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Pezopolis

ECOWEEK 2011 Projects in Athens, Greece

WORKSHOP Assignment: This workshop was the manifestation of a close collaboration between the City of Athens and ECOWEEK towards making ECOWEEK a platform for the generation of design ideas that can benefit the city, the neighborhood and the local community in Athens. This project was based in one of five sites suggested by the City, and one of the sites that the City chose to develop further towards final design, towards securing EU funding, and finally towards implementation. The W11 project assignment was the reorganization of the circulation and public spaces at the Panormou street Refugee Housing Blocks in Athens.

WORKSHOP Leaders: Pani Stathopoulou (Sculptor & educator, Greece), Eleni Polychronatou, (Artist & educator, Greece), Louisa Stathopoulou (Industrial designer, Greece), Nikos Detsis (Civil engineer, Greece), and Vivian Karavia (Organizational and architectural psychologist, Greece). Consultatnts on the photovoltaic installation: A. Kontadakis and K. Ordumpozanis (Greece). The group was also consulted by Yiannis Evmolpidis (Planner, Consultant to the City of Athens, Greece)

WORKSHOP Team: Simoni Devetzi, Angeliki Lymperopoulou, Christos Agnousiotis, and Chrysi Perdiki.

The workshop proposal concerns a “green” design, which aims to organize the movement of pedestrians and vehicles, among buildings of different morphology and use, in order to improve the quality of life in the area.

During the design process the team took into consideration the area characteristics: the history of the area and the new uses of the former refugee tenement; the co-existence of conflicting uses in the same area (bars, residential and abandoned buildings); the landmarks and points of concentration (metro station, avenue, square, shops); issues of status quo: small or nonexistent sidewalks, the domination parked cars, the lack of parking and traffic congestion.

Based on these characteristics, the proposed design proposed a pedestrian net that unites the points of concentration, connecting the metro station, embracing the recreational zone, crossing Panormou street and ending up in the triangular square; and the increase of vegetation in the area.

Sidewalks were widened, streets turned into pedestrian routes (based on the approved study by the City of Athens). New parking was designed on Riankour street, and inside the open space of the NE housing block.

The re-organization of pedestrian movement and the creation of spaces for rest, will improve the quality of life in the neighborhood and reduce the air and noise pollution. In the proposal all existing trees and green spaces were preserved, while new green spaces were added and new trees planted.

Regarding sustainability and aesthetics, two interventions were designed: the addition of a pergola in the main pedestrian streets, for the enhancement of passive shading and ventilation during the summer months, and the construction of a photovoltaic installation on the building facade, that could produce enough energy to cover the energy needs for public lighting in the area, combined with a vertical garden.


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