Public spaces and buildings / Δημόσιοι χώροι & κτήρια
Reuse of the Sarlitza plot as a Spa & Cultural centre
Lesvos island, Greece, 2022, competition proposal
4th prize (acquisition) with L.Tozai & E.Pattichi
The composition is based on the organization of public traffic around a central platform - outdoor exhibition of archaeological finds. The route is inspired by the circular route of the ancient Roman period. The historical building Sarlitza Pallas is restored and stands out on the south-eastern side of the central plateau, without morphological or structural interventions. The new buildings of the Thermal Center form a morphologically neutral background that highlights the historic Sarlitza building. Their entrance is located on the eastern side of the central platform, in relation to a platform / courtyard behind Sarlitza.
Redesign of the main public square
Farsala, Greece, 2021, competition proposal
4th prize (acquisition)
The main objective is to increase the useful surface and create a square open and accessible to all citizens. Farsala is surrounded by the plain to the north and the Farsala forest to the south. The new square was designed as a reference to the natural landscape that embraces and gives life to the city.
The square is united with the Theotokopoulos pedestrian street through a staggered configuration that functions as an open-air amphitheater. This stepped connection allows seamless access to the central area of the square from the pedestrian walkway, in contrast to the empty space that exists today. The large existing trees, the fir, and the cedars, are retained as part of the amphitheater configuration. A new curved pediment defines the existing entrance on the ground floor of the town hall and offers the possibility of standing in the new sitting rooms located next to the entrance.
Landmark for the Faliron Pier
Athens, Greece, 2012, competition proposal
4th prize (acquisition)
The competition called for a New Landmark on a 50mx50m platform at the end of a 150m long Pier that will be build on the coast of Athens, in the Faliron area. In the same area, the new national library and opera are currently under construction, a building complex designed by architect Renzo Piano. The opera complex will be almost hidden under a large green park with small hills and valleys that will extend across the coast, reaching the far end of the Faliron bay.
This gesture of "hiding" program under the landscape, combined with other elements of the surrounding man-made and natural context, like the existing landmark / shell structures in the surrounding area, or the small wave breakers that will be formed close to the site, led us to the idea of creating a "hill", or an island in the sea. The hill would then be inhabited, like any hill in a park, with people walking, lying and sitting on areas with different incline. Circular openings on the hill allow people to enter a restaurant and cafe area that has clear views of the Aegean sea, while protecting patrons from the intense summer sun.
The hill is then mirrored, creating a protecting roof for visitors of the landmark. Another circular opening allows access through the city axis that runs along the pier, to the upper lever which can host an amphitheater and observatory area. Both roof and hill can host diverse ephemeral uses from concerts to public events and theatrical plays. Roll down projection screens, sprinklers and hill slides create clusters of leisure areas.
Micro topographic architectural elements, like linear and arc shaped stairways and benches hover or "grow" on the hill and roof, implying diverse pathways but also allowing free movement in and on this manmade landscape. Their scale also introduces the human scale within the design.
Sustainable design: S.Zerefos- C.Tessas
(Special thanks to K.Michailidis, A.Tzortzis, E.Papavasileiou and K.Miltiadis for their help)
Agricultural heritage museum & park
Eptagonia, Cyprus, 2012, competition proposalhonorary mention with A.Tzortzis & F.Zapantiotis
The lot #686 that hosts the existing cultural center of Eptagonia is today characterized by a sharp elevation of about five meters with the new lot, #677. The stone wall that surrounds it, retains only a portion of the slope at the base of the hill, and stresses the strict demarcation between the two properties. As a symbolic gesture, the perimeter wall was broken down into smaller fragments or “debris” which slide within the surrounding space.
The fragments now become stone walls and yards – a reference to the Cypriot vernacular architecture – while holding the soil and organizing the whole park area.The individual volumes of the museum follow the gentle slope of the existing terrain, creating an “organic” connection to the landscape while creating individual passes and plateaus that are interconnected, in a composition close to the human scale and built context of the village.
(Special thanks to K.Daskalaki for her help)
"Germanina" farm reuse
Pafos, Cyprus, 2011, competition proposal
The current layout / alignments of the ruins, create
an insular group that refers to a protected internal "courtyard". The proposal maintains this momentum, while placing new buildings over the existing ruins, as an attempt to
shelter both visitors and ruins from the extreme summer sun conditions.
Three new"neighborhoods" are created:
1.Museums, summer cinema, commercial uses
2.Art workshops and residencies
3.Student hostel and Inn.
The typology of the protected courtyard is applied to the new buildings: one of the new courtyards becomes the museum of modern art atrium. The new buildings could perhaps be described as a modern version of the traditional "Makrinari" house type, found in the anonymous folk Cypriot architecture that also have a "kalokairino"space as a protected courtyard.
In the center of the composition, a rich mediterranena garden is formed, hosting mainly native trees and plants of Cyprus as well as an open public plaza.
(Special thanks to K.Michailidis, A.Tzortzis and E.Petsatodi for their help)
Limassol Town Hall offices
Limassol, Cyprus, 2011, competition proposal
honorary mention with students A.Tzortzis & L.Tojai
The proposal is based on the concept of transparency and semi-permeability, both in functional organization, and materiality of the building per se. Our aim was to create organic links with both the city and its inhabitants, andthe interior of the building. This gesture is actually a way to rethink the threshold of a public building and the city, relying on visual contact and human movement.
The building attempts to connect to the existing urban environment, but also to highlight the presence of the existing town hall, acting as a homogenous, neutral background.
The volume of the building recedes behind the permitted building line at ground floor, on the road Arch.Kyprianou, so as to create a new plateau - connection to the open area of the town hall. A slope / ramp with gentle incline leads visitors from the sidewalk, to the main entrance at the ground floor.
This small difference in height of one meter between the two planes, one is called to "ascend" with a 5% slope, allows visitors to experience entering the building both visually and physically.