ARCHITECTURE

Designs on life

In time for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we chat with Dimitris Arnaoutis –born with a rare form of blood cancer and a slim chance of survival and now a happy, healthy UWE architecture student

After her baby was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, NHS Property Services IT project manager Julie Arnaoutis felt the world had fallen from underneath her. Baby Dimitris needed a bone marrow transplant or he wouldn’t make it, doctors told her, and his chances of surviving the transplant operation were five per cent.

The transplant unit was located at Bristol Children’s Hospital, 80 miles away from the family home in Bournemouth. On top of their crushing news, the family had to consider logistical questions: how were they going to get to Bristol? How were they going to survive? That’s when Julie met a social worker at children’s charity Young Lives vs Cancer who told her about Sam’s House in Bristol, one of 10 ‘homes from home’ providing a free place for families to stay when their child is going through cancer treatment. They’re close to treatment centres, helping families avoid the extra financial burden of travel, accommodation and food costs. “When I heard about the home from home, I cried,” says Julie, “It’s relief, it’s pure relief. There’s somebody who’s stepped forward like your knight in shining armour. They are there to take a chunk of pain away from you and allow you to concentrate on the critical thing, which is your child.”

The transplant was a success and although it was touch and go for a while, Dimitris defied the odds and slowly recovered from the blood cancer. Now he’s back in Bristol but this time it’s not for an operation –he’s in his first year of studying architecture and Julie couldn’t be prouder. She and her NHS Property Services colleagues have pledged to raise £150,000 for Young Lives vs. Cancer by 2024 –through runs, hikes, bake sales and a rowing relay challenge inspired by the Olympics which will equal the length of the channel cross from Dover to France –which could help 800 young people during their cancer fight. Here Dimitris tells us all about himself –what a stand-up lad he has grown up to be.

Initially I didn’t get into UWE because of the impact Covid had on exam results. I was devastated as I had my heart set on Bristol. After discussions with the board around my medical background and the gaps in my education due to health, the decision was reviewed and I successfully got my place. I was thrilled, given the initial difficulty.

I really look up to the architect Richard Norman Shaw. I want to specialise in housing architecture, which he was known for, and have always been drawn to the Tudor style he does so well. He designed incredible buildings, many of which you can still visit today – such as New Scotland Yard in Westminster – but he’s famous for both his commercial architecture and his unique design of country houses. I admire his perfectionism and innovation and would love to someday pay homage to his world-famous style in my own housing designs.

Clifton Suspension Bridge is, by far, my favourite Bristol building.

Not only is it rightfully the most Instagrammable place in Bristol, but I feel it shows the human development of architecture in the recent period. While it really stands out and is a showstopper, it goes so well with the buildings around it and that’s a really impressive balance to achieve in architecture. I like Cabot Circus because I like to see all the different people in Bristol coincide, and think about how all these people are here for different reasons but are together in this moment. I love the multi-coloured houses around Clifton that brighten up the landscape. They always put me in a good mood and I’ll often go out of my way to walk past them.

Dimitris as a baby with his dad Stelios

Dimitris is now 19 and studying at UWE

IImage by Ben Braybrooke Photography Dimitris and his mum Julie

I like the more simple yet rustic feel of Tudor-era architecture in contrast to, for example, the Victorian era as it has drifted further from a natural concept. The blend of gothic and renaissance detail makes buildings designed in this era so special.

Once I complete my architecture course of eight years, I hope to start

working towards designing my dream home – that’s my long-term goal. In the meantime, I’ll be focusing on making the most impact that I can in the early years of my career – and, of course, I would love a girlfriend to share it all with!

The university I’ve attended throughout Covid has offered a wellbeing

programme where they check in on their students. For me this is an important cause and a way to show you’re not alone. UWE is one of the 32 universities in the UK to have joined the new Student Minds University Mental Health Charter Programme to improve support for staff and student mental health in the wake of the pandemic. Making the mental health of students a priority is really important.

In a way, I inspired myself to get into architecture: my main reason for wanting to be an architect is to create family homes where children

can make memories. I loved the house I grew up in and if it had been different even in the slightest, those memories wouldn’t be the same.

If you have the time and the desire to help children and families in surreal and troubling situations, please think of some great

fundraising ideas and just go for it! They don’t have to be big events, and every penny counts towards supporting families of poorly children via Sam’s House which provides a home from home for the families of children with cancer.

If I could have dinner with anyone, it would have to be The Doctor

(Dr Who). They were always my role model as a kid and because of this I had quite the bow tie and blazer phase, growing up!

My favourite music currently is Rex Orange County, however my alltime favourite song would be Dancing In The Moonlight (for a good boogie). My family and housemates complain because I sing it too loudly in the shower –and not very well!

This year I want to work on my fitness and my general outlook on

life, and be more organised and efficient in my day-to-day tasks. I also want to finally pass my driving test so when I am peckish I can get some Maccies after a workout. ��

I’d like to ban anti-homeless architecture –I feel it’s a cruel way to

design people out of places. I think that great architecture can do a lot of good in the world and we shouldn’t be using it to actively target those who are already trying their best just to survive.

My philosophy is ‘the past is the past’ –you can’t let it stop your

future. A lot of people are still letting their past control them and that, with the right support, this can be changed if you’re open to it. n • To support Sam’s House, get fundraising via younglivesvscancer.org.uk