Unit 2 2012-13
Synoikismos
This year, our design investigations and projects focused on key central neighbourhoods of Athens in Greece. We explored their strategic and architectural potentials within a critical process of change.
The guiding theme of this year was Synoikismos. Oikos literally means house. As such, Synoikismos is used to describe synergetic household conditions of sharing and living together, applicable to buildings, neighbourhoods, cities and larger systems.
This year, our design investigations and projects focused on key central neighbourhoods of Athens in Greece. We explored their strategic and architectural potentials within a critical process of change.
The guiding theme of this year was Synoikismos. Oikos literally means house. As such, Synoikismos is used to describe synergetic household conditions of sharing and living together, applicable to buildings, neighbourhoods, cities and larger systems.
Induction Exercises - Research
We explored architectural CASE STUDIES from around the world. Individually students researched architectural qualities and developed distinct means of representation.
To prepare the Unit work in Athens, we made the ATHENS BOOK. This prepared us to gain access to information that a group of architects would require, prior to working in such uncommon conditions.
We explored architectural CASE STUDIES from around the world. Individually students researched architectural qualities and developed distinct means of representation.
To prepare the Unit work in Athens, we made the ATHENS BOOK. This prepared us to gain access to information that a group of architects would require, prior to working in such uncommon conditions.
Main Project - Athens
Athens is located on the south side of mainland Greece, where mountains, coastlines and islands form a unique Mediterranean landscape.
In ancient Greece, Athens was situated around a number of smaller hills and rock formations. The Acropolis, a citadel and temple, was located on the most central one. It gave structure to the city and as a major landmark, is UNESCO protected nowadays.
Ancient Athens formed a fragmented agglomeration of cities together with other urban centres, like the nearby harbour of Piraeus. This polycentric city state or polis allowed diverse functions and institutions within critical proximity, sparking an unparalleled cultural, philosophical and economic development at the time.
During the 20th Century, Athens developed far beyond this settlement pattern and land between urban areas was opened up for construction. In this process, neighbourhoods of small houses were transformed and extended into continuous areas of apartment buildings, industry and trade. Athens became one of the largest conurbations in Europe.
Like other European countries, Greece has gone through a deep economic and political crisis, in recent years. The reasons for this are very diverse and Athens plays a major part in these dynamic processes.
Athens is located on the south side of mainland Greece, where mountains, coastlines and islands form a unique Mediterranean landscape.
In ancient Greece, Athens was situated around a number of smaller hills and rock formations. The Acropolis, a citadel and temple, was located on the most central one. It gave structure to the city and as a major landmark, is UNESCO protected nowadays.
Ancient Athens formed a fragmented agglomeration of cities together with other urban centres, like the nearby harbour of Piraeus. This polycentric city state or polis allowed diverse functions and institutions within critical proximity, sparking an unparalleled cultural, philosophical and economic development at the time.
During the 20th Century, Athens developed far beyond this settlement pattern and land between urban areas was opened up for construction. In this process, neighbourhoods of small houses were transformed and extended into continuous areas of apartment buildings, industry and trade. Athens became one of the largest conurbations in Europe.
Like other European countries, Greece has gone through a deep economic and political crisis, in recent years. The reasons for this are very diverse and Athens plays a major part in these dynamic processes.
Research Area in Athens, image by Maija Viksne
The Unit focused on a critical area to the west of the Acropolis that has most diverse urban conditions. Here, historic layers and different urban developments appear side by side. On the foothill of the Acropolis are winding streets and smaller courtyard houses. Adjacent to it are neighbourhoods of apartment buildings or polikatoikias. Even though the city has changed, old city formations are still present and one can read former structures within the contemporary layout. These residential communities border onto a vital and Piraeus. The border condition has a rippling effect deep into the adjacent city. It disintegrates but also has capacity for change.
Overall, the area allows a journey through time, space and materiality. It is alive through its people, light and vistas that unfold to the sea. Nevertheless, Athens is here also a city that is challenged by decline and redevelopment. Derelict buildings and open sites weave through an intense urban fabric.
Due to the central location, the area plays a key role in local and regional progress. As such, it poses interesting social, spatial and environmental questions. We explored strategic potentials and qualities that this crucial piece of city may offer, programmatically and architecturally.
