Orma Architettura and Dorothée Meilichzon reinvent the greek heritage of Cargèse at the Mylos Hotel

High above the village of Cargèse, among its silent alleys and balconies opening to the blue, Mylos emerges as a contemporary homage to the history and landscape of Corsica. This boutique hotel, designed by Orma Architettura and interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon, embodies a Mediterranean sensibility that merges with the environment, the climate, and the Greek roots of the region.

Located on Corsica’s western coast, Cargèse holds a history as singular as it is visible. Its skyline is defined by two churches facing each other—one Roman Catholic, the other Greek Orthodox—symbols of a coexistence that began in the 17th century when a group of Greek exiles found a new home here.

The village’s layout, with its tiered topography, sober façades, and narrow passages, directly inspired the architects of Orma Architettura. Mylos is thus conceived not as an isolated object, but as a natural continuation of the place, deeply rooted in its morphology and memory.

A discreet architecture blending into its place

The hotel’s name—Mylos, “mill” in Greek—evokes the ruins that crown the hill where the project stands. From the beginning, the intent was clear: to build a place that would fully integrate with the landscape. The hotel is composed of several volumes connected by walkways and green roofs, allowing the ensemble to be traversed in gentle ascents that follow the rhythm of the terrain.

With 35 rooms spread between the main building and two stepped blocks, the complex is organized around a central courtyard dominated by a serene Belombra tree. Stairs and paths lead to the common areas—restaurant, bar, spa, swimming pools—unfolded across different levels, always opening to the sea horizon. Mediterranean vegetation—olive trees, myrtle, everlasting—was carefully replanted after construction, underscoring the project’s ecological commitment.

Environmental awareness in the building process

The steep slope of the terrain required considerable excavation. Orma Architettura responded to this challenge with a circular logic: the extracted materials were reused to create concrete blocks, minimizing environmental impact. Thus, the two stepped buildings were built with a dry, rough, earthy concrete born from the site’s own debris.

For the other volumes, the architects chose a fluid recycled concrete enriched with fragments of terracotta, which gives the surfaces a vibrant texture, as if the earth itself spoke in warm reddish tones. The ensemble is covered with vegetation, even on the rooftops, and no surface was artificially waterproofed: water follows its natural course and seeps into the soil. The building does not dominate the landscape; it belongs to it.

The interior as a mediterranean tale

Dorothée Meilichzon, enamored of Cargèse since her first summer stays, infused the project with an emotional gaze. For her, interior architecture had to narrate the story of a village poised between sea and mountain, between the present and the myth.

In the rooms, textures prevail over smoothness, materials are noble and organic, and in some corners the original rock appears, as if the site itself refused to conceal its truth. Columns, engraved friezes, niches, and classically inspired bathrooms evoke Greek mythology, while the details speak of the island: headboards recalling shepherds’ berets, fabrics resembling fishing nets, veined green marbles, tables with handles almost like amphorae.

Every window, every terrace opens to the sea, which becomes the thread of the design and a constant source of inspiration. Meilichzon seeks to translate the spirit of place through soft forms, natural materials, and a chromatic palette bathed in Mediterranean light.

Teos: a restaurant between Greece and Corsica

The Mylos experience is completed by Teos, the new gastronomic concept by Pierre Geronimi, master ice-cream maker from nearby Sagone. Here, cuisine is a celebration of the territory: vegetables from small local producers, coastal fish, Corsican cheeses and meats—all served with generous simplicity and seasonality.

The menu, alive and ever-changing, offers dishes such as fish lasagna, beef tartare with mango, or tiramisu scented with ouzo. Geronimi’s ice creams, both sweet and savory, appear as unexpected touches: citrus sorbets accompanying fish, cheese ice cream with meat… A playful, light, and deeply sensorial proposal.

The restaurant, also designed by Meilichzon, unfolds in a warm and organic atmosphere, where stone, plaster, lattices, and rounded shapes create intimacy. In summer, the terrace becomes a privileged viewpoint for enjoying a cocktail, some piattini or a tempura, while the sea stretches as far as the eye can see.

Project: Mylos Hotel.
Location: Chemin de Paomia Montalbo, Cargèse (Corsica).
Architecture: Orma Architettura.
Interior design: Dorothée Meilichzon.
Completed: 2025.
Photography: Julie Ansiau.
Source: Mylos Hotel, Dorothée Meilichzon y Orma Architettura.

Dorothée Meilichzon

Dorothée Meilichzon believes that every place has a soul. Her work—patient and passionate—is to unveil it.

Born in Paris, she grew up surrounded by fabrics, symmetry and hand-painted wallpapers, accompanying her mother, an interior designer, on trips to London. “My mother was very good at decorating. I grew up in a very well-decorated home,” she recalls. That sensorial childhood left a lasting impression.

At the age of twelve, her curiosity about objects and her desire to invent turned into a revelation: she discovered french designers like Philippe Starck and Raymond Loewy, and knew that design would be her path. “Until then I wanted to be an inventor, but I realised that being a designer would allow me to work on both the appearance and the functionality of objects.”

She studied industrial design at Strate College, with a period at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. There, she learned to put the user at the heart of every project, a principle essential to product design. But it was in 2009, at just 27 years old, that her creative voice found its true expression when she founded her own studio, Chzon, in Paris. She began as a freelancer, working sixteen-hour days from her apartment. “I had the opportunity to design a cocktail bar, the Prescription Cocktail Club, in Paris’s 6th arrondissement.” That was the beginning of her professional recognition.

Since then, she has devoted her energy to designing hotels, restaurants and bars, spaces that breathe authenticity. Her approach blends cultural storytelling, one-of-a-kind pieces, craftsmanship, local materials and a deep respect for the spirit of each location. Her design, rooted in sustainability, always begins with attentive listening, both to the place and to the client. See full biography.

Orma Architettura

Orma Architettura was born of the deep complicity between four architects trained at the École Supérieure d’Architecture de Marseille-Luminy: Jean-Mathieu de Lipowski, Michel de Rocca Serra, François Tramoni, and Alicia Orsini. Their practice, rooted in the island of Corsica, takes shape as an atelier where architecture emerges from the dialogue between matter, light, and landscape.

For this team, architecture is a contemplative witness of time, a body marked by the human imprint on nature, a vestige committed to future generations. This philosophy translates into projects that aim to move, fusing tradition, landscape, and architecture in a constant pursuit of coherence, authenticity, and memory.

Orma Architettura has been widely recognized with awards: from the 2024 Delarue Prize (Académie d’Architecture), to the 2023 National Wood Construction Prize (Logements en pin Laricio Cristinacce), and nominations for the 2022 Mies van der Rohe Award for Auvent de Evisa and Vigna Maggiore. They have also received the Europe 40 Under 40 Prize, the Trophée Béton Pro, among other honors that celebrate their innovative and sustainable vocation.

Project by Orma Architettura