Rec.cover: The architectural surface as a means of creating collective spaces

Students: Eva Grigoriadou, Georgia Manousogiannaki
Supervisors: Socrates Yiannoudis, Konstantinos Ougrinis
Technical University of Crete
Submission date: May 2013

We imagine small spaces, natural and familiar, through which knowledge and emotions will flow; places where the 'new city' will get birth.

Through a sensory approach of the three selected regions (Metaxourgio, Exarchia, Petralona), the importance of the architectural surface as a topical cultural recorder was revealed. These records, we tried to analyze and then use as design tools to create new, small but dynamic spatial situations which reinforce a collective approach to everyday life in Athens.

These new statements are placed - born in the urban voids of the three regions. The small scale of the voids as well as their siting at the neighborhood level, makes them accessible by the resident, thus intensifying the sense of cohesion and communication.

 

 

METAXOURGIO _ Surface as Mosaic
Different layers of materials, uses, traces of the past and today combined with striking ethnically imprints of the locals, create different vocabularies imprinted on the surfaces of the area. These various data are usually without covering one another, thereby composing one surface - mosaic.
This concept of mosaic states also the social - ethnographic mosaic of people and uses of the area as well as the simultaneous presence of many different social groups which operate mostly independently without interfering one another (different nationalities, immigrants, gypsies, artists, newer and older residents).

We imagine a space able to remove the cultural heterogeneity of the region towards the development of a multicultural mosaic of actions.

Activities :
(first level)

Urban farming
Space of medical consultancy
Laboratory of natural medicines
Collective kitchen
Space of food exchange - supplies

(second level)

Dormitories
Common living spaces

 

 

EXARCHIA _ Surface as a Journal
In Exarchia walls are like a book with words the slogans and graffitis.
The surfaces that make up the spatial impression of the area are strongly dynamic and often overlap each other. As a result, the boundaries of the space get blurred.
In the area of Exarchia all too often different social groups come into confrontation and many times one tries to impose another.

We imagine a space that receives the anger of the region and enhances it to express creatively through cooperation.

Activities :
(first level)

Library
Body space
Space of clothes exchange and repair
City garden

(second level)

Reading area
Dormitories
Common living spaces

 

 

PETRALONA _ Surface Full / Empty
The surfaces in Petralona are characterized by a greater homogeneity and purity.
The surface - wall functions primarily as a means of rating the brightness and define full and empty.

We imagine a space which converts the idleness of the area to a mood for meditation.

Activities:

Space for supportive study for students
Children library
Outdoor space for projections
Garden