Page 64 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAGAZINE 2025

DESIGN

The Next Act: Myconian Circe
And now, Kalogridis turns his
attention to what may be his
most immersive project yet:
Hotel Circe. Named after the
legendary enchantress of
Homer’s Odyssey, Circe will be
the seventh Myconian Collection
property in Elia — and its first
and only true beachfront hotel
there. Nestled just behind the
group’s private beach enclave,
Circe is set to redefine coastal
luxury on Mykonos. Vast,
seamless glass façades will erase
the boundaries between interior
and exterior, offering guests
unbroken views of Elia’s hypnotic
bay. Designed to dissolve into its
setting rather than impose upon
it, Circe will embody a sense of
liquid minimalism — where light,
sea, and architecture move as
one. The name is no accident.
Manifest OF LIGHT Kalogridis explains. “It should ground In myth, Circe was a sorceress,
a weaver of illusions and
you in the present while inspiring you
hands, the hotel becomes a
to move forward. It must feel real — transformations. In Kalogridis’
Antonis Kalogridis, an acclaimed visionary in and at the same time, possible.” space of quiet metamorphosis
At Myconian O, this manifests
— a retreat that invites you to
the world of design-led hospitality, sets trends as "slow luxury": earthy textures, pause, reflect, and reimagine
open-air living, Hellenic restraint,
your path.
and shapes the future — offering a distinct and barefoot elegance. The resort “The greatest privilege in
travel,” he says, “is not choosing
opens directly onto the beach,
perspective on what true luxury means today. allowing guests to drift from sea to the destination, but choosing
suite as if following a tide of their what that place means to you.”
own. It is luxury reimagined not as Kalogridis’ design ethos echoes
THOUGH ANTONIS KALOGRIDIS is and contemporary refinement. opulence, but as clarity. By contrast, that idea. Each of his hotels is
a celebrated figure in contemporary More recently, his continued Panoptis Escape is perched high less about location and more
hospitality, he continues to see partnership with the Myconian above the bay — a wild, windswept about meaning. You may arrive
himself primarily as a theatre Collection has produced some sanctuary. There, the light shifts to celebrate or to heal, to
director. And indeed, there is of the most evocative retreats in constantly, casting long shadows over begin something new or to let
something inherently theatrical the Mediterranean: the tactile handcrafted stone and natural wood. something go. Whatever the
about his work — not in its artifice, sophistication of Myconian O in Every villa is distinct, crafted with reason, his spaces are built not
but in its orchestration. Every hotel Ornos Bay, and the elemental, almost unpredictable textures and colours just to host, but to hold. In an
he touches becomes a carefully monastic luxury of Panoptis Escape that reflect Mykonos at its most raw industry often obsessed with
choreographed stage upon which above Elia Beach. and poetic. Both properties are excess, Antonis Kalogridis offers
guests can rediscover themselves. Both projects — though radically studies in contrast — sea and sky, sun something far rarer: resonance.
The script is unwritten. The setting, different in tone and altitude — are and stone — but they share a deep His hotels do not shout. They
however, is unforgettable. His united by Kalogridis’ unwavering connection to place. All materials listen. And in doing so, they
earlier collaborations with Myconian commitment to natural materials, are sourced locally. Every item, from remind us that true luxury lies not
Collection Hotels & Resorts include emotional space, and the unspoken carved marble to woven raffia, is in accumulation, but in intention
the striking design of Avaton, dialogue between human presence shaped by Greek artisans. Nothing — in the quiet, powerful
Imperial, Royal, Utopia, and Villa and landscape. is generic. Nothing is arbitrary. Each realisation that you are exactly
Collection, each reflecting a unique “Interior design must help space exists in conversation with the where you need to be.•
harmony between Cycladic tradition people see clearly in all directions,” island itself.

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