Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaKaterina Efthymiou
Some people just have it all figured out… they paint a beautiful picture! They have their own special way in achieving their goals, being extra colourful! Katerina Efthymiou is this beautiful colourful woman and at the same time extra practical! While listening to her story I could imagine her in so many roles… as an actor in a retro vintage period, a jazz singer, a kindergarten teacher… believe me she could do it all! You might think I have a wild imagination (which I do), but seriously if you meet her you can see her colourful and creative heart and spirit! And the most amazing thing about her is that besides her romantic and dreamy spirit, she is so practical and a go-getter…extra polite, helpful and positive as can be!
Katerina Efthymiou wanted to be an architect, even though she had absolutely no influence from her environment, as both her parents where teachers and living in a smaller province of Greece. Her first degree was as a Civil Engineer and her second degree as an architect at the Polytechnic of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University. In 2007, she moved to Athens working for an architectural firm and three years later, where the economic crises had just hit Greece, she was let go by the firm due to cut backs. Sending out as many CV’s as possible, she realized she had to create her own job! She says, having an employee - 9 to 5 background also from her parents and her environment, surly wasn’t the easiest thing to go against.
At that time the government was going after apartments that didn’t have the right permits, and so Katerina saw the opportunity in it, as people needed Civil Engineers to handle their permits! But Katerina didn’t have any clients! And how did she solve that? She prints out leaflets and with the help of her family, they start circulating them to her town and the greater area and so on! How many Architects do you know that would do that? Extremely practical! And guess what happened? She started getting call after call… she says she made an incredible amount of money that she had never seen before! So Katerina found a practical solution helping her get back on her feet but also to find new clients that started out by using her for her technical knowledge and later on giving her new projects; building and decorating houses, shops etc.! Today, Katerina is re-designing one of the most prestigious 5-star hotels of Athens, the St. George Lycabettus.
And that’s not all! She has started a project that will solve many environmental and economic solutions… by making use of used cargo containers and turning them into super cool, useful, environmental and self-sufficient but also extra economic houses!
Katerina Efthymiou has a fairytale style that transforms the mood of the environment around her… She has a lot of magic! I asked her why did she wanted to be an Architect? She said: Architecture is like magic… it’s as if you have a magic wound and can transform a frog into a prince! I don’t know if she has a wound, but believe me her beautiful smile and her positive attitude surely transformed my day!
http://www.positivearchitects.gr
