Organised by Pafos 2017 the international open call 'Second Nature' asked for proposals for public art and architecture installations in the Municipal Garden in the Ktima district in Pafos.
The PolyCatOikia project is one of seven entries selected for construction. The installation proposes a man-made habitat for the present-day residents of the Municipal Garden in Pafos: the stray cats of Ktima. The project interprets the culture-nature relationship addressed in the 'Second Nature' brief by focusing on the human-feline cohabitation in Cyprus, an interspecies bond, which can be traced back as far as the 10th millennium B.C.
The form of the white linear structure references minimal art as well as the key architectural typologies dominating the urban fabric of contemporary Pafos: the hotel complexes along the coast and the ubiquitous housing type of the Polykatoikia.
The project will be part of the Pafos 2017 Illumination Festival in January 2017, and the structure will be installed in the Municipal Garden in Pafos for the duration of the Pafos 2017 European Capital of Culture programme.
After the end of the European Capital of Culture programme the structure will be donated to a cat sanctuary in Cyprus in 2018.