Overall, the area allows a journey through time, space and materiality. It is alive through its people, light and vistas that unfold to the sea. Nevertheless, Athens is here also a city that is challenged by decline and redevelopment. Derelict buildings and open sites weave through an intense urban fabric.
Due to the central location, the area plays a key role in local and regional progress. As such, it poses interesting social, spatial and environmental questions. We explored strategic potentials and qualities that this crucial piece of city may offer, programmatically and architecturally.
Approach and Methodology
The philosopher Aristotle used the term Synoikismos - the generative energies of living together in a house or oikos - to describe the spatial and social formation of the Athian polis. After all, a city is more than the sum of its buildings or people. As such, Synoikismos refers to a holistic understanding of interdependencies in our man-made and natural environment. It is no coincidence that oikos is also the root-term for economics and ecology.
We used Synoikismos as a guiding principle to explore synergetic strategies, programmes and architectural propositions. As Dimitris Pikionis said in his writing ‘A Topography of Feeling’:
"Nothing exists of itself, but everything is part of a universal Harmony. All things interpenetrate and suffer and are transformed into each other. You can only perceive one thing by means of the other..."
The philosopher Aristotle used the term Synoikismos - the generative energies of living together in a house or oikos - to describe the spatial and social formation of the Athian polis. After all, a city is more than the sum of its buildings or people. As such, Synoikismos refers to a holistic understanding of interdependencies in our man-made and natural environment. It is no coincidence that oikos is also the root-term for economics and ecology.
We used Synoikismos as a guiding principle to explore synergetic strategies, programmes and architectural propositions. As Dimitris Pikionis said in his writing ‘A Topography of Feeling’:
"Nothing exists of itself, but everything is part of a universal Harmony. All things interpenetrate and suffer and are transformed into each other. You can only perceive one thing by means of the other..."
Urban Timeline Centre of Athens, Maija Viksne
The study trip to Athens was in early November. In the beginning, students explored the focus area and wider urban contexts in Athens. Through a process of creative research and choice, each student then focused on one of the possible sites for their main design project.
Site investigations carefully addressed historic layers and existing conditions, such as physical contexts, urban climate, adjacent communities and qualities of place. Furthermore, each student researched potential needs and opportunities to open room for imagination.
For the main design, each student explored ways in which strategies, programmes and architectural designs can be an invigorating part of synergetic urban life and relate to the particularities of the research area. This set the tone for interventions in a range of interrelated scales, from urban through to building and details scales.
The individual projects focused on site specific buildings. Each student carefully developed architectural qualities, sense of place, logic of space, proportion, resourcefulness and programmatic precision, to create schemes that are both, sustainable and enjoyable.
Site investigations carefully addressed historic layers and existing conditions, such as physical contexts, urban climate, adjacent communities and qualities of place. Furthermore, each student researched potential needs and opportunities to open room for imagination.
For the main design, each student explored ways in which strategies, programmes and architectural designs can be an invigorating part of synergetic urban life and relate to the particularities of the research area. This set the tone for interventions in a range of interrelated scales, from urban through to building and details scales.
The individual projects focused on site specific buildings. Each student carefully developed architectural qualities, sense of place, logic of space, proportion, resourcefulness and programmatic precision, to create schemes that are both, sustainable and enjoyable.
Centre between History and Industry, Maija Viksne
James Cattle
The project Common Ground for All Cultures is a centre for culture and sport in one of the most deprived inner urban neighbourhoods of Athen. The project identifies the problem of segregation and disassociation in both social and spatial terms within the City of Athens and forms synergies between it’s separated parts.
On an urban scale, the scheme programmatically provides a support and service framework for deprived communities. A commercially sustainable system will provide hygienic, educational and civic facilities, allowing both charitable out-put and commercial input. This framework takes physical form through a series of careful interventions which are strategically embedded within the everyday fabric of the city, forming new connections between segregated neighbourhoods.
The main design project focuses on the cultural sector and is located at a point at which four disassociated themes of the city converge. The building provides cultural and leisure facilities to serve the ghettoized immigrant neighbourhood, the commercial and business quarter of Athens, the tourist corridor, and the westerly axis of urban degradation. The intervention transforms a whole city block, establishing north to-south connections and a new artery of vitality within the deprived areas. Aiming to perforate the rigidity of the existing fabric the project draws upon the prosperity of the commercial west-side across a dividing 19th century promenade.
