John Kanakas is the Founder of Direction Architects based in Athens and London. The office is working in a variety of innovative and sustainable projects.
Direction Architects, is an international Architecture & Design award winning practice, based in Athens & London. It was founded by John Kanakas, with the vision to create living environments, that aim to make people rethink and question their ways of inhabiting everyday spaces.
On a broader framework our projects attempt to create experiential spaces that provoke new forms of existence and new ways of living. Our formalistic approach aims to awake our deeper consciousness and initiate a discourse across different fields.
Our projects vary in program and scale, while approaching each one with the same sensibility and design ethos. Our strong formalistic approach creates captivating experiential spaces.
At Direction, we believe that architectural form derives from a combination of parameters that relate to site specific conditions. Every project is addressed by examining a sum of factors that relate to topographical, environmental and social drivers. As a result, each design proposal has unique design and material characteristics inspired by its local environment.
Our practice is rooted in sustainability and landform architecture. Passive design strategies are also part of our design process. In several cases, our projects aim to merge the boundaries between the built and the natural environment. In fact, with sustainable elements such as green roofs, ramps and vertical gardens, we aim to create a larger green footprint than the plot land area of the site.
Innovative construction technologies and new materials are always part of our design thinking strategies. We constantly question our strong formalistic design approach with new design techniques and construction processes, in order to come up with the most optimal outcomes, while implementing the fastest production methods and techniques.
John Kanakas is a Greek-British Architect with Cypriot origins, born in Athens and lived more than a decade in London. Prior to founding Direction Architects, operating between Athens and London, he gained a vast experience, working at Zaha Hadid Architects and Foster + Partners. John received his Part 1, 2 & 3 from the Architectural Association and he is a registered and RIBA Chartered Architect in the UK and Greece.
John is passionate about the relationship between architecture and society and how the built environment in relation to site specific conditions, cultural factors and local parameters influences our cities, our communities and the spaces we live in. His work operates at the intersection between architecture and philosophy, while in the same time they have a strong social character.