Athens: Designing for the improvement of habitation
in Omonoia district
Diploma thesis_supervised by M.Moraitis_M.Mavridou
in collaboration with_E.Therianou
This diploma thesis is an attempt to explore issues regarding central urban areas and methods of intervention on these areas, towards a direction of rebating frequently observed problems.
As study area is defined Omonia, a central area of Athens and public space par excellence of the city, which concentrates various activities and social groups. The proposal aims at maintaining the publicity of the area, on the one hand, and attempting to retract its characterization as degraded on the other
Analysis_mapping the different characters of the area |
The analysis shows spatial issues such as the abandoned building stock, the lack of viable open spaces (due to the high density of built environment through the depletion of the built-surface ratio) and, mainly, the lack of designing an appropriate model of inhabitancy for the heterogeneous groups that coexist in the area (immigrants of different ethnic groups, vulnerable social groups, middle class bourgeois). In such a complex urban formation, in respect of both uses and users, we organise a network of design interventions that will run in parallel on different levels,from the urban to the residential scale.
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Network of interventionsIt is therefore proposed to re-use specific empty buildings of architectural interest by locating cultural, welfare and educational activities that the area lacks at the moment. At the same time, a circulation network is designed that connects new activities, open and green spaces. This network is signaled and reinforced by the repetitive placement of certain materials on pedestrian paths and rest areas,as well as planting that acquires structural character.
We also consider as important the activation of the internal, ineffective to date, internal space of building blocks by converting the uncovered space into a livable neighborhood open space and incorporating it to the network of free spaces. For this reason we indicatively choose and plan the internal space of three building blocks that seem to offer possibilities for intervention because of the size of the uncovered space, the access to them from the road and their correlation with the public utility buildings we place within them. |
zoom_inZooming-in to the building block scale, we propose a building complex that functions as a reception center for immigrants offering a semi-permanent residence for one to two years. The spatial program is a model of ‘cohabitation’, which includes public functions for the wider community -such as small-scale trade and ‘multinational’ restaurant and recreation- and common activities for the residents -such as childcare space, shared laundry and kitchen, lounge, etc. Public functions are located mainly on the ground floor, in direct interaction with the outdoor space and directly accessible from the street.
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Housing
Therefore, the building may be adapted to the needs of fewer or more tenants by moving the interior panels and keeping the construction grid stable. The facades of the complex are also potentially changing. The main facades of the building consist of double skin. The outer one composed of prefabricated panels of different materiality that they cover the grid construction, creating a synthesis of surfaces. The inner skin consists of panels that are placed between the grid columns and can easily change position, be replaced or be absent when the floor plan of the house changes.