Hydra

Hydra is one of tho­se magi­cal pla­ces like Veni­ce, Brug­ge and the temp­le districts of Kyo­to that seem to exist as inta­ct self-con­tai­ned collec­tions of his­to­ric buil­dings that are still in use. This is, in part, due to Hydra’s being an auto-free island and to the natu­ral restric­tions of its ter­rain that deter­mi­ned the limits of its orga­nic urban growth. It is, in part, due to strict buil­ding codes and con­ser­va­ti­on laws that have restric­ted the unres­trai­ned pro­li­fe­ra­ti­on of vaca­ti­on houses. But it is not to be over­loo­ked that it is the archi­tec­tu­re of the buil­dings them­sel­ves that gives Hydra its uni­que character.
It is the aim of this stu­dy to look clo­ser into the archi­tec­tu­ral ele­ments and typo­lo­gies that deter­mi­ne the mor­pho­lo­gy of Hydra’s buil­dings. To do this we have docu­men­ted a num­ber of indi­vi­du­al buil­dings and in a final sec­tion have collec­ted tho­se recur­ring ele­ments that help to make up Hydra’s architecture.
The houses shown are as a rule his­to­ri­cal but some are recent­ly con­struc­ted con­jec­tu­ral inter­pre­ta­ti­ons of the house that once stood on the site. The­se were inclu­ded to give an idea of how new con­struc­tion is inte­gra­ted into the exis­ting urban con­text. Bes­i­des domestic buil­dings we have inclu­ded examp­les of a monas­te­ry, a cha­pel, taver­na and a turn of the cen­tu­ry neo­clas­si­cal com­mer­cial buil­ding to give a bet­ter idea of other buil­ding types and their usage.