STUDENTS PROJECTS
2010
Student: Athina Papadopoulou
Professors: Alexios Tzompanakis, Elina Karanastasi
University of Crete,Faculty of Architecture
Presentation Date: 01.10.2010
The thesis project investigates the reconnection of the selected area with the urban tissue. The site is located southwest of downtown Athens and is surrounded by the suburban railway, also by the streets Piraeus, Petrou Ralli and Chamosternas. It may be perceived as a node and an "island" in the city that is being cut off from the neighboring areas. The project proposes the idea of "urban stitching," both in regards to the elements making up the space and the program.
The title "Roof Garden" condenses the agents that participate in solving the aforementioned issues. The idea of Roof is expressive of the way space emerges as a system of platforms. The connection between the different parts of the study area and the remaining urban tissue is pursued through sinkage of the ground level, also with the lifting of the intersection points and the rearrangement of the remaining gaps. The concept of Garden represents how the different programmatic entities may coexist and in fact interact dynamically, in so doing creating a microcosm for the selected region. The general logic of "landscape building" is finally proposed, combining the features of a pole of attraction to those of open space being loosely planned, in so doing contributing to the cohesion of the city.
Another metaphor used for the project is the human body. It is considered that space serves as a means of activation for the various expressions of the human body. Following the space-as-body analogy, three states are being developed forming three space units. In the first, the body is related to culture, art and expressive movement (dance school). In the second, the body participates in games, sports, recreation, agility and spectacle (sports facilities). In the third state, the body is associated with its vital needs such as food, as these may be extended to material pleasures, even to consumption (marketplace).
The different qualities of the space units are related to processes of perception described as contemplation and immersion. These two notions are transferred to the system of platforms. In some cases, the platform is organized as an "open" space having no clear function, related to leisure activities; in other cases, the platform is defined as a "closed" space with specific boundaries and function. Space is perceived overall as a gradient from contemplation to immersion.
