urban scaffolds December 2010
Athens x4 was a competition organized by the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Aim of this competition was to investigate the major component of the Athenian urban environment (and generally of every big city in Greece): the city block. The latter is related to a series of issues related to circulation, urban micro-climate, privacy, public space and image/aesthetics. The participants could choose freely 4 adjacent blocks of the city and were asked to address the problems of density, lack of green/open space, and to submit innovative proposals for their transformation with the optimum utilization of the crossroad (x) that divides them. The proposals would have to embody qualities of an abstract framework that would allow for repetition in similar urban contexts.
The four blocks selected by our team are situated at Psirri area, a central region characterized by a dense urban fabric, irregular road network, variety of building types and functions (mixed uses varying from dwellings and offices to restaurants and bars). The dynamic character of the area is revealed at night as it becomes an attractive entertainment hub for the citizens of Athens.
Our proposal was focused on addressing the issues present in present day Greek urban landscapes, while maintaining and enriching it's diversity. This vision was manifested into a single, uniform, multipurpose urban element that traverses the urban landscape within the area of the selected blocks. The element transforms itself along it's course to cater for multiple needs and create spaces of diverse identities: Starting as a shading element for the higher floors of apartment buildings, moving on to become a semi-transparent curtain between facing apartments, climbing over low-rise buildings to organize new public spaces on their terraces and fading out to a light, almost invisible steel frame before disappearing completely.
Apart from organizing new public spaces and addressing some of the city block's inherent disadvantages, the proposed organizing element helps uniquely identify the specific city area through the provision of a unified visual reference to the neighborhood.
Apart from organizing new public spaces and addressing some of the city block's inherent disadvantages, the proposed organizing element helps uniquely identify the specific city area through the provision of a unified visual reference to the neighborhood.
Competition entry * Design team: Ioannis Chatzikonstantinou, Ifigeneia Dilaveraki, Despina Papadopoulou