Greek designer Marios Karystios has revamped the schoolroom of a maths teacher, adding brightly coloured furnishings and vintage accessories that aim to make learning more fun .
The classroom refit in Cyprus is the first interior project by Marios Karystios. The graphic designer, who is more accustomed to producing branding for vineyards and cafes, was tasked with created a whole new visual identity for the private school.
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Set behind a recessed glass shop front, the classroom and a soft seating area at the rear were refurbished with the addition of retro mathematical paraphernalia.
“The brief was to create a more friendly and relaxed space for the students, and actually something different than the standard classrooms that already exist on the island, also to promote creative thinking on a subject that is not a favourite to most students,” Karystios said.
“The maths teacher happens to be my girlfriend so it was a great chance for me to get involved in an interior design project,” he added.
The room is decorated with brightly coloured vintage accessories that offset the white-washed walls. Textbooks, biscuit jars and mathematic toys, including a Rubik’s Cube, are displayed on two stepped alcoves lined with bright yellow paintwork.
Rows of vintage metal-framed school chairs sit behind single occupancy pine tables, facing a white board and the teacher’s table.
The ends of two giant prop pencils jut out from a wall as a place for students to hang their coats and bags, while bare light bulbs hang from the ceiling on vibrant coloured flexes.
“We wanted to combine a modern feeling with a touch of the past, that’s why for example we used wooden tables and classic school chairs with colour twists that refer to the branding and Edison light bulbs,” said the designer.
The more intimate soft-seating area is located behind a wall with a cutout doorway and hatch.
Positioned at the back of the space, it is partially sectioned from the main body of the classroom and contains a chalkboard, a sofa with brightly upholstered cushions and a low level table fashioned from a single wooden pallet.
Wooden mathematical symbols and a geodesic paper globe sit on a ledge between the two spaces.
Outside the building, two further pallets have been painted lilac and repurposed into a makeshift sofa.
A range of branded stationary and business cards by Karystios features mathematical symbols on coloured backgrounds that echo the tones used in the other elements of the classroom.
“The branding and stationary are based on a smiley symbol that is made of two classic mathematical symbols, the division and integral. The whole idea was to make a fun branding for maths and a memorable brand,” added the designer. “The kids love it, at least they say so.”
