Playfulness, insatiable appetite, sincere kindness. I remember him at the opening of the “Architect’s Workshop” exhibition organized by the Archive of Modern Greek Architecture of the Benaki Museum at the end of 2015, with a wide smile and a black elegant umbrella standing next to a giant photograph of his youth. Perhaps he is already 90 years old, and the passage of time was reflected in his wrinkles, but the aura of thirty will accompany him to the end.

One of the most important representatives of modern Greek architecture, Konstantinos Decavallas, died a few days ago at the age of 99. Full of impressions, leaving a rich architectural and urban planning work and a small masterpiece: the album “Walking around the city – Architecture of the pedestrian space” (Melissa publishing house).

One thousand two hundred and ninety captivating vignettes and texts, like vagabonds, fix the rhythmic changes in public space. Black and white sketches tell stories from Tuscany and Versailles, Tunis and Baghdad, the Aegean and Plaka, Beijing and Stockholm, among others, through arcades, monuments, squares, covered markets and bazaars, lampposts, pergolas, fountains, inscriptions.

His pen is in constant motion. Its angles, like an alternative photographic lens, bring closer and immerse in urban landscapes, skillfully delineating public space. Scale, proportions, axes and views, rhythm, functionalism, an obsession with detail and human-centered design: the main instruments of his compositional sensibility.

Konstantinos Dekavallas was born in 1924 and graduated from the National Technical University of Athens in 1948, while at the same time he continued his postgraduate studies in New York and urban planning in London. He was President of the Association of Architects and a professor at NTUA. Together with Emmanuel Vourekas and Antonis Georgiadis, they designed a series of tourist complexes in “Asteria” Glyfada and Asteras Vouliagmenis, as well as the hotels “Nausica” and “Arion”. Residence in Varkiza, Kavouri and his house on Aegina led to reflections on bioclimatic planning and integration into the natural landscape. Together with Talis Argyropoulos, he designed two of the most distinctive apartment buildings in Kolonaki. Chasing Lucian – Deinocratus and Marasli – Deinocratus.

After the devastating earthquake of 1956, he led the technical team of the Ministry of Public Works for the reconstruction of Santorini. 10 existing settlements were expanded and a new Kamari was created. Sculpting traditional architecture with Corby’s dictionary, he invested in standardization using single-story cylindrical domes as well as local materials. He respected the scale, responded with threads to the hot sun, composed with the expectation of natural ventilation, worked with limited means, emphasizing the economy of the design.

“I remember our endless conversations, in that attic of the Averof house, where our offices used to be. […] He told me about the meager means at his disposal, the urgent needs he had to face, his youthful enthusiasm and desire to find workable solutions in extremely difficult circumstances. The marvelous houses that he designed and built, the markets and public shops, the excellent schools that were exemplary, joined next to the traditional Cycladic houses that were saved from destruction, forming a harmonious whole. Each of them individually and collectively are timeless examples of how we can design and build in a modern way in traditional settlements, making this project one of the gems of our country’s building culture,” says Tassis Papaioannou, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at NTUA.

In 1989, he converted a listed neoclassical building on Themistocleous Street into the Exarchion Theatre, home of Annita Dekawalla and Takis Wouteris. The main hall is reminiscent of a summer cinema with a suspended structure acting as a false ceiling and metal fabric chairs as seats.

Actress Annita Decavalla reconstructs her father, recalling fragments of memories, people and objects, textures and experiences that filled his life. “My father, craftsmanship, colored pencils, floor plans, sailboats, rapitographs, stencils, windsurfing, wind, screwdrivers, paints, varnishes, Bach, Ravel, Janacek, parades, Ibsen and Molière and Cavafy, Tenten and Lucky Luke, Alhambra, folk craftsmen, hand models, electric train, Treasure Island, Japanese gardens and sliding paper walls, Battleship Potemkin, Bunuel and Alec Guinness, French Revolution, Kropotkin, whitewashed alleys of the islands, Pushkin and Proust, gazebos, the sea.

His favorite place is Aegina, his summer holiday destination. He wanted to be a shipbuilder. He even built two canoes and a sailboat himself. Fortunately, the architecture won him over.

“Daily coexistence and collaboration with my grandfather Konstantinos Decavallas during the last 10 years of his life was a rare gift that we stand before with gratitude and love. “I don’t work, I play!” he answered every time we asked about his working hours seven days a week. Along with teaching us about architecture in all its aspects, he taught us to enjoy our work and take the time to process the architectural composition. His personality and tireless and always positive approach to architecture and life are a role model and a source of inspiration,” says his granddaughter Despina Wouteri, who, along with Thalia Niniu and Georgia Pulopulu, make up the 4K Architects group.

Enthusiastic, stubborn and happy to the end. “I first met him in the office of Nikos Valsamakis around 1960,” recalls Dimitris Philippidis, emeritus professor of architecture at NTUA. “They participated in some kind of competition and last night they called 2-3 good students for help. It was nearing midnight, and we were all dead already. And then the door opens, an airy and smiling tall man enters, sits down at an empty drawing board and, whistling softly, begins to build a charming perspective. It was Decavallas. He did not lose his temper for the rest of the night, did not stop talking and singing – he obviously liked it.