Villa Terra SoRAYA, DUBAI

Principal Architect | Dimitri Tsigos

Design Leader | Dafni Arnellou

Team Manager | Alexandra Giannakoula

Design Team | Charimadopoulou Evrydiki,Doumani Eirini,Hassani Fahimeh,Sidiropoulou Despoina

Terra Soraya’s geometric strategy is conceived as an act of sculpting. The villa is not designed in an additive manner, but originates from a pure, monolithic volume that is progressively shaped through a deliberate sequence of Boolean subtractions. Every architectural space is perceived and achieved through carving—each subtraction simultaneously generating form and a pocket of human inhabitation. Architecture emerges as a process of excavation, where space, structure, and experience are revealed through the controlled removal of mass.

This subtractive logic extends seamlessly into the material language. Interpreting Terra Soraya as a jewel drawn from the earth, the villa adopts a terracotta-based palette that reinforces its sculpted genesis. Terracotta tones are developed in a contemporary, fashion-forward manner and paired with Rosso Levante marble, vintage burgundy tiles, distressed brown leathers, and warm walnut wood. The result is a grounded yet refined material composition, where geometry and texture amplify one another through depth, tactility, and warmth.

The spatial consequence of this sculpting process is an architecture that is deliberately introverted. Living spaces are oriented toward the courtyard, positioning it as the core of everyday life rather than treating exterior space as a peripheral backdrop. Double-height openings strengthen the dialogue between interior and exterior, maintaining continuity whether open or closed. The resulting inhabitation is calm and protected, defined by intimacy, spatial flow, and a strong sense of enclosure.

From the outside, the villa reads as a solid, sculpted mass—an architectural threshold that separates the public from the private. Crossing this boundary becomes a transition into warmth, depth, and refuge. Terra Soraya ultimately presents itself as a contemporary sanctuary: a house shaped from earth, where geometry, materiality, and inhabitation converge into a timeless architectural presence.