{"id":301,"date":"2025-07-11T19:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T16:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/jrn350-su25\/?p=301"},"modified":"2025-07-26T12:59:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T09:59:33","slug":"the-architecture-of-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/jrn350-su25\/2025\/07\/11\/the-architecture-of-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"The Architecture of Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a Cycladic island reimagined for profit, a realtor tries to preserve what made it livable.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

By Valerio Castellini<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
A restaurant in Aliki, Paros. 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People don’t have the same patience that they used to have. Then everything has to happen fast, and we change ourselves as people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sophia Katsipi sits behind a glass desk in her real estate agency in Parikia, the capital of Paros. The sun-bleached white walls of the office make it bright, faithful to the muted geometries of Cycladic architecture. \u201cI renovated this myself,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is my kind of input. I’d like to see more buildings like this.\u201d A simple rectangular plan, minimalistic interior, and small, wooden windows. A style that has evolved over the centuries, as a result of the climatic demands of the islands. Sipping on an espresso while her white poodle circles the chairs, she mused about the island\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople from France, Switzerland, Belgium, northern Italy\u2014they came here for the culture. They maintained the look of the island, they appreciated the traditional buildings,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey passed on that same kind of culture to the next generation.\u201d These visitors often stayed for months, eventually buying homes. Some relocated permanently. Most came in May or September, well before the streets of the island towns began to buckle under peak-season traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that was before Paros became an investment product. \u201cThe majority of investors, at the moment, look at the yielding,\u201d said Katsipi. \u201cThey are not here to actually live on the island. They\u2019re here to develop, sell, go\u2014or redevelop, go again. They don\u2019t really care about the effect on the island.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, a wave of short-term investors, often with no plans to live on the island, are reshaping the market. Their priority is yield: building large, eye-catching villas\u2014preferably with pools\u2014to flip for profit or monetise through high-end rentals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cParos is like a mini market,\u201d she says. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a brand name. I’m not sure what type of tourism we want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This shift has profound implications\u2014not only for what is being built, but for whom Greece is attracting. \u201cI don\u2019t think culture has any connection with money,\u201d she adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the center of this transformation is a paradox. The more Greece tries to grow its tourism economy, the more it risks losing the very attributes that once made it attractive: affordability, authenticity, and embeddedness. What\u2019s vanishing is not only traditional architecture or artisanal pottery, but a form of tourism that was socially and economically symbiotic. What Katsipi calls \u201ccultured tourism\u201d is being priced out\u2014by policy decisions as much as by property sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don’t have the same patience that they used to have. Then everything has to happen fast, and we change ourselves as people,\u201d Sophia explains, building on years of observing clients go through her office. \u201cThe majority today comes as investors, they look at the yielding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The reasons for this shift are multiple. With national and regional authorities slow to regulate construction and incapable of consistent enforcement, island professionals have found themselves standing in for absent institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, Greece received over <\/span>35.9 million international visitors<\/span><\/a>\u2014more than three times the country\u2019s population. <\/span>Total tourism spending reached \u20ac21.6 billion<\/span><\/a>, making the sector one of the country’s most vital economic engines. But on the Cycladic frontlines, those tasked with translating demand into homes, stays, and space are increasingly unsure of what kind of tourism they are building toward.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to educate,\u201d Katsipi says. \u201cYou might have a person that comes and says, \u2018I want to build a villa with five-meter windows,\u2019\u201d she explains. Architectural guidelines in Paros and surrounding islands restrict window widths to prevent oversized, floor\u2011to\u2011ceiling glazing that can disrupt the Cubic white forms of Cycladic architecture. However, often these rules are bent\u2014small illegal acts that accumulate across the landscape, slowly eroding its visual rhythm. \u201cEven if you manage illegally to do something like this […] when you look at the island afterwards, it will look like a suburb of Athens,\u201d concludes Katsipi.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the current building spree, local realtors are left to navigate the gaps. \u201cIf the architect says, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll fix it,\u2019 who am I?\u201d Katsipi asks. \u201cThis job is difficult. You are always in between too many people\u2014 lawyers, notaries, engineers. […]\u00a0 There\u2019s only so much we can do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, many try. Katsipi helped co-found the island\u2019s Realtors Association to promote ethical practices and defend against what she calls the \u201cillogical logic\u201d of state policy. In an industry where \u201cmy word is my signature\u201d used to suffice, she now insists on contracts, disclosure, and transparency. \u201cA business that\u2019s not only for today, but for long-lasting, is based on ethics,\u201d emphasises Katsipi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowhere is the state\u2019s contradiction more visible than in its approach to swimming pools. In Paros, private pools are banned outside town settlements\u2014nominally to preserve water. Yet they remain legal within towns, where density is higher and infrastructure often weaker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Katsipi says. \u201cOutside town, in 8,000 square meters of land, you can build 280 square meters and have maybe three pools, max. But inside town, you can divide into 1,000-meter plots, build much more, and have four pools. It doesn\u2019t make sense that it\u2019s for water preservation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More broadly, this kind of prohibition, she argues, doesn\u2019t reduce water use\u2014it just fuels informal workarounds. Shallow \u201csplash pools\u201d are dug, then quietly deepened once the final checks have been conducted at the end of the construction process. Engineers are asked to certify legality, or to look the other way. Buyers are told not to worry.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s prohibition that doesn\u2019t correspond to legality,\u201d she says. \u201cIt just creates another wave of illegality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And who gets to build legally, with full amenities? Hotels. Large developments. The very entities most capable of negotiating exceptions. \u201cWhat you\u2019re creating is cartel tourism,\u201d she says. \u201cYou take the pools away from the normal villas where people come to for […] a bit of peace and tranquillity.\u201d Tourists that are just looking for relaxation, that do not cram the streets. \u201cHotels have the right to build 30 rooms, each room with a pool,\u201d Katsipi explains, raising the contradiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The real matter is that the island needs to decide what they wish to receive. Elite tourism? Mass tourism? Something in between? It has become clear that it is not possible to do everything at once.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beneath these debates lies a deeper one about social sustainability. The form of tourism now prevailing in places like Paros has grown beyond unbalanced. It has become extractive.<\/span><\/p>\n

When wealthy investors flip homes for profit, the local economy doesn\u2019t grow\u2014it inflates. Teachers and nurses can\u2019t find housing. Essential services workers commute from other islands. Meanwhile, those who do buy homes are increasingly absent. \u201cThere\u2019s a class of buyers who don\u2019t even want to be here in August,\u201d Katsipi notes. \u201cThey come in May-June or September-October. The rest of the time, the house sits empty\u2014or is on Airbnb.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not development. It is simply exponential growth. The distinction matters. Growth adds numbers. Development builds systems. At the moment, Greece has a surplus of the former and a deficit of the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Katsipi and others, the future of tourism in Greece won\u2019t be determined by one regulation or one real estate deal. It will depend on whether the country\u2014and especially its islands\u2014can resist the temptation to sell everything to everyone. It will require choosing, clearly and collectively, the kind of tourism that is worth sustaining.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to have diversity,\u201d Katsipi says. \u201cBut we have to decide where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a Cycladic island reimagined for profit, a realtor tries to preserve what made it livable. By Valerio Castellini People don’t have the same patience that they used to have. Then everything has to happen fast, and we change ourselves as people. Sophia Katsipi sits behind a glass desk in her real estate agency in … <\/p>\n

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