doudesis kolonaki

The existing well established hair salon of known hairdresser Georgios Doudesis, in the heart of Kolonaki area of down town Athens, was completely redesigned, both in function and aesthetics; with the intention of being a very hip ‘talk-of-the-town’ space, not similar to any other shop in the area.

One enters the hair salon in a lower part, encountering the reception desk and the toilets. On the elevated level are the hairdressing and hair washing areas. Finally a more separated mezzanine houses supplementary functions such as pedicure and manicure spaces.

An atmosphere of designed contradiction was created: a clear monolithic space with a characteristic glittery plaster, encloses many elements of a decorative nature: lights, furniture, accessories etc. The shop is partly ‘overdesigned’ to emphasize luxury, and partly left as it was found to create less formality, such as the cracked terrazzo cement floor and the ‘bleached’ wenge wooden furniture.

The ceiling participates by combining the functional light and ventilation with the decorative lighting fixtures, again on a background of black glitter plaster. This attitude of relaxed luxury continues in the toilets, which are clad with gold wallpapers, protected by glass, always combined with the existing cement floor

The elevation opens completely towards the street. Apart from the name of the shop the only intervention is a series of LED light refering to the glittery plaster inside the shop. This way the lower entrance part of the elevation functions as a shop window and the higher part of the elevation shows directly the hairdressing area. Every passer-bye can see the hairdresser at work.