The project Common Ground for All Cultures is a centre for culture and sport in one of the most deprived inner urban neighbourhoods of Athen. The project identifies the problem of segregation and disassociation in both social and spatial terms within the City of Athens and forms synergies between it’s separated parts.
On an urban scale, the scheme programmatically provides a support and service framework for deprived communities. A commercially sustainable system will provide hygienic, educational and civic facilities, allowing both charitable out-put and commercial input. This framework takes physical form through a series of careful interventions which are strategically embedded within the everyday fabric of the city, forming new connections between segregated neighbourhoods.
The main design project focuses on the cultural sector and is located at a point at which four disassociated themes of the city converge. The building provides cultural and leisure facilities to serve the ghettoized immigrant neighbourhood, the commercial and business quarter of Athens, the tourist corridor, and the westerly axis of urban degradation. The intervention transforms a whole city block, establishing north to-south connections and a new artery of vitality within the deprived areas. Aiming to perforate the rigidity of the existing fabric the project draws upon the prosperity of the commercial west-side across a dividing 19th century promenade.
The scheme facilitates social and cultural exchange among it’s diverse host demographic. Sports facilities attract a range of people to participate within teams, coming into contact with others who share a common interest. A theatre, gallery, bar and cafe provide an alternative means of cultural and social expression, whilst enhancing the neighbourhoods commercial potential.
On approach, four pedestrian routes towards the building are brought together at a central public space, rich with greenery and shade from intense Mediterranean sun. Here, diverse programs share spatial and visual interactions with existing residential, commercial and health-care facilities.
Although completely open to the surrounding streets, thebuilding territories are indicated by layers of ornately patterned structure providing solar shading to the interior, and intense vertical greenery which contrasts vibrantly to its grey concrete setting. Pedestrians are encouraged to explore the building. Multiple access routes via ramps and steps create a non-prescibed movement pattern. Common users therefor gain a great sense of place, based on their own personal experiences and routines as they interact with the building and its other inhabitants. The proposal is conceived as a civic sanctuary, a safe-haven in the midst of a volatile social, economic and urban environment.
On approach, four pedestrian routes towards the building are brought together at a central public space, rich with greenery and shade from intense Mediterranean sun. Here, diverse programs share spatial and visual interactions with existing residential, commercial and health-care facilities.
Although completely open to the surrounding streets, thebuilding territories are indicated by layers of ornately patterned structure providing solar shading to the interior, and intense vertical greenery which contrasts vibrantly to its grey concrete setting. Pedestrians are encouraged to explore the building. Multiple access routes via ramps and steps create a non-prescibed movement pattern. Common users therefor gain a great sense of place, based on their own personal experiences and routines as they interact with the building and its other inhabitants. The proposal is conceived as a civic sanctuary, a safe-haven in the midst of a volatile social, economic and urban environment.
Nazanin Aghlani
The project Process of Archeology, demonstrates stages of excavation along a new route through the city. It is located in Keramikos area. The ancient heritage and history is vividly evident especially in this part of the city. There is a certain presence of the historical ancients sites as they sit within the urban fabric of the city, yet there are amplified by the positioning within the theatrical landscape.
Walking through the streets of Athens one experiences the theatrical quality of the landscape both physically and visually. This landscape and the ancient treasures it holds is the driver for over six millions travellers who visit the city each year. This tourist industry in relation to the historic sites of the city such as the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora is one of the main economic drives for the city. Over the past two decades many projects have taken place to improve the central area of Athens where the Ancient sites are situated. Through pedestrianisation of the areas around the acropolis, the city has created paths, which direct one to the ancient figures and sites of interests. At the bottom of the Acropolis and the ancient agora is the Thessio area where most visitors begin their walk. There has been great investments made in this area in the past few years, including the build of a train line which connects this area to the port and the north of the city.
The project Process of Archeology, demonstrates stages of excavation along a new route through the city. It is located in Keramikos area. The ancient heritage and history is vividly evident especially in this part of the city. There is a certain presence of the historical ancients sites as they sit within the urban fabric of the city, yet there are amplified by the positioning within the theatrical landscape.
Walking through the streets of Athens one experiences the theatrical quality of the landscape both physically and visually. This landscape and the ancient treasures it holds is the driver for over six millions travellers who visit the city each year. This tourist industry in relation to the historic sites of the city such as the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora is one of the main economic drives for the city. Over the past two decades many projects have taken place to improve the central area of Athens where the Ancient sites are situated. Through pedestrianisation of the areas around the acropolis, the city has created paths, which direct one to the ancient figures and sites of interests. At the bottom of the Acropolis and the ancient agora is the Thessio area where most visitors begin their walk. There has been great investments made in this area in the past few years, including the build of a train line which connects this area to the port and the north of the city.
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Urban Path and Strategy
The urban life of this central area has had a positive influence on the excavations. However the industrial nature and dereliction of the west has highly influenced the further excavations such as Keramikos cemetery, which sit right by this industrial and derelict area.
The final proposal is for a public building which demonstrates the process of archaeology. The client is the Greek cultural heritage. In summary on the urban scale the building proposes a more pleasant route which connects the excavations grounds all the way to the semi industrial area. The building itself is a public route with a chain of events along it. There is a relationship between the public path and the chain of events.
The final proposal is for a public building which demonstrates the process of archaeology. The client is the Greek cultural heritage. In summary on the urban scale the building proposes a more pleasant route which connects the excavations grounds all the way to the semi industrial area. The building itself is a public route with a chain of events along it. There is a relationship between the public path and the chain of events.
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Tolulope Esho
The aim of the project The Expandable School is to address the current problem with many schools in Athens, a shortage of space and facilities for both teaching and recreation. While researching the areas of Psiri and Kerameikos, teachers raised concerns with the current conditions and facilities of the schools they taught in. As a result, what is proposed is a new school, consisting of kindergarten, primary and secondary level education with facilities to be shared with neighbouring schools within a single complex building.
The selected site of intervention which has already been designated as a site for a new school is located between Kerameikos and Psiri. The site is an embodiment of the derelict nature of its urban context. The proposed design will take full advantage of this condition, making full use of the derelict buildings and the ruins in the excavation present on site.
The aim of the project The Expandable School is to address the current problem with many schools in Athens, a shortage of space and facilities for both teaching and recreation. While researching the areas of Psiri and Kerameikos, teachers raised concerns with the current conditions and facilities of the schools they taught in. As a result, what is proposed is a new school, consisting of kindergarten, primary and secondary level education with facilities to be shared with neighbouring schools within a single complex building.
The selected site of intervention which has already been designated as a site for a new school is located between Kerameikos and Psiri. The site is an embodiment of the derelict nature of its urban context. The proposed design will take full advantage of this condition, making full use of the derelict buildings and the ruins in the excavation present on site.
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Existing Site, Tolulope Esho
The proposal relates closely with the economic conditions of its context, as Kerameikos, though mostly derelict, is in a process of redevelopment. The school proposed adapts to this with its structural configuration which allows for future addition of classroom facilities as the population increases. As a result the building grows in correlation with its context.
The intervention is a combination of low and high pieces. The lower and upper ground floors which contain the shared facilities for all schools in the area, fully embrace the site, interacting with the ruins and existing buildings. The ground-floor forms a base for three separate schools, which extrude from three corners, all of which share a similar architectural language of angled edges, creating more delicate and less imposing forms. These three separate schools are connected by not only the ground floor, but by the carved roof which sits above the ground floor, maximising the space available for recreation and landscaping.
Fixed concrete louvers embedded into a brick facade provide the building complex with protection against the hot and sunny days in Athens. The different rhythms and depths of these concrete louvers create a sculptural feel for the intervention. The facades read as layers of brick and concrete.
The intervention is a combination of low and high pieces. The lower and upper ground floors which contain the shared facilities for all schools in the area, fully embrace the site, interacting with the ruins and existing buildings. The ground-floor forms a base for three separate schools, which extrude from three corners, all of which share a similar architectural language of angled edges, creating more delicate and less imposing forms. These three separate schools are connected by not only the ground floor, but by the carved roof which sits above the ground floor, maximising the space available for recreation and landscaping.
Fixed concrete louvers embedded into a brick facade provide the building complex with protection against the hot and sunny days in Athens. The different rhythms and depths of these concrete louvers create a sculptural feel for the intervention. The facades read as layers of brick and concrete.
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