100 squares
The remains of empty space in contemporary Greek Cities provide a unique opportunity to solve the lack of hierarchy, identity and form of the city mass; firstly by collectively making up a network of specific shape and size in the big scale. The proposal defines the number of plots of this network as 100 for the initial phase. The empty plots, often of small sizes and at informal, insignificant positions in the urban fabric, can thus be recognized as a whole, able to transform the totality of the city daily life.
The introduction of limited, specific elements in the interventions assumes recognizability similar to that of contemporary branding methodologies. Architectural techniques are to be applied on to these open spaces as if they were building forms. Like monuments of void, they become instantly recognizable thanks to archetypical form and emphasis on dimension.
The interventions capitalize on the given conditions of each site keeping costs low while an emphasis on the vertical dimension guarantees spatial character in contrast to mere ground works. The proposed shape of each project often simply cleans up or establishes a relation to the given complex given outlines of most of these left over spaces. A main program is applied on each plot, in service to the neighborhoods need and establishing its critical role in the network and the city as a whole. The first case study is for Thessaloniki.
Competition, 2013
program: public space
