We come out onto Anexartisias Street — now considered the main shopping street. But this is one of the younger streets of the old Limassol: according to Tasos Andreou, it’s about 100 years old. Originally called Macedonian Street, it got the new name after the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960: “Anexartisia” means “independence” in Greek.The newly opened NYX Hotel building on the corner overhangs this street, which is small as a brook in its beginning.
The renovation project of the hotel, which has been there since the 1980s, was handled by the Greek bureau Tsolakis Architects. Their plan was for the building to be much lower and spiral, inspired by the natural tendency of plants to reach for the sun. The final version, as you can see, differs significantly from the original and is a curious example how the architectural heritage of Cyprus of the 1970s continues inspire the early twenties of the 21st century.
Looking on the left, we see on the street the Havaianas shop — its first floor is decorated with vertical concrete shutters that limit the access of sunlight. The architects of the hotel took this brise-soleil element as a basis, sketching vertical partitions on the facade. Thanks to them, the NYX looks from the seaside boulevard like a huge Chinese lantern, glowing with elegant slits.
The modernist architecture that shaped the early years of Cyprus as an independent state is back in game again!
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