Art School” of Chalkida

Students: Giokari Katerina, Gkiola Dora
Supervisor: S. Tsiraki
Advisors: N. Belavilas, P. Vasilatos
School of Architecture NTUA
Date of presentation:29 March 2012

Our building is part of the "Art School" of Chalkida. It houses the children department, with basic target the creation of a common meeting place, place of education and culture. It is located at the entrance of the city, at an area with strong natural features, where the traces of the past are still apparent.

 

 

_the place _ chalkida
Capital of Euboea, with a double role: centre of the island and "suburb" of Athens.

_ route through place and time
We propose a pedestrians' route that connects the city's landmarks, starting from the bridge of Euripus and ending at the "Chlildren's Art School". It passes through the city's sights, as well as through  unused shells, fragments of the past demanding to revive.

_ the region's identity
Our interference is located at the Aghios Stefanos region, a region of a special historical value. It constitutes the first core of domestic development with centre the region around the Aghios Stefano's bay, a natural port, and Vathrovouni mount, at the east, as a natural fortification.

In the early 20^th century, the region was an important industrial centre. Today, witnesses of the past stand the shells of industrial buildings remaining deserted and unused, although they can accept new cultural functions. Such an example is the case of the old wine factory of Arethousa, which is expected to be a museum of the city.

Near these buildings there are also the ancient springs of Arethousa. Nowadays nothing shows their existence and their water disappear through the canes into the sea.

Canes,tamarisk trees, eucalyptus, high and low vegetation compose the landscape. The vegetation is mostly located at a core of urban green, which is the People's Park, created after backfilling works.

 

 

_ our proposal for the area
We form the park with clean incisions, continuing the pedestrians' route and the city's roads. The main routes of the park pass above the road with pedestrian bridges, aiming at the connection of the two areas that divides now the road. The element of water is enforced by widening the existing canal, by creating a lake and by forming routes near the water.

A hill around the lake protects from the road's traffic, creating at the same time a game with the ground.

An alley of deciduous trees, changing image with the passage of the seasons,connects Arethousa with our building and accentuates the cultural dipole created by these two buildings.

We gather the athletic activities into a zone (municipal gym, swimming pool, amateur fishermen marine).

_ Art School of Chalkida
The Art Scool that we relocate was founded in 1978 by the mayor and by the artists Chariklia and Dimitris Mitaras. Its aim is the cultural and artistic development of the city. Since its foundation, it organizes and takes part in exhibitions held in Greece and other countries. Apart from its courses and activities, it has the right to keep in its archive some students' projects. So, it is created an archive of works, enriched by books and magazines about art.

We think that the current infrastructures of the art school are insufficient. We house at the protected environment of the park the children department, where the nature's incentives enforce creation.

We choose its location at the entrance of the city as the students come from every city or village of the island, as well as from other cities, such as Athens or Schimatari.

 

 

_ synthetic investigation _ initial incisions
Our building constitutes a continuation of the pedestrians' route proposed that turns to the sea. It is a rising route born by the ground and ending to a points' elevation, the observatory, marking the entrance.

Something that encouraged us to work with lines and points is the linear development of the neighbour industrial buildings and their chimneys. From the industrial buildings of the area we also "borrow" the stone that constitutes our building's border.

The building volumes develop into a Γ, around a square immerging into the ground. The specific square is the "heart" of our building and the access to it is achieved through inclined levels.

We separate the art schools' courses into four sections preventing the creation of four art laboratories. Each laboratory is open planned and has the potential to serve as exhibition place during the hours when there are no courses. When someone enters the building, is in a sheltered high communal space, where they have oversight of the movements. The ground floor is a café-library where the Art School's archive, books and art magazines are available for the public.

The building is covered by a metal folding roof that seems to hover above it. A stone wall is a strict, without openings, border. This  border seems to "break" and create the place where outdoor exhibitions take place.