local architecture studio MPlusM
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
W Costa Navarino is a global destination with a local approach
Tombazis & Associates Architects designs W Costa Navarino, the latest addition to the luxury Peloponnese hospitality destination
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Noūs Santorini hotel is a haven of minimalism in the Greek islands
The minimalist haven that is Noūs Santorini, designed by Divercity Architects in collaboration with MPlusM, opens on the Greek Aegean island
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
A77 Suites by Andronis — Athens, Greece
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Monsieur Didot — Athens, Greece
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Andronis Arcadia — Santorini, Greece
By John O’Ceallaigh • Last updated
-
Parīlio — Paros, Greece
By Lauren Ho • Last updated
-
White Ark — Santorini, Greece
By Daven Wu • Last